New rules on visiting Cuba

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is imposing travel and commerce restrictions on Cuba that will make it harder for Americans to visit the island nation.

New rules are coming out Wednesday that put in place President Donald Trump’s partial rollback of the Obama administration’s diplomatic opening with Cuba.

Americans wanting to visit Cuba will have to go as part of organized tour groups run by U.S. companies. A representative of the sponsoring group must accompany the travelers.

The Treasury Department is exempting trips booked before Trump announced his Cuba policy on June 16.

The State Department is also publishing a list of dozens of hotels, shops and other businesses that it says are linked to Cuba’s military. Americans are banned from doing business with them — making travel even more complicated.

List of restricted businesses: https://www.state.gov/e/eb/tfs/spi/cuba/cubarestrictedlist/275331.htm

One of my concerns now would be having to take tours with a US-based tour guide. The tours we took in Cuba, though booked through NCL, were led by Cuba-based companies and Cuban guides. If the ability to use Cuban-based tour companies is gone, I imagine it'll be hard for the cruise lines to book excursions. And there goes your chance to book a personal tour with a Cuban-based tour company.

Here is some info from USA Today:

"One of the biggest changes is to restrict "people-to-people" visas that thousands of Americans have used in recent years to travel to Cuba. The U.S. maintains an economic embargo against Cuba that prohibits travel there solely for tourism. Congress allows for Americans to travel only through certain visa categories, including religious, humanitarian, journalistic, diplomatic and business trips.

The Obama administration expanded those categories, allowing U.S. travelers for the first time to book a flight online to Havana, buy a people-to-people visa at the counter of a U.S. airport and then go on their trip.

Now, those travelers will need to be accompanied by a U.S.-based tour guide who must ensure they are engaging in approved activities that help the Cuban people."

Though Washington Post adds: "U.S. airlines and cruise ships will continue to operate in Cuba under the new regulations." I just wonder what you'll be able to do once you get there.

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Based on this story from Washington Post, I think you'll still be able to cruise to Cuba. The cruise line would be your licensed tour company. The part about being accompanied by a company representative might muddy things a bit, if the cruise line can't just hand your excursion off to a Cuban-based tour company. I'm sure the cruise lines will post info soon. NCL provided information on their site almost immediately regarding Cuba cruises when the announcement was made.

"Most of the 12 categories of authorized Cuba travel are quite narrow, meaning most Americans don’t qualify. However, there’s one broad category: “people-to-people” travel, under the educational activities category. Americans had been using this category to travel to Cuba even before Obama changed the rules in late 2014, but they had to use a licensed group tour company with a set itinerary and a guide.

Under Obama, ordinary Americans could plan their own itineraries, as long as they would engage in “meaningful interaction” with Cubans in ways that “enhance contact with the Cuban people, support civil society in Cuba, or promote the Cuban people’s independence from Cuban authorities.”

Trump’s Cuba policy again prohibits individual Americans from traveling to Cuba under this broad “people-to-people” category. Once again, Americans must travel through a licensed tour company under U.S. jurisdiction and be accompanied by a company representative. Cuban Americans and others who fit the more narrow categories will still be allowed to travel on their own.

Individuals who had made travel arrangements before Trump’s announcement Friday are allowed to complete their trip under the “people-to-people” category. But for the vast majority of Americans, individual travel to Cuba will now be closed, despite what Sen. Marco Rubio would have you believe."

Pretty sad that all of the entrepreneurs who are forcing capitalism in Havana just got cut off at the knees.

Unless they figure out that a virtual tour guide- like AirBnB or Tour Republic, is good enough, then we can only travel with a person you bring with you.

It was certainly fun while it lasted.

I'm curious to see how the other cruise lines respond to the announcement. As pointed out earlier, the big question is whether American can arrange their own itineraries in Cuba, booking through Cuban-owned companies. Or will all activities in Cuba have to be done through official cruise line excursions? We felt our experience this summer was much more meaningful with 3 of us being led by a Cuban tour guide. And it was meaningful to us that our money was going directly to the Cuban-owned company, not to a non-Cuban middleman.

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I'm now kind of glad Viking Ocean went ahead and partnered with Cuba Travel Services to provide tours in Cuba. Many people were annoyed after being told they would need to stay with the tour groups, and not do their own thing. However, if nothing else, we will be legal doing it this way, although technically most of us booked before June 16 and could possibly be considered exempt. I'm curious to see if we can stay off the ship after each tour or if we're going to be restricted. However, even if we have to get back on the ship, I'll be OK with that, as the tours are pretty comprehensive, and Viking is including them in the price of the cruise. I also assume that the tours themselves will be led by Cubans, not Americans, even though Cuba Travel Services is a U.S. company.

