Can you wonder on your own or do excursions? RCL says we have to do their tours!

I just called RCL Diamond Plus desk and I was inform by the agent that we are not allow to wonder on our own or do excursions on our own. He said we have to purchase excursion through the cruise ship. Is this correct. Never heard of this.

Can someone help with this

I just called RCL Diamond Plus desk and I was inform by the agent that we are not allow to wonder on our own or do excursions on our own. He said we have to purchase excursion through the cruise ship. Is this correct. Never heard of this.

 

Can someone help with this

This is incorrect. Please read the 4 or 5 threads right below this one as this question has been extensively discussed and answered.

The new regulations do not affect any of our sailings to Cuba. However, self-guided “people-to-people” travel will no longer be allowed. This means that in order to enjoy Cuba, guests will need to participate in a group “people-to-people” tour that complies with the new regulations if they do not qualify for the other categories of authorized travel or hold a specific license issued by OFAC. All Royal Caribbean tours have been designed to comply with the regulations.

In addition, OFAC published a list of prohibited entities where direct financial transactions are not permitted. The list can be found on OFCA's Cuba Restricted List website.

Not true, just returned from Cuba today.

The new regulations do not affect any of our sailings to Cuba. However, self-guided “people-to-people” travel will no longer be allowed. This means that in order to enjoy Cuba, guests will need to participate in a group “people-to-people” tour that complies with the new regulations if they do not qualify for the other categories of authorized travel or hold a specific license issued by OFAC. All Royal Caribbean tours have been designed to comply with the regulations.

 

In addition, OFAC published a list of prohibited entities where direct financial transactions are not permitted. The list can be found on OFCA's Cuba Restricted List website.

Unless you booked before Trump's changes. We did. So we can still do people-to-people travel.

I am on Norwegian in April and was told that if you get the Visa from Norwegian that you can not get off the ship except on a Norwegian excursion. I was told that if you book an independent excursion and get your visa from that excursion company or somewhere else that you can get off the ship anytime.

It is very confusing and since the rules were just changed a couple of months ago, people who traveled several months ago had different rules and we can't go by the way they did it.

I would like to hear from someone who very recently went to Cuba on Norwegian and whether or not they were allowed off the ship with the visa they got from Norwegian or if they had a different visa and how they got it.

I just called RCL Diamond Plus desk and I was inform by the agent that we are not allow to wonder on our own or do excursions on our own. He said we have to purchase excursion through the cruise ship. Is this correct. Never heard of this.

 

Can someone help with this

This is the official line that RCI must give it's passengers and it is technically true. US citizens really can't go to Cuba without being of some "official" people to people tour and all RCI tours do comply. So what is the reality? You will be a given an affidavit you must sign at embarkation in Miami. It is a legal US document stating you are on a cruise line sponsored people to people tour. However, once the ship docks in Havana and disembarkation starts - no one from RCI checks nor does the Cuba officials care. It would be a complete nightmare if security had to check everyone disembarkation the ship. If you do get off the ship with out doing an official RCI "people to people tour" then you are violate of your signed affidavit. However, there is no way the US state department would even remotely check to see if you were in violated your signed affidavit unless maybe you committed some sort of crime and were detained in Cuba. Again, you can freely get on and off the ship in Cuba and you are not required to take any RCI sponsored tour. So why doesn't the cruise line tell you this...because they really can't tell you to violate your signed affidavit plus they would prefer you to booked one of their overpriced tours which does satisfy US law.

I am glad you asked this question. Answers very helpful.

Keith

Just to clarify, the Affidavit has nothing to do with the US State Department. It is for the US Treasury Department, due to the embargo. The only people that might investigate or check it would be the Treasury Department.

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We cruised with Azamara in November. We booked our cruise after 6/16 and were the first cruise to Cuba on Azamara after the regulations changed, just a matter of days before our cruise. The cruise lines appear to lump the visa and the affidavit into one bin, though that is incorrect. But Azamara was definitively using the confusion over the new regulations to sell tours by telling some people they could not have a Visa unless they booked a ship tour each day we were in port. We were not hassled, got our visa without issue and had a fabulous tour with Blexie that we booked ourselves via email before we departed. We tweaked the itinerary to suit our preferences and to make sure we stayed away from the banned sites. Blexie could not be more accommodating. We also ate in private paladars we booked in advance, went to museums on our own, talked to local artist and business owners and lots of other warm and wonderful Cuban People. I've written about it a lot on the Cuba forum as there are so many threads on the subject. Search my name for more details about our tour. I'll cut and paste a past post here that details the Support of the Cuban People reason for travel you should select on your affidavit as well as the applicable regulations and the examples of permissible travel set forth by the Treasury Department.

