Seatrade Article re: Cuba

"Carnival Corp gets US Green Light for US Cuba Cruises" "In a potentially history-making development, Carnival Corp. has been granted US licenses to operate direct US-Cuba cruises. Carnival aims to begin sailing from PortMiami to Cuba in May 2016 via fathom, its recently launched 'social impact' brand using the small ship Adonia." Can Regent be far behind?

I was hoping that FDR would be the first.

msmillie: Thank you for starting a thread on this subject. As you indicated, there will be one ship doing this itinerary. As stated in the article, "Carnival's fathom is to begin humanitarian-focused cruises between Miami and the Dominican Republic in April. Miami-Cuba cruises would start the following month, and week-long sailings from Miami would alternate between Cuba and the Dominican Republic over the long term." So, it appears on the surface that the "humanitarian-focused" is what helped a division of Carnival receive the approval.

There is only one travel agency that you can book through and as one attorney noted "An attorney knowledgeable about US-Cuba matters said that since MSC's headquarters are in Europe and most likely its Florida sales and marketing office and personnel have no involvement in the Cuba operation, MSC probably is not subject to US jurisdiction in Helms-Burton. It would be tough, in his view, for a US-based company like Carnival or Royal Caribbean to comply by offering Cuba cruises via one of their European subsidiaries."

It is definitely a step in the right direction. It should be noted that, from what I have read, escorted humanitarian visits to Cuba for U.S. citizens (that has been in existence for a long time), limits the areas that you can visit within Cuba. When you visit as a tourist (as many Canadians and non-U.S. citizens do), you can go just about anywhere. I know this because of our two visits to Cuba when we flew in from Canada and Mexico. While this is not exactly legal, this is how many U.S. citizens have visited Cuba in the past (and, they do not stamp your passport).

I think there is quite a bit of a pent-up romantic nostalgia for the Cuba before the revolution. It was an exotic and glamorous place. The fifty plus years since Castro took power has been difficult on the Cuban people and the former infrastructure. Communism, the tropical heat, salt air and humidity have done a number on the island. If you go, expect a 3rd world country with negligible comfort, not the daiquiri swilling, Hemingway haunt of the 40's and 50's.

What you say is true. However, Cuba has built up a tourist area, Varadero, with several all-inclusive resorts that are quite nice. Here is a link to Trip Advisor's recommended resorts http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g147275-Varadero_Matanzas_Province_Cuba-Hotels.html. The problem is that the area feels a bit false in terms of how the rest of the country is, so, IMO, it is important to see more than just this area. There are non-stop flights from Canada to Varadero so they do get quite a bit of tourism.

Havana is quite run down but has a lot of history. When cruise ships dock in or near Havana, there should be a lot of excursion opportunities. The drive from Havana to Varadero is over 90 miles. We found the road to be in good shape and the beach areas were lovely (although few people were there).

 

Havana is quite run down but has a lot of history. When cruise ships dock in or near Havana, there should be a lot of excursion opportunities. The drive from Havana to Varadero is over 90 miles. We found the road to be in good shape and the beach areas were lovely (although few people were there).

Only tourists are allowed into the Varadero hotels and beaches, the Cuban people cannot enjoy the "amenities"... its an apartheid system.

I think there is quite a bit of a pent-up romantic nostalgia for the Cuba before the revolution. It was an exotic and glamorous place. The fifty plus years since Castro took power has been difficult on the Cuban people and the former infrastructure. Communism, the tropical heat, salt air and humidity have done a number on the island. If you go, expect a 3rd world country with negligible comfort, not the daiquiri swilling, Hemingway haunt of the 40's and 50's.

Thank you for putting it into perspective. In addition, tourists (even Cuban Americans returning to see family) participate in an apartheid system enforced by the totalitarian Castro regime.

The new Carnival owned cruise line, fathom (not capitalized), will be sailing 7 days cruises to the Dominican Republic aboard P&O (also Carnival owned) "Adonia", which is an "R" ship almost exactly the same as the 3 (soon to be 4) owned by Oceania, the 2 owned by Azamara and the 2 (soon to be 1 when Ocean Princess is sold to Oceania) owned by Princess. The ship itself will continue to be operated by P&O; fathom will provide the activities.