I'm disappointed to see tightening of the rules, but since politics are involved, I'm not surprised this happened. At least it appears my cruise won't be negatively impacted.

I was worried when I first heard the news, but I hope to do a cruise to cuba in about 2 years. I booked other cruises once the hurricane's hit this year.

Hopefully there will be some information about cruises and how they are affected. I had heard a few months ago that getting off the ship by yourself might be against the new rules, so unless you are on a ship sponsored excursion you won't be able to get off. That would suck-going by ourselves in a '58 Fairlane convertible to the Tropicana was so much nicer than the cattle call ships bus. I read through what I could find on state.gov and there are no specifics about cruises so we'll have to wait for info.

And it was meaningful to us that our money was going directly to the Cuban-owned company, not to a non-Cuban middleman.

 

 

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How do you know that? Because they told you so?

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How do you know that? Because they told you so?

 

 

 

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Who told you so? Lets not jump the gun. It takes a little time for the new rules to be understood.

Who told you so? Lets not jump the gun. It takes a little time for the new rules to be understood.

I’m just curious... What are the people supposed to tell you. Who gets the money??

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I’m just curious... What are the people supposed to tell you. Who gets the money??

 

 

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Too early to tell where the money will go. Have a feeling it will be the Cuban guides but don't know. Does anyone really have any idea?

How do you know that? Because they told you so?

 

 

 

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Many people handed money directly to Cuban people. You know pretty well when you do that.

And we asked some of the ones who were booked via US companies, and they were happy with how fast the money got to Cuba, as well.

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Many people handed money directly to Cuban people. You know pretty well when you do that.

 

And we asked some of the ones who were booked via US companies, and they were happy with how fast the money got to Cuba, as well.

 

 

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Hope that will continue and the money will go directly to the Cuban people where it should go. No reason to think that it will not.

“Administration officials said the new regulations, which will take effect Thursday, would not affect certain existing transactions. For visitors, that means anyone who has “completed at least one travel-related transaction (such as purchasing a flight or reserving accommodations) prior to” publication of the new regulations in the Federal Register on Thursday.”

Hope that will continue and the money will go directly to the Cuban people where it should go. No reason to think that it will not.

Not sure why you would think it would continue. Since you have to have a US tour guide, you can't just get off the ship and ask a taxi driver for a tour, and hand him money. I doubt you can book via a US web site a Cuban tour guide- and either hand them money or have it transferred. It's unknown if you can book AirBnB places. You'll have to visit the privately owned restaurants with a US guide- and that includes many of the clubs.

With the people to people connection, you could make sure that you support individual entrepreneurs. Now that seems very, very unlikely with the people to people visa going away.

Many people handed money directly to Cuban people. You know pretty well when you do that.

 

And we asked some of the ones who were booked via US companies, and they were happy with how fast the money got to Cuba, as well.

 

 

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I’m not convinced the money doesn’t end up with the Cuban Government.

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I’m not convinced the money doesn’t end up with the Cuban Government.

 

 

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ok, then don't go.

There are shops scattered all over Havana where people can use the CUC's that tourists give them. These are not the shops where they get their rations, but where they can buy more. The shops we went into were filled with Cubans using CUCs and buying stuff- food, water, music, etc. Mind you, the only way Cubans can get CUC's- tourists. At least from a core source. Yes, they pass them onto each other, but CUC's are the only currency that tourists can use, so all the money brought to the island to spend translates into those Cubans spending money in these very open stores.

Some of the money does, all of the registered tour operators and taxi drivers have to pay a fee to the government to do what they are doing. But this is exactly the same as any US business paying US taxes so that they get some services. They pay a fee to be in business so that they can make extra money and live a little more comfortable. In that respect, Cuba and the US are the same.

But if you are so concerned about the Cuban Government, are you similarly concerned with governments of Vietnam and China, both of which are also communist, also have human rights concerns, and are both more influential on a worldwide basis (in direct competition with the US)?

To me, it's incredibly hypocritical to be so concerned about Cuba, but are happy to buy stuff from Vietnam and China. Heck, in terms of actually killing Americans- Vietnam and China have killed WAY, WAY, WAY more American soldiers than Cuba has. So I'm not sure why we are so worried about Cuba.

How do you know that? Because they told you so?

 

 

 

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Good question. I know that because we handed our money directly to our tour guide, at the end of the tour. There was no prepayment online, no credit card.