We were on Azamara's first cruise to Cuba after the regulations changed. I poured over the Code of Federal Regulations and conferenced with colleges from law school who were also planning trips to Cuba, as we had only 2 weeks between the change in the law and our departure. My husband thought I was worrying about nothing, but there was much confusion onboard our cruise and Azamara told a lot of folks they could not have a Visa or leave the ship unless they booked s ship's tour. There was no way I was going to do that in that I hate groups and I firmly believe the Azamara tours were not compliant with the new regulations. We were not given a hard time and that might be because we selected "Support the Cuban People". We booked our own tour through Tours by Blexie (blexie100588@gmail.com), which I can't recommend highly enough. We've had wonderful private guides in Russia and a few spots in Europe, but this really was the best possible experience. Our second day in Havana we toured on our own, though we were paying attention to have "meaningful contact" with the Cuban People, which isn't hard as they are so open and interesting and interested, conversations flow freely. I am confident that our visit complied with the spirit and the letter of the law.

 

I'm pasting the applicable section of the Code of Federal Regulations as well as an example of permissible travel from the Treasury Department's website. I found them helpful and hope you do as well.

 

§ 515.574Support for the Cuban People.

(a) General license. The travel-related transactions set forth in § 515.560© and other transactions that are intended to provide support for the Cuban people are authorized, provided that:

(1) The activities are of:

(i) Recognized human rights organizations;

(ii) Independent organizations designed to promote a rapid, peaceful transition to democracy; or

(iii) Individuals and non-governmental organizations that promote independent activity intended to strengthen civil society in Cuba; and

(2) The traveler's schedule of activities does not include free time or recreation in excess of that consistent with a full-time schedule.

Note to § 515.574(a):

Each person relying on the general authorization in this paragraph must retain specific records related to the authorized travel transactions. See §§ 501.601 and 501.602 of this chapter for applicable recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

 

Example 1 to § 515.574: An individual plans to travel to Cuba, stay in a room at a rented accommodation in a private Cuban residence (casa particular), eat at privately-owned Cuban restaurants (paladares), and shop at privately-owned stores run by self-employed Cubans (cuentapropista) during his or her four-day trip. While at the casa particular, the individual will have breakfast each morning with the Cuban host and engage with the Cuban host to learn about Cuban culture. In addition, the traveler will complete his or her full-time schedule by supporting Cuban entrepreneurs launching their privately-owned businesses. The traveler’s activities promote independent activity intended to strengthen civil society in Cuba. Because the individual’s qualifying activities are not limited to staying in a room at a rented accommodation in a private Cuban residence (casa particular), eating at privately-owned Cuban restaurants (paladares), and shopping at privately owned stores run by self-employed Cubans (cuentapropista) and the traveler maintains a full-time schedule that enhances contact with the Cuban people, supports civil society in Cuba, and promotes the Cuban people’s independence from Cuban authorities, and that results in meaningful interaction between the traveler and Cuban individuals, the individual’s travel qualifies for the general license.

 

 

 

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I am on Norwegian in April and was told that if you get the Visa from Norwegian that you can not get off the ship except on a Norwegian excursion. I was told that if you book an independent excursion and get your visa from that excursion company or somewhere else that you can get off the ship anytime.

 

It is very confusing and since the rules were just changed a couple of months ago, people who traveled several months ago had different rules and we can't go by the way they did it.

 

I would like to hear from someone who very recently went to Cuba on Norwegian and whether or not they were allowed off the ship with the visa they got from Norwegian or if they had a different visa and how they got it.

First thing....the visa is not from Norwegian....Norwegian is purchasing the visa from Cuba for you. You are paying the cruiseline (ours cost $75) and they are just purchasing it for you as a convenience. You can go to a Cuban embassy to get it, but who needs that hassle if the cruiseline will get it. It is a Cuban law that you must get a visa in order to step foot on their land....it's not a cruiseline rule. Since everyone must have one, this obviously has nothing to do with excursions.

The American government is the one who made up the rules of having to choose a license to travel to Cuba. The one to choose is "Support for Cuban People." It does not say you have to take a ship tour or cannot go meet the Cubans on your own. You are promising not to patronize the list of forbidden places. By taking private tours or patronizing the local citizens establishments, you ARE supporting the Cuban people!

Don't let the cruiselines bully you into buying their expensive excursions unless you want to...we did go on one ship tour and it was great....but it was our choice. Everything else we did was on our own or a private tour.

So sorry this is still going on. We did a private tour withBlexie inDec even though we booked after the deadline. Oceania suggested we check people to people on the affidavit but we knew we met the requirements for Supporting the Cuban people. So we checked both. No issues after that.