Initially, the ship will be traveling to Angel Bay in the DR, a new cruise port being constructed by Carnival. Once there, it will serve as a hotel for the guests while they take part in various organized humanitarian functions in conjunction with DR organizations. It will not be a "cruise" in the sense that we think of one, rather similar to faith-based missions in which congregation members participate.

fathom has been granted permission to sail to and from Cuba according to the current educational, humanitarian, or faith based trips that have been permitted for a number of years. They do not yet have agreement of Cuban organizations with whom to work. Based on their plans for the Dominican Republic, I will predict there will be little opportunity to tour or sightsee in Cuba. Guests will leave the ship each morning, perform their various tasks and return to the ship at dinner and for the night. The ship will likely not move until it returns to Miami.

fathom has announced that the day or so of travel time to reach the port will be spent learning about the humanitarian choices and making their choice of function. I have no reason to believe that a Cuba destination will be any different.

True pleasure cruises to Cuba will have to wait for Congressional action, which will likely be controversial. FDR could still be first ;).

We have too many travel plans in place through 2017 to consider fathom at this time, but if we are still physically able, we'll seriously consider it in 2018.

Only tourists are allowed into the Varadero hotels and beaches, the Cuban people cannot enjoy the "amenities"... its an apartheid system.

+1. I'll spend my dollars elsewhere.

Z and TB

+1. I'll spend my dollars elsewhere.

 

Z and TB

We're onboard with you. I really had no idea there was such a class system because we were busy envisioning the obvious physical beauty of the country. How could anyone ever ensure that their tourist monies were going to the people who need it most? I think FDR has it right with this call.

We're onboard with you. I really had no idea there was such a class system because we were busy envisioning the obvious physical beauty of the country. How could anyone ever ensure that their tourist monies were going to the people who need it most? I think FDR has it right with this call.

Many people in the US do not know this. Cuba is indeed a beautiful country, I hope that soon it will be under "new management" :) I dont criticize people that make the decision to go but they should go with eyes wide open and not romanticize what they're seeing.

Fizzy, what do you mean by "FDR has it right with this call"? What "call" was that? Thanks

Unless I'm mistaken, it seems that over the years as this subject has come up, that FDR would not be taking the ships to Cuba without a regime change that would provide freedom for the Cuban people.

Thanks Fizzy, I had not read that before. Glad that is his position, although if $$$'s are to be made he'll be under tremendous pressure to reverse course (and frankly, I wouldnt blame him as he needs to respond to the company's stockholders)

In recent interviews, FDR stated that everything is in place to sail to Cuba at a moment's notice. He did make statements regarding not going there until there is a change in government a few years ago. It is a dream of his to take his parents back to Cuba for a visit -- I truly hope that he is able to achieve this dream.

I don't want to get political here but do wonder why U.S. citizens can visit and support other communist countries but not Cuba. We certainly did not visit Cuba to support the government -- we took suitcases full of gifts for the Cuban people - everything from bibs for babies, belts, ties, toys, make-up, etc. When we visited (early 2000's), the U.S. dollar was the currency. Any money or gifts that we gave went directly to the people.

When Regent/Oceania/NCL begin sailing to Cuba, we hope to be on board!

We're onboard with you. I really had no idea there was such a class system because we were busy envisioning the obvious physical beauty of the country. How could anyone ever ensure that their tourist monies were going to the people who need it most? I think FDR has it right with this call.

Fizzy: I would love to see its beaches and knock down some classical daiquiris. But, as long as the Castro Bros maintain their hypocrisy, not interested. Fidel is worth over $1B and Raul is worth $900M while people starve and live without basic needs.

A good friend and coworker recently had the honor of taking out to dinner his girlfriend's mother on her first visit from Cuba. She had her first ever steak in her life.

Z and TB

+1! And note that Americans cannot visit North Korea, which is more closely similar to Cuba than those Americans who are infatuated with the cult of Fidel would like to admit. (And don't forget that he instructed Khruschev to nuke the U.S. in 1962...)

+1! And note that Americans cannot visit North Korea, which is more closely similar to Cuba than those Americans who are infatuated with the cult of Fidel would like to admit. (And don't forget that he instructed Khruschev to nuke the U.S. in 1962...)

I truly do not think Americans (or Canadians) are infatuated with Fidel or his regime (although, according to Canada.com, over 800,000 Canadians visit Cuba each year). Unlike North Korea, Cuba has not been a threat to the U.S. for decades (sorry - starting to get political again and this is about cruising to Cuba). The Cuban people do not need steak, they need more basic things and who better than the generous people from the U.S. to give it to them?

