Norwegian Sky to Cuba

Hello all. We are a family of 4 on the May 8 departure to Havana. This cruise overnights in Cuba and is all inclusive along with an open bar.

Does anyone know if we will be allowed to bring rum onboard since there is no charge for rum onboard the ship?

Also, I have read in numerous posts regarding things such as money exchange, private tours, etc that you should have your passport on your person in order to participate. Every cruise Ive ever been on retains your passport for the entire cruise and issues a ship card in its place. Is this different for a Cuban cruise? TIA

xtreat

I was on the Sky last year on a different itinerary. All shore-purchased bottles were taken at a desk just past security, and returned the last evening. There are still some beverages that are available for an upgrade fee, I would imagine they are protecting that small income. We also plan to purchase rum as gifts, and will let the ship store them for us. The cabins are tiny, anyway!

Hello all. We are a family of 4 on the May 8 departure to Havana. This cruise overnights in Cuba and is all inclusive along with an open bar.

 

Does anyone know if we will be allowed to bring rum onboard since there is no charge for rum onboard the ship?

 

Also, I have read in numerous posts regarding things such as money exchange, private tours, etc that you should have your passport on your person in order to participate. Every cruise Ive ever been on retains your passport for the entire cruise and issues a ship card in its place. Is this different for a Cuban cruise? TIA

xtreat

I have been on 38 cruises and never had the ship hold my passport. We are on the May 1st Sky sailing to Cuba.

Hello all. We are a family of 4 on the May 8 departure to Havana. This cruise overnights in Cuba and is all inclusive along with an open bar.

 

Does anyone know if we will be allowed to bring rum onboard since there is no charge for rum onboard the ship?

 

Also, I have read in numerous posts regarding things such as money exchange, private tours, etc that you should have your passport on your person in order to participate. Every cruise Ive ever been on retains your passport for the entire cruise and issues a ship card in its place. Is this different for a Cuban cruise? TIA

xtreat

I have never had my passport held by anyone. On the sky twice last year and they just look at it before they give me my ship card. In regards to the buying rum on shore, they will hold it and give it to you our last night. We are also on the May 8th sailing, you should join our roll call.

The only time they don't hold bottle purchases is if you buy it on the last full day (thursday) from the gift shop, in that case you just bring it back to your room.

I have never had my passport held by anyone.

Depends where you travel. Cruises in Asia, for example, certain countries require the ship to hold your passports - you get a xerox to carry around.

Check on each country's requirements.

Hi xtreat! Our family of 3 will be on the same cruise to Cuba! And we live in Roseville. Did you visit the Roll Call? I posted an itinerary for a tour we are taking with Fertours. Let me know if you would like to join us. All the details are on the Roll Call. Let's keep in touch!

Karen

We have had our passports held on prior cruises. As reported, they gave us a photocopy to carry. On Celebrity Infinity from Buenos Aires to Antarctica they held passport until practically the end of the cruise.

I can't recall for certain but possibly on Star Princess when we visited Russia.

.... they gave us a photocopy to carry.

In many countries, it is safer to carry a photocopy while walking around, and leave the original in a safe (room, hotel-- if not on a cruise), so doing so may not be such an unusual occurence for travelers, nor an unknown situation to any local official you may encounter. In Cuba, you do need your original passport to exchange money, though.

We've done cruises in Europe and the Med on different lines and have had passports held by the ship in most of those, occasionally a country will require you to carry it ashore and then they are given back and recollected afterwards/

We have had our passports held for entire cruises in Asia; also in Russia. Any Communist country will want to see your passport, often, on the ship.

Does anyone know if the $75 visa fee for Cuba is all you have to do to get the visa? I filled out the people to people affidavit already. Is there any other visa paperwork required. We are on an October cruise.

Also how long were the lines to change money when you get to Havana?

Does anyone know if the $75 visa fee for Cuba is all you have to do to get the visa? I filled out the people to people affidavit already. Is there any other visa paperwork required. We are on an October cruise.

 

Also how long were the lines to change money when you get to Havana?

For the sake of anyone else reading this in future, please be clear that the visa (aka tourist card) is a requirement of the Cuban government for entry to their country.

The amount charged is up to the cruise/air line or their agency (or the Cuban Consulate in DC) and seems to vary between U$50 and $100, depending on who issues it, for anyone with any passport, leaving from the US direct to Cuba. The visa for those departing from the US is pink (not green like the one for any other departure point).

Usually there is a Cuban health form to fill out (not connected to the required Cuban health insurance probably covered by your ticket).

There is also a customs form regarding items being brought into Cuba.

You may get these before passing through immigration at the port.

The people to people (or any of the other 11 reasons/excuses for travel) are for the US OFAC. It is therefore not "visa paperwork", although cruise and air lines may put the paperwork together.

It seems to be the cruise line that has decided to offer only the P-to-P option. The group or individual choice within that category seems to be their distinction as well.