We had had some pressure to do ship excursion in Vietnam and Russia but did orivate tours with no problems. A shame that people without access to info are being given lmited options. We loved our customized private tour.

So sorry this is still going on. We did a private tour withBlexie inDec even though we booked after the deadline. Oceania suggested we check people to people on the affidavit but we knew we met the requirements for Supporting the Cuban people. So we checked both. No issues after that.

We had had some pressure to do ship excursion in Vietnam and Russia but did orivate tours with no problems. A shame that people without access to info are being given lmited options. We loved our customized private tour.

Do you have the contact info for Blexie?

Thanks

Blexie100588 at gmail dot com.

We cruised with Azamara in November. We booked our cruise after 6/16 and were the first cruise to Cuba on Azamara after the regulations changed, just a matter of days before our cruise. The cruise lines appear to lump the visa and the affidavit into one bin, though that is incorrect. But Azamara was definitively using the confusion over the new regulations to sell tours by telling some people they could not have a Visa unless they booked a ship tour each day we were in port. We were not hassled, got our visa without issue and had a fabulous tour with Blexie that we booked ourselves via email before we departed. We tweaked the itinerary to suit our preferences and to make sure we stayed away from the banned sites. Blexie could not be more accommodating. We also ate in private paladars we booked in advance, went to museums on our own, talked to local artist and business owners and lots of other warm and wonderful Cuban People. I've written about it a lot on the Cuba forum as there are so many threads on the subject. Search my name for more details about our tour. I'll cut and paste a past post here that details the Support of the Cuban People reason for travel you should select on your affidavit as well as the applicable regulations and the examples of permissible travel set forth by the Treasury Department.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Royal has told me numerous times that I would NOT be allowed off the ship without their excursions. They got me SO upset!!:mad:

HOWEVER, I am going to follow everyone's instructions on cruise critic, and am determined to explore on my own. I will be canceling my excursion with Royal as soon as I firm up with my tour guide.

Royal has told me numerous times that I would NOT be allowed off the ship without their excursions. They got me SO upset!!:mad:

 

HOWEVER, I am going to follow everyone's instructions on cruise critic, and am determined to explore on my own. I will be canceling my excursion with Royal as soon as I firm up with my tour guide.

Donna would you mind coming back here and updating after your RCI cruise? I'm going 5/7/18 and would like to know how it went. Have a great time!

Tami

My departure date is after yours, so I'll be looking forward to YOUR report :) ....

This is the official line that RCI must give it's passengers and it is technically true. US citizens really can't go to Cuba without being of some "official" people to people tour and all RCI tours do comply. So what is the reality? You will be a given an affidavit you must sign at embarkation in Miami. It is a legal US document stating you are on a cruise line sponsored people to people tour. However, once the ship docks in Havana and disembarkation starts - no one from RCI checks nor does the Cuba officials care. It would be a complete nightmare if security had to check everyone disembarkation the ship. If you do get off the ship with out doing an official RCI "people to people tour" then you are violate of your signed affidavit. However, there is no way the US state department would even remotely check to see if you were in violated your signed affidavit unless maybe you committed some sort of crime and were detained in Cuba. Again, you can freely get on and off the ship in Cuba and you are not required to take any RCI sponsored tour. So why doesn't the cruise line tell you this...because they really can't tell you to violate your signed affidavit plus they would prefer you to booked one of their overpriced tours which does satisfy US law.

Is it just US citizens who must sign the affidavit or are all embarking passengers required to do so?

My departure date is after yours, so I'll be looking forward to YOUR report :) ....

Hahaha! I'm selecting my tour as we speak with either Blexie, Old car tours, Shore excursioneer, or Havana car. I'll let you know how it is getting off the ship with no RCI excursion booked.

I just came back from a HAL cruise and they are using the same wording to try to get people to book only ship excursions. I had no problem doing a private tour, with Blexie, and I highly recommend him!! I checked the support for the Cuban people, no policing by HAL or Cuban authorities, just walked off and enjoyed my day.

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Are you a US citizen?

We are leaving on the Majesty, May 9th.

No RCI excursions booked.

Have dinner arranged first night ashore, then onto some bars. Maybe a club.

Next day a tour booked vi Blexie from 10 am-4pm (May be a little earlier, ship sails at 4) 130Cu for a group of 4.

2 Brits and 2 US citizens.

I too would like any input on anyone's experience just walking off the ship.

I too would like any input on anyone's experience just walking off the ship.

I was there in October. I did a cruise excursion for 6 hours to be OFAC but then showered and went to a Paladar for dinner and walked around until midnight. The next morning we walked all over into shops, coffee house, markets, etc then back to ship