Havana. Hop on hop off bus

[riviera]

We are doing a 3 hour car tour. We would also like to do the hop on and off bus tour. Can we catch this near the cruiseport?

We are open for suggestions. We will be there from 8am until 8 pm. Thanks!

 

 

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[buttrfly78]

I don't remember the hop on hop off bus going past the port, however you can easily walk to Jose Marti Parque Central and catch it there.

[riviera]

Thank you. We will try that :)

 

 

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[hannibal54]

We were in Havana in May. To get on the hop on hop off buss, as soon as you get out of the terminal, take a left before you cross the street. The bus stop is about 20 feet away. You will see signs for the pickup area. We did the T1 trip, it was about 2 hours long if you don't get off the bus. It will drop you off across the street from the terminal.

[lola2013]

We were in Havana in May. To get on the hop on hop off buss, as soon as you get out of the terminal, take a left before you cross the street. The bus stop is about 20 feet away. You will see signs for the pickup area. We did the T1 trip, it was about 2 hours long if you don't get off the bus. It will drop you off across the street from the terminal.

 

Could someone please explain the "time off the ship" rules in Havana? We just booked Empress based on a friend's recent trip, but she told us that you can only be off the ship on an excursion so this conversation about where to eat and bus trips has me confused. We have selected excursions, but wonder about just wandering when our excursion is done. What exactly can we can can't we do?

 

Thanks (and Go Cubs!!!)

[VidaNaPraia]

This is a previous thread here on the HOHO bus:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2475331

 

Could someone please explain the "time off the ship" rules in Havana? We just booked Empress based on a friend's recent trip, but she told us that you can only be off the ship on an excursion so this conversation about where to eat and bus trips has me confused. We have selected excursions, but wonder about just wandering when our excursion is done. What exactly can we can can't we do?

 

Currently the OFAC definition for the P2P reason to travel to Cuba has wording about participating in a "full time schedule of activities" and free time "not in excess" of being consistent with that. They do not define "full time".

I would interpret that as being able to do whatever appeals, HOHO bus tour and private restaurants/paladars (You gotta eat. That's only reasonable.) included, after that full time program. YMMV It's you who may at some future time have to justify your program, notes on which you keep for 5 years, to OFAC in the unlikely event that they staff up sufficiently to check.

There may be a future issue regarding exact ownership of the HOHO bus line (Cuban tourism wing of the military??) if it is on some list of military-attached entities to avoid yet to be defined. Some of this stuff is likely to be very confusing, even after lists are released.

The cruise line may be now giving information that more easily allows them to defend their P2P program under the new "guidelines" that are supposed to be published soon.

Edited July 13, 2017 by VidaNaPraia

[hannibal54]

Could someone please explain the "time off the ship" rules in Havana? We just booked Empress based on a friend's recent trip, but she told us that you can only be off the ship on an excursion so this conversation about where to eat and bus trips has me confused. We have selected excursions, but wonder about just wandering when our excursion is done. What exactly can we can can't we do?

 

Thanks (and Go Cubs!!!)

We were there on the NCL Sky, there was no talk or anything in writing about when we could get off of the ship. It was an open gangway. None of the Cuban officials asked why we getting off the ship or what we were going to do. This is before trump got involved with Cuba, so what the new rules are, as far as I know are not published yet. We are going back to Havana in Sept. so it will be interesting to see what the differences are.

[VidaNaPraia]

None of the Cuban officials asked why we getting off the ship or what wewere going to do.

 

The Cuban government issued you a TOURIST CARD, (visa) because, to them, you are a TOURIST, justlike the Europeans or Canadians or Australians. Cuban officials are not now, nor will be in the future, interested in policing your movements (unless spying perhaps) in thier country.

 

I doubt the cruise line is really going to be willing to set up an actual private police line of some kind to prohibit passengers from leaving the ship except on a sanctioned excursion, but who knows.

 

The "threat" IMO is in the risk of incurring an audit by OFAC sometime (up to 5 years) after the trip or CBP on arrival back in the US. Most US travelers are sufficiently "law abiding" that some vague possibility of a session with their/our own government may suffice to keep most from straying from the new rules, whatever they are, or more would have been traveling through Mexico or another third country in the past..