Travel restrictions to Cuba. Cruises may be coming to an end.

[Fouremco]

7 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

Iancal - does Canada have any restrictions on any countries?  

Not Ian, but to answer your question, Canada has no restrictions on what countries can be visited. It does provide travel advisories for all countries, updated on an ongoing basis, dealing with such subjects as security, health, documents required, etc., as well as a risk level for each country. A few examples:

 

Central African Republic - AVOID ALL TRAVEL

Cuba - Take normal security precautions

Sri Lanka - AVOID NON-ESSENTIAL TRAVEL

United States - Take normal security precautions

 

For more information: https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/advisories

[iancal]

I cannot imagine for the life of me why Canada would have any travel restrictions on visiting any country.  Other than the usual safety issues.

 

And if we did, how would we justify it or differentiate between acceptable countries and unacceptable countries?   OK to visit, for example Egypt, Russian Federation,  China, Albania, Cambodia,  Vietnam, Thailand , etc (cruises stop in all of these countries),  but not OK to visit Cuba or some other country?   I believe that it would be out of the realm for our legislators nor would the public support it.  And we are a somewhat conservative country.

Edited April 28, 2019 by iancal

[GUEST71919]

17 hours ago, iancal said:

I cannot imagine for the life of me why Canada would have any travel restrictions on visiting any country.  Other than the usual safety issues.

 

And if we did, how would we justify it or differentiate between acceptable countries and unacceptable countries?   OK to visit, for example Egypt, Russian Federation,  China, Albania, Cambodia,  Vietnam, Thailand , etc (cruises stop in all of these countries),  but not OK to visit Cuba or some other country?   I believe that it would be out of the realm for our legislators nor would the public support it.  And we are a somewhat conservative country.

 

I agree!  It is the uneven application of the travel restrictions by counties that feel particularly unfair. We are free to travel to some highly dangerous lands, places with citizenry who hold a grudge against our own government and places with a lack of respect for the rights of large groups of its citizens (based on gender, sexual orientation, and political or religous beliefs). So I can go to Russia, Congo, India, Turkey, but not to Cuba? The regulations do not seem logical; in my view the regulations should not be determined by the feelings and/or opinions of an small faction of people to be applied against us all. But then there is the core issue - why are fully functioning adults being told that they cannot travel anywhere on this planet (or off) by anyone?

Edited April 29, 2019 by 2Beeze

[cruisemom42]

4 hours ago, 2Beeze said:

 

I agree!  It is the uneven application of the travel restrictions by counties that feel particularly unfair. We are free to travel to some highly dangerous lands, places with citizenry who hold a grudge against our own government and places with a lack of respect for the rights of large groups of its citizens (based on gender, sexual orientation, and political or religous beliefs). So I can go to Russia, Congo, India, Turkey, but not to Cuba? The regulations do not seem logical; in my view the regulations should not be determined by the feelings and/or opinions of an small faction of people to be applied against us all. But then there is the core issue - why are fully functioning adults being told that they cannot travel anywhere on this planet (or off) by anyone?

 

Like a constitutional monarch with limited powers, it seems to me that governments should mainly "advise and warn" about travel to its citizens.

 

That said, I am also willing to accept responsibility for what happens to me. If I am traveling to a place that my government has warned against, I realize I'm taking a risk (some risks being greater than others...) and that if something should happen, it is not the government's responsibility to "get me home".  There may be cases where it is in their interest to do so, but I don't regard it as their obligation, especially if I have gone "against warning".

 

Of course, there are a few cases where I think restricting travel is necessary -- such as to active war zones or to places (e.g., to ISIS-held parts of Syria in the last few years) where one could potentially travel and return to the US with skills or ideological beliefs that pose a threat to the lives of citizens in that country....

[slidergirl]

3 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Like a constitutional monarch with limited powers, it seems to me that governments should mainly "advise and warn" about travel to its citizens.

 

That said, I am also willing to accept responsibility for what happens to me. If I am traveling to a place that my government has warned against, I realize I'm taking a risk (some risks being greater than others...) and that if something should happen, it is not the government's responsibility to "get me home".  There may be cases where it is in their interest to do so, but I don't regard it as their obligation, especially if I have gone "against warning".

 

Of course, there are a few cases where I think restricting travel is necessary -- such as to active war zones or to places (e.g., to ISIS-held parts of Syria in the last few years) where one could potentially travel and return to the US with skills or ideological beliefs that pose a threat to the lives of citizens in that country....

 

You were lucky - you did get to visit Aleppo and Palmyra before the current war broke out, right?  It's something I'll regret not being able to do.  The closest I got was Jeresh, Jordan.  It would have been a 6 hour drive and I couldn't get anyone to go with me (we had 3 days in Amman waiting for flights home).

 

I was in Israel in late January/early February 1998.  It was when Saddam was lobbing Scud missles.  Fortunately, none in Tel Aviv when I was in the city.  BUT, one did land a couple blocks from my ex's business partner's office a few days before we arrived.  But, hey, we knew the danger.  We were running distance down the Promenade from the US Embassy, where we would have to go to get our gas masks (since we were not Jewish Israelis)...  But we had a wonderful time when he was not working - went up north to Haifa, across the Carmel Mts to the Druze villages, to Jerusalem, to Jericho, to Masada.  

Edited April 29, 2019 by slidergirl