What happens if the US closes the embassy in Cuba?

Here's an interesting question. If the US decides to close the US embassy in Cuba, will US citizens be allowed to go to Cuba? More specifically, we have two O cruises booked on the Sirena for next May, as do a lot of folks from the US. Will the cruise ships coming from the US have to make other plans if the US embassy closes?

Hopefully, all will be fine, but it does pose an interesting question. Anyone have any thoughts on the matter?

I am the kind that says lets wait and see what happens...:D

Jancruz1

Can you share the information you have about the closing?

US nationals went to Cuba for years when the US had no Embassy there. My government (Switzerland) had a US interests section in our Embassy and they looked after any problems Americans encountered. So well in fact that when President Obama normalised relations with Cuba our Foreign Minister was invited to join in the ceremonies...

Presumably if the US closes its Embassy they will ask us to take this job on again. We did it in Tehran (or do it?) too.

Can you share the information you have about the closing?

I assume the poster is wondering if the recent health issues experienced by US diplomats posted to Cuba will result in closing the embassy. Here's a link to an article about the health problems, but there's no mention of potentially closing the embassy.

http://www.npr.org/2017/08/25/546186317/u-s-diplomats-suffer-hearing-loss-after-serving-in-cuba

Can you share the information you have about the closing?

Top US Diplomat Says Closing Embassy in Cuba 'Under Review'

https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/09/18/us/ap-us-united-states-cuba.html

Can you share the information you have about the closing?

There is the one LAexNY noted as well as this one - http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/17/politics/rex-tillerson-cuba/index.html.

We're sure it will all get worked out, but we were just wondering "what if".

US nationals went to Cuba for years when the US had no Embassy there. My government (Switzerland) had a US interests section in our Embassy and they looked after any problems Americans encountered. So well in fact that when President Obama normalised relations with Cuba our Foreign Minister was invited to join in the ceremonies...

 

Presumably if the US closes its Embassy they will ask us to take this job on again. We did it in Tehran (or do it?) too.

I wondered how that worked before we started normalizing our relationship with Cuba. However, with our current administration, it's hard to predict what they are going to do. But, hopefully, in the end all will be fine and the cruises will continue as scheduled.

We are a neutral country so I won't comment on the current US administration. But there was a very good article in the New York Times this morning which explained the peculiar (and perhaps serious) "illnesses" that were occuring among Embassy staff. Seems possible that some electronic devices are to blame. But the most interesting thing was that the Government of Cuba was very concerned about this - and President Raul Castro expressed this concern. It has also affected the Canadian Embassy, apparently.

Interesting to say the least. Rather "James Bond"!

People to people travel took place before embassy was reestablished.

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People to people travel took place before embassy was reestablished.

 

 

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On US ported cruise ships?

Many of us are interested ... will continue to follow this thread.

On US ported cruise ships?

I just checked and the US embassy in Cuba reopened in July 2015 and the first US ported cruise I could find was on the Carnival Fathom from Miami in May 2016. There could have been other ones, but I couldn't find any.

The lack of an embassy is only evident when things go bad If you have an accident or lose your ID, you need local US support. My sister in law was mugged in London and it took her a week to return to the US from a US friendly country. Mind you, you can't get out of most countries without a passport.

I'm not worried about our visit to Cuba this December. I'm using ship excursions since operators will more likely bring pax back to ship in case of trouble (they get paid)and the ship is a safe haven which will bring us back home.

it's a different story is one flies into a foreign country.

The lack of an embassy is only evident when things go bad If you have an accident or lose your ID, you need local US support. My sister in law was mugged in London and it took her a week to return to the US from a US friendly country. Mind you, you can't get out of most countries without a passport.

 

I'm not worried about our visit to Cuba this December. I'm using ship excursions since operators will more likely bring pax back to ship in case of trouble (they get paid)and the ship is a safe haven which will bring us back home.

 

it's a different story is one flies into a foreign country.

Makes sense. All should be fine as from what we've read, the main reason it took so long for Cuba to allow US-ported cruise ships to go to other parts on the island like Cienfuegos and Santiago, after the embassy was reopened, was because they needed time to prepare those ports for the cruise ships. That's why (probably) the Fathom got to go to Havana first where as Pearl Seas had been booking 10 day cruises around Cuba for over a year before they were finally allowed clearance. In fact we had booked one of those cruises, but decided to jump ship when O offered their Cuba circumnavigation cruises.

It definitely wouldn't be in Cuba's favor to deny access just because the US closed the embassy. Good. We're starting to feel better already!

Ships from the UK & others like Celestyal(Louis) have been stopping in Cuba for years

nothing to do with the Embassy closing

Ships from the UK & others like Celestyal(Louis) have been stopping in Cuba for years

Did they just go to Havana or if they also went to Cienfuegos and Santiago, did they tie up to a pier or just use tenders?

