Travel to Cuba coming to an end?

[ZandZ]

My Canadian family travels to Cuba regularly.  I know a lot of people who travel to Cuba via either Canada or Mexico regularly.  Cuban people will for sure suffer from this foolishness but IF there is evil going on, our 'merican dollars wont stop it.  Let us all be real for a second.  

[ZandZ]

Just now, travelingtink said:

Captain just made the announcement that we are not docking in Cuba. They have not yet determined alternatives. 😥🤬

I am very sorry!  😞 

[arasg]

According to the OFAC existing bookings should be honored. The cruise lines need direction on how to accomplish this....

 

 

6. Are authorized travelers who have initiated travel arrangements prior to the addition of an

entity or subentity on the State Department’s Cuba Restricted List required to cancel their

Cuba-related travel plans if their travel arrangements involve direct financial transactions

with a listed entity or subentity?

UPDATED June 4, 2019. Questions are current as of the dates indicated below.

 

Consistent with the Administration’s interest in avoiding negative impacts on Americans for

arranging lawful travel to Cuba, any travel-related arrangements that include direct financial

transactions with entities and subentities that appear on the State Department’s Cuba Restricted

List will continue to be permitted, provided that those travel arrangements were initiated prior to

the State Department’s addition of the entity or subentity to the list. Once the State Department

adds an entity or subentity to the Cuba Restricted List, new direct financial transactions with the

entity or subentity will not be permitted, unless authorized by OFAC or exempt. For a complete

description of the scope of the prohibition on direct financial transactions and the restrictions and

exceptions that apply, see 31 CFR § 515.209. [11-08-2017]

 

 

[gonna go cruising]

1 minute ago, travelingtink said:

Captain just made the announcement that we are not docking in Cuba. They have not yet determined alternatives. 😥🤬

I am very sorry Tink. We sail June 15 and are waiting on the verdict for ours too. 

Since you are already aboard, I hope you have a great trip regardless. 

[ZandZ]

That would be awesome.  We shall wait and see.....  My TA is not as hopeful.

 

[MsMills79]

I just read on carnivals website that they are offering full refunds if people don’t want to go on the alternate cruise. I hope Royal Caribbean does the same but I have a feeling they won’t. 

[Jayhawk]

7 minutes ago, gonna go cruising said:

I am very sorry Tink. We sail June 15 and are waiting on the verdict for ours too. 

Since you are already aboard, I hope you have a great trip regardless. 

That was MSC? 😞  UG....I thought they'd at least keep going....

[travelingtink]

10 minutes ago, Jayhawk said:

That was MSC? 😞  UG....I thought they'd at least keep going....

 

Yes MSC. The captain said that since we embarked in the US we could not dock in Havana. As bad as I feel for myself, it’s worse for all the non US citizens on board that are now affected by this. 

[SGilly]

31 minutes ago, travelingtink said:

 

Yes MSC. The captain said that since we embarked in the US we could not dock in Havana. As bad as I feel for myself, it’s worse for all the non US citizens on board that are now affected by this. 

Agreed-bad for the non-American's and even worse for any passengers who thought they would be visiting relatives in Cuba. Have they offered you a refund or any compensation yet? I'm scheduled on the NCL Sun for 7/15...waiting to hear of our fate.

[MrsHC]

From the Cruise Line International Association:

 

CUBA TRAVEL UPDATE

Today the United States Government announced the immediate implementation of new regulations that prohibit previously approved cruise line travel to Cuba from the United States. Without warning, CLIA cruise line members are forced to eliminate all Cuba destinations from all itineraries effective immediately. This affects nearly 800,000 passenger bookings that are scheduled or already underway. All these bookings had been made under a general license previously issued by the United States Government that authorized "people to people" travel to Cuba. The new rules effectively make it illegal to cruise to Cuba from the United States. While this situation is completely beyond our control, we are genuinely sorry for all cruise line guests who were looking forward to their previously booked itineraries to Cuba.

[Houndfish]

Warning issued 4-17-19.

No one thought the wheels of gov't would move that quickly without offering a meaningful transition period.

[Diggylicious]

Is there a realistic and fair way to segregate the pre-June 5 passengers from the rest ?   This is probably why a number of cruise lines are already canceling the future Cuba itineraries.  

 

Kind of sad.  Cuba is  a fascinating destination compared to most of the just another island ports in the Caribbean.