Since you are posting on this board, I assume you are interested in cruising to Cuba? If so, please feel free to read some of my other posts, or let me know if I can help you with questions. Best wishes!

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Can we get back to what should be the topic? Whether or not you are a Cuba lover or a Cuba hater has been hashed over many times on cruise critic and every time a question comes up someone invariably jumps in and starts that old argument again rather than contributing to the question relevant to cruise critic. I understand there are strong feelings (and I would bet there are a zillion websites dedicated to the Cuba debate that you could post on), but isn't anyone here that either has already or will be cruising to Cuba wondering how this will exactly affect cruises? I skimmed the state department document and it does not mention cruises specifically even though they will be affected, too. What I have heard (and until the cruise lines confirm this, I'm not totally sure) is that you won't be able to get off the ship unless it's a ship sponsored excursion. Which would make it easier for them to prove that the guides would be U.S. based. It would be total chaos if they said you can book a private excursion on your own as long as it's a U.S. based one. How would anyone provide proof and what would be an acceptable form of proof?

For those that have already booked cruises (and other individual travel) the state dept website inferred that the new rules don't apply to pretty much anything that has already been established before today (Nov 9). So I doubt cruises will be cancelled, but it's hard to say at what point they will cease to let you off the ship on your own. And what I would wonder about is any new cruises to Cuba that are announced from Nov 9 onward. They will be drastically different, if they happen at all. It depends on whether the lines think the money they will make is worth the extra hoops they have to jump through.

ok, then don't go.

 

There are shops scattered all over Havana where people can use the CUC's that tourists give them. These are not the shops where they get their rations, but where they can buy more. The shops we went into were filled with Cubans using CUCs and buying stuff- food, water, music, etc. Mind you, the only way Cubans can get CUC's- tourists. At least from a core source. Yes, they pass them onto each other, but CUC's are the only currency that tourists can use, so all the money brought to the island to spend translates into those Cubans spending money in these very open stores.

 

Some of the money does, all of the registered tour operators and taxi drivers have to pay a fee to the government to do what they are doing. But this is exactly the same as any US business paying US taxes so that they get some services. They pay a fee to be in business so that they can make extra money and live a little more comfortable. In that respect, Cuba and the US are the same.

 

But if you are so concerned about the Cuban Government, are you similarly concerned with governments of Vietnam and China, both of which are also communist, also have human rights concerns, and are both more influential on a worldwide basis (in direct competition with the US)?

 

To me, it's incredibly hypocritical to be so concerned about Cuba, but are happy to buy stuff from Vietnam and China. Heck, in terms of actually killing Americans- Vietnam and China have killed WAY, WAY, WAY more American soldiers than Cuba has. So I'm not sure why we are so worried about Cuba.

We saw 4 men in police uniforms in old Havana with 1 bag. Guide said they were collecting money from busineses.Pointed out their van.

We saw 4 men in police uniforms in old Havana with 1 bag. Guide said they were collecting money from busineses.Pointed out their van.

Yea, and we were told they were collecting fees. And yet there are plenty of people buying goods in the CUC stores all around Havana. So it's not all of the money.

List of restricted businesses: https://www.state.gov/e/eb/tfs/spi/cuba/cubarestrictedlist/275331.htm

 

One of my concerns now would be having to take tours with a US-based tour guide. The tours we took in Cuba, though booked through NCL, were led by Cuba-based companies and Cuban guides. If the ability to use Cuban-based tour companies is gone, I imagine it'll be hard for the cruise lines to book excursions. And there goes your chance to book a personal tour with a Cuban-based tour company.

 

Here is some info from USA Today:

"One of the biggest changes is to restrict "people-to-people" visas that thousands of Americans have used in recent years to travel to Cuba. The U.S. maintains an economic embargo against Cuba that prohibits travel there solely for tourism. Congress allows for Americans to travel only through certain visa categories, including religious, humanitarian, journalistic, diplomatic and business trips.

 

The Obama administration expanded those categories, allowing U.S. travelers for the first time to book a flight online to Havana, buy a people-to-people visa at the counter of a U.S. airport and then go on their trip.

 

Now, those travelers will need to be accompanied by a U.S.-based tour guide who must ensure they are engaging in approved activities that help the Cuban people."

Despite what USA Today might say, there is no such thing as a "people -to-people visa". For US citizens travelling to Cuba there are two things, a visa (or travel card) issued by the Cuban government, and the affadavit required by the US government, wherein "people-to-people" is one of the options. Two different documents by two different governments.