New restrictions on travel to Cuba

[marienbad]

Just heard that the Trump administration will limit American citizen travel to Cuba by only permitting such travel to family members of Cubans. 

We have a cruise on the Explorer booked next March. I guess they’ll change the itinerary if the new policy sticks.

[AdventureKenandCar]

We are supposed to sail on RC on June 23...in 67 days!  I hope there's some kind of grace period.

 

[Kwaj girl]

Hmmm...we are scheduled to go there this December on the Explorer.  Originally was Grand Cayman on the itinerary - then last September they changed it to Havana.   Stay tuned, I suppose....

[marienbad]

16 minutes ago, Kwaj girl said:

Hmmm...we are scheduled to go there this December on the Explorer.  Originally was Grand Cayman on the itinerary - then last September they changed it to Havana.   Stay tuned, I suppose....

 

[marienbad]

I’ve notified Regent about the news report. If implemented this new policy will cause many logistics problems. 

[1985rz1]

Do you have a link to the news report?  

[marienbad]

11 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

Do you have a link to the news report?  

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article229341009.html

[Brownie54]

Does not sound good for future cruises to Cuba. We are booked on the Mariner October 15-22 to celebrate our 65th birthdays, along with my sister and brother-in-law. It will be interesting to see how Regent responds.

[wishIweretravelling]

8 minutes ago, Brownie54 said:

Does not sound good for future cruises to Cuba. We are booked on the Mariner October 15-22 to celebrate our 65th birthdays, along with my sister and brother-in-law. It will be interesting to see how Regent responds.

A friend and I are also booked on that cruise. I suspect that, if existing plans are not grandfathered, Regent will switch it to a more traditional Caribbean cruise. Which would not appeal to us. We made our own air arrangements, so I suppose we'll just be out that money.

[Brownie54]

We are unlikely to want a traditional Caribbean cruise as well. We made our own air arrangements too, so we think we will be in the same boat. Sorry for the pun.

[Kwaj girl]

Regent, of course, has no control over this, and the T&C does specify that itinerary changes can happen.  I wonder, though, as these ships are not US-flagged vessels....can Regent or other cruise lines be forced to follow this new process especially since passengers are not all US citizens?

[papaflamingo]

We, too, have a cruise booked in 2020 to specifically spend the night in Havana.  Guess I'll need to look for something else.  We opted not to go last Feb. with friends.  Guess we'll regret that decision. 

[Travelcat2]

1 hour ago, Kwaj girl said:

Regent, of course, has no control over this, and the T&C does specify that itinerary changes can happen.  I wonder, though, as these ships are not US-flagged vessels....can Regent or other cruise lines be forced to follow this new process especially since passengers are not all US citizens?

 

Although Regent ships are not "US-flagged vessels", they did follow the travel ban for Cuba for years (as did other U.S. based cruise lines).  I find it interesting that some people complained when their itinerary changed to include Cuba and now it is likely that some will be upset that they will not be going to Cuba.

 

IMHO, the whole thing about where the headquarters for a cruise line is located vs. where the ship is flagged is convoluted.  Regent clearly caters to residents of the U.S., then Canada and other countries.  I cannot imagine Regent filling a ship with non-U.S. passengers.  

 

Of the four major luxury cruise lines that U.S. passengers sail on (Crystal, Regent, Seabourn and Silversea), I consider Regent