A curious thing about the tourist card: We visited 3 ports, Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos and Havana, in that order. At the first two stops they examined the tourist card. We got off the ship 3 times in Havana. The first time they took the tourist card. For the last two times we had no tourist card to show them. They were, of course, familiar with the ship's itinerary.

I called NCL. They said you have to tell them that you want them to get a VISA for you, and they charge $75. It will be printed on your paperwork that you got it from them.

Does anyone know if the $75 visa fee for Cuba is all you have to do to get the visa? I filled out the people to people affidavit already. Is there any other visa paperwork required. We are on an October cruise.

 

Also how long were the lines to change money when you get to Havana?

As a recent cuiser to Cuba, yes, that is all of the paper work that we filled out to get into Cuba. The ship had our visa when we boarded & we have our affidavits filled out. We were not asked to fill any other paper work out.

I called NCL. They said you have to tell them that you want them to get a VISA for you, and they charge $75. It will be printed on your paperwork that you got it from them.

This is correct, we sailed on the NCL Sky May 1, 2017 on their first sailing to Cuba. They gave us our visas at the boarding process.

I called NCL. They said you have to tell them that you want them to get a VISA for you, and they charge $75. It will be printed on your paperwork that you got it from them.

You have to call before hand to set this up? Or can I just show up and pay the VISA when embarking? Also if you plan on just doing your own thing in Cuba, is that ok? Or do you have to go on a ship sponsored tour? Thanks

..... if you plan on just doing your own thing in Cuba, is that ok? Or do you have to go on a ship sponsored tour?

Please read post #12 above.

To recap:

The visa/tourist card is a Cuban government requirement.

You are a tourist on vacation in Cuba as far as the Cuban government is concerned.

The Cuban government does not much care how you spend your vacation time, doing your own thing or using a tour, independent or sponsored by an organization,, or really, how you got to Cuba (by plane or ship) as long as you have both parts of the tourist card.

One part gets taken on arrival, the other part, on departure.

If you leave from the US, it has to be pink; from anywhere else, the cheaper green.

The US government's OFAC still requires that you state your reason for travel to Cuba, although they have not checked in years, are not currently checking, and probably won't be funded to do so in the future, even if they wanted to. So you tell them which of the 12 excuses you have chosen. The cruise line seems to have made the choice for you though, the people to people option. End of story, unless you lie awake nights when you go over the speed limit. Even if CBP asks where you were when you arrive back in the US, they don't even rexact when you answer Cuba.

Summary: The visa and the OFAC reason you choose have NOTHING whatsoever to do with each other.

Got it now?

You have to call before hand to set this up? Or can I just show up and pay the VISA when embarking? Also if you plan on just doing your own thing in Cuba, is that ok? Or do you have to go on a ship sponsored tour? Thanks

You have to let them know in advance I believe

On Oceania (sister company) we have to fill a form at least 60 days prior to departure & send it to H.O.

We also have them getting the Tourist card/Visa (whatever it is called )

Yes you can DIY once there

Enjoy

NCL FAQ's

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/faq#cuba-travel

You have to call before hand to set this up? Or can I just show up and pay the VISA when embarking? Also if you plan on just doing your own thing in Cuba, is that ok? Or do you have to go on a ship sponsored tour? Thanks

The visa is handled by NCL, no other money is needed for this. You do have to get the affidavit from NCL, fill it out & return it back to NCL. Once you board the ship, they will give you the visa. You are not required to take a ships tour, do what you want on shore. The affidavit needs to be kept for 5 years after your cruise. I just did the 5-1-17 sailing to Cuba, if you have any questions I will try to answer them.

You have to let them know in advance I believe

 

On Oceania (sister company) we have to fill a form at least 60 days prior to departure & send it to H.O.

 

We also have them getting the Tourist card/Visa (whatever it is called )

Yes you can DIY once there

 

Enjoy

NCL FAQ's

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/faq#cuba-travel

On NCL you need to have your affidavit returned to NCL 30 days before your cruise.

I have been on 38 cruises and never had the ship hold my passport. We are on the May 1st Sky sailing to Cuba.

Good morning, we will be traveling to Cuba on the Sky in July.... how was your overall experience?

Thanks everyone for the answers, it's all clear now. I appreciate it.

Good morning, we will be traveling to Cuba on the Sky in July.... how was your overall experience?

It was interesting. You see some great looking buildings crumbling, while some are being restored. Other buildings look fairly new. It looked to me that they are trying to rebuild part of the city. The people were very friendly. I was told that everyone has to spend a year in the military. There were a lot of college educated you people, after school some have to work in civil service for a few years. The ones who went to school for language spoke English very well. We spent most of our time there on 2 different buses & didn't walk around the city very much due to my bad knees. Seeing all the old cars was a plus.

On the bad side the city was dirty looking, with garbage all around. Some of the people looked very poor. It is a country that growing up in the US, that we could never go to. It was nice to see this forbidden land. We are going back in Sept. I hope this answered your question.

Yes, your response was very helpful. I am looking at tour companies based in Cuba, did you use one?