[El turista]

For anyone in the July 21 sailing on the Empress of the Seas, the ship will skip Cuba and will now sail from Miami, then Key West, at sea, Costa Maya, Cozumel, at sea and returning to Miami. The ship had only 11 cabins to be booked when I checked the website yesterday before midnight. I called Royal Caribbean to ask and I was let know this is the "preliminary" itinerary. There are not planning to give any sort of compensation for this. 

[Granny DI]

3 minutes ago, Houndfish said:

Warning issued 4-17-19.

No one thought the wheels of gov't would move that quickly without offering a meaningful transition period.

We cancelled our Cuba cruise 4-17-19. I didn’t want any surprises.

Plenty of should of’s In my life.....should have gone to Cuba in 2017, Istanbul in the 70’s along with other beautiful cities in the Middle East now destroyed.

[jkeller527]

We were on the last MSC cruise . Havana is amazing and it is totally going to hurt them . THey are saying if you had a flight then you would still be able to go but cruises are exempt. They can sail from other ports but no US port. It is really sad as it was the highlight of a 7 day MSC cruise . 

[Houndfish]

I'm going to wait and see what RCI does. I'm in now for min deposit so cancelling is no issue.

Glad I went in 2018.

[Wyoming2010]

Great article out this morning -- and even a Cruise Critic commentator said everyone is left hanging  https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/cuba-cruise-ship-ban-unsettles-travelers/ar-AACoJ0H?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=mailsignout

 

So 18 months of planning the cruise and road trip could be all for nothing!  And I am not interested in this itinerary turning into a regular Caribbean cruise -- been there and done that too many times! 

[quakershaker]

This just appeared on my Royal Caribbean portal. Substituted ports are key west, Cozumel, costa maya. I will cancel at 50% penalty and work on getting the remainder through insurance 

 

[ml64]

FROM NCL:

UBA TRAVEL POLICY UPDATE #2 June 5, 2019 12:30 PM ET (4:30 PM UTC)

On June 4, 2019, the U.S. government announced new travel restrictions to Cuba. As a result, we have ceased all calls to the country and are modifying previously scheduled sailings as appropriate. We thank our guests and travel partners for their patience as we navigate this unexpected, last-minute change, and we will of course continue to share information with them as soon as additional details become available.

[Wyoming2010]

10 minutes ago, ml64 said:

FROM NCL:

UBA TRAVEL POLICY UPDATE #2 June 5, 2019 12:30 PM ET (4:30 PM UTC)

On June 4, 2019, the U.S. government announced new travel restrictions to Cuba. As a result, we have ceased all calls to the country and are modifying previously scheduled sailings as appropriate. We thank our guests and travel partners for their patience as we navigate this unexpected, last-minute change, and we will of course continue to share information with them as soon as additional details become available.

 

I am going to go ahead and assume that this is not just temporary and will affect all cruises the rest of this year!  We sail in October, and will now be looking to do something else. 

[corinnv]

I have been checking my Royal account all day.  My Majesty 7/22 5 night  Key West, Havana has been changed to Key west, Nassau... Yuck 😣  I hope this helps others with their planning. 

[Jayhawk]

1 hour ago, Houndfish said:

Warning issued 4-17-19.

No one thought the wheels of gov't would move that quickly without offering a meaningful transition period.

What about those who booked this trip prior to April 19?  (Effectively anyone cruising this month.)

[Jzx1103]

6 minutes ago, Jayhawk said:

What about those who booked this trip prior to April 19?  (Effectively anyone cruising this month.)

Don't matter, cruiselines are already changing their itineraries beginning with today's sailings.

[Wyoming2010]

14 minutes ago, Cienfuegos said:

On a closely related note, the lawsuit to block cruise ship access to Cuban facilities is still in the picture. Since the Trump administration ban on travel could be reversed, it is unlikely the lawsuit will be dismissed.

 

Does this mean that there's a possibility cruises later in the year might go?

 

[MsMills79]

13 minutes ago, corinnv said:I have been checking my Royal account all day.  My Majesty 7/22 5 night  Key West, Havana has been changed to Key west, Nassau... Yuck 😣  I hope this helps others with their planning. 

That sucks. I will be pissed if Nassau is where we end up. Tired of going there. That port is boring. Plus not worth the amount I spent to go. Smh Carnival is giving passengers the option to cancel with full refund. RC won’t ever see again if they don’t offer at least some credit if I get stuck going to Nassau.