I respect those of you who do not wish to visit Cuba but also respect those who do. For the sake of the Cuban people, I hope that things continue to move slowly. According to FDR (another interview), Cuba does not really have the infrastructure yet to accommodate the number of Americans that wish to visit there. FDR has said quite a bit about Cuba. I just googled "Frank Del Rio interview regarding Cuba" and came up with a lot of things. Hopefully this link will take you there. I believe the latest video is "Norwegian Cruise Line Preparing to Travel to Cuba". It is 2.59 minutes in length.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=frank+del+rio+interview+about+cuba&FORM=VIRE7#view=detail&mid=2E930FFA58F12468B2732E930FFA58F12468B273

My impression is that my particular country, the United States, would prefer that we not go and visit Cuba right now, despite a seemingly myriad of tricky ways to get around that and most likely Del Rio would support that. I hope that will change in time.

My impression is that my particular country, the United States, would prefer that we not go and visit Cuba right now, despite a seemingly myriad of tricky ways to get around that and most likely Del Rio would support that. I hope that will change in time.

With all due respect, there have been legal ways to get to Cuba from the U.S. for a long time. I could easily link you to travel agents in the U.S. that have a waitlist to get to Cuba. My point was that these agencies will take you to places that the Cuban government approves of and does not permit access to the rest of the country. However, when you use "tricky ways" to get to Cuba, you have access to regular people ...... people that speak English and are open to discussing their culture with you.

Since the subject of this thread is Cuba, I want to share one experience with you (hope that CC permits this ..... it is not political but gives an insight into the beliefs of the Cuban people.) We stayed at Club Med Varadero (no longer there) and had long talks with the person that was in charge of archery. He spoke of the wonderful "free" education that was available to him as well as other subjects. It was his belief that the U.S. brought down the World Trade Center (obviously not true but we did not argue - but stated that this is not what we believe). During our visits, there were two television stations - both featured Fidel Castro. When this young man was able to obtain a job at Club Med, he had access to CNN and other stations. He stated that he felt that he was "born again" when he saw what the rest of the world was like. His dream was to go to Mexico or Canada (both countries visit and support Cuba). This was such an eye opener to me that it brings tears to my eyes when I remember it.

FDR definitely supports whatever the U.S. policy is. After all, he and his family were greeted with open arms (and passports) when they came to the United States. If you met him, his wife and friends of many years, you would think that they had been born in this country (FDR has "sort of" a New England/Connecticut accent:)

All I can say about this subject is "do not judge, lest you be judged". These are wonderful, warm, people that deserve better than they have. Okay - will shut up now:o

With all due respect, there have been legal ways to get to Cuba from the U.S. for a long time. I could easily link you to travel agents in the U.S. that have a waitlist to get to Cuba. My point was that these agencies will take you to places that the Cuban government approves of and does not permit access to the rest of the country. However, when you use "tricky ways" to get to Cuba, you have access to regular people ...... people that speak English and are open to discussing their culture with you.

 

Since the subject of this thread is Cuba, I want to share one experience with you (hope that CC permits this ..... it is not political but gives an insight into the beliefs of the Cuban people.) We stayed at Club Med Varadero (no longer there) and had long talks with the person that was in charge of archery. He spoke of the wonderful "free" education that was available to him as well as other subjects. It was his belief that the U.S. brought down the World Trade Center (obviously not true but we did not argue - but stated that this is not what we believe). During our visits, there were two television stations - both featured Fidel Castro. When this young man was able to obtain a job at Club Med, he had access to CNN and other stations. He stated that he felt that he was "born again" when he saw what the rest of the world was like. His dream was to go to Mexico or Canada (both countries visit and support Cuba). This was such an eye opener to me that it brings tears to my eyes when I remember it.

 

FDR definitely supports whatever the U.S. policy is. After all, he and his family were greeted with open arms (and passports) when they came to the United States. If you met him, his wife and friends of many years, you would think that they had been born in this country (FDR has "sort of" a New England/Connecticut accent:)

 

All I can say about this subject is "do not judge, lest you be judged". These are wonderful, warm, people that deserve better than they have. Okay - will shut up now:o

Just realized how "preachy" I sounded in the last paragraph. Did not mean want to sound that way. Just feeling for the people of Cuba and wish that all of you could feel the warmth that most Cubans feel for the U.S.

The U.S. department of state/consular affairs says something different. Seek and ye shall find.

I have just gotten back from cleaning up my last barn for the night and have no wish to argue or go to Cuba at this time.