Did they just go to Havana or if they also went to Cienfuegos and Santiago, did they tie up to a pier or just use tenders?

There are piers at both locations

There are piers at both locations

Well, there goes the theory we read about. In any event, hopefully this all blows over and we'll all have a grand time on our respective cruises visiting Cuba. We're so excited we booked B2B circumnavigation cruises around Cuba so we can visit each port twice!

The best part is that we not only got 5% off the total B2B cruise price, but we were also able to take advantage of the new concierge level 3 free bags of laundry perk when it was in place for the few weeks before they temporarily pulled it. Hopefully they'll reinstate it as we would definitely book an A cabin in the future rather than a B cabin if they did.

Well, there goes the theory we read about.

What theory is that ??:confused:

Did you think there were no piers ?

What theory is that ??:confused:

Did you think there were no piers ?

No, from what we read, it gave the impression the existing piers/infrastructure weren't sufficient to handle a regular flow of cruise ships. One thing is for sure, there is definitely going to be more cruise ships going to Cienfuegos and Santiago in the future based on all the cruise lines offering cruises to Cuba.

Maybe they just wanted to make sure everything was "ship-shape" before they opened the doors to the massive influx of new US cruisers coming to those ports.

Interesting thread... I'm lurking this morning looking for information and to see how people feel about Cuba and the current state of affairs after Irma (and Maria) let alone embassy issues. Have any of you looked at photos and video of Havana over the last couple of days?

https://www.google.ca/search?q=havana+photos+after+irma&rlz=1C1RNVH_enCA559CA585&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiq14f-prTWAhULqFQKHcnWAYMQsAQIJw&biw=1600&bih=794

https://www.google.ca/search?q=havana+photos+after+irma&rlz=1C1RNVH_enCA559CA585&tbm=vid&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi_lqv_prTWAhUpwFQKHegaAzUQ_AUICygC&biw=1600&bih=794&dpr=1

People are reeling. Like St Maarten, Dominica and St Thomas, to me it seems it will be some time before Havana and other Cuban ports would be able to service tourists properly... I am anxiously awaiting reports from anyone who travels/cruises there over the next few months to give some kind of review, however I suspect ports of calls will be cancelled like the rest of the Eastern Caribbean. I for one am close to cancelling my Sept 2018 voyage next year as after this kind of damage I personally don't believe the Cuban government can recover in only one year. Thoughts?

Interesting thread... I'm lurking this morning looking for information and to see how people feel about Cuba and the current state of affairs after Irma (and Maria) let alone embassy issues. Have any of you looked at photos and video of Havana over the last couple of days?

https://www.google.ca/search?q=havana+photos+after+irma&rlz=1C1RNVH_enCA559CA585&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiq14f-prTWAhULqFQKHcnWAYMQsAQIJw&biw=1600&bih=794

https://www.google.ca/search?q=havana+photos+after+irma&rlz=1C1RNVH_enCA559CA585&tbm=vid&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi_lqv_prTWAhUpwFQKHegaAzUQ_AUICygC&biw=1600&bih=794&dpr=1

People are reeling. Like St Maarten, Dominica and St Thomas, to me it seems it will be some time before Havana and other Cuban ports would be able to service tourists properly... I am anxiously awaiting reports from anyone who travels/cruises there over the next few months to give some kind of review, however I suspect ports of calls will be cancelled like the rest of the Eastern Caribbean. I for one am close to cancelling my Sept 2018 voyage next year as after this kind of damage I personally don't believe the Cuban government can recover in only one year. Thoughts?

Wow! They definitely have a lot of cleanup and repair ahead of them, much like the rest of the eastern Caribbean islands. We sail there in May, but are planning to wait and see what O decides to do. We're sure if it's not safe, they'll come up with an alternate cruise itinerary. We're thinking we'll make our decision at that time.

No, from what we read, it gave the impression the existing piers/infrastructure weren't sufficient to handle a regular flow of cruise ships. One thing is for sure, there is definitely going to be more cruise ships going to Cienfuegos and Santiago in the future based on all the cruise lines offering cruises to Cuba.

 

Maybe they just wanted to make sure everything was "ship-shape" before they opened the doors to the massive influx of new US cruisers coming to those ports.

That is why Cuba only gave permissions to some lines & they will not be all going to the same ports on the same day

unlike Cozumel & the likes they will probably only have 2 max in the port at a time

You can check the cruise schedules for Cuban ports

https://www.whatsinport.com/Cuba.html

That is why Cuba only gave permissions to some lines & they will not be all going to the same ports on the same day

 

unlike Cozumel & the likes they will probably only have 2 max in the port at a time

 

You can check the cruise schedules for Cuban ports

 

https://www.whatsinport.com/Cuba.html

Interesting. It looks like the various ports are going to be quite busy with the wide variety of cruise ships scheduled to visit. Hopefully, they'll be able to recover from Irma before they get too far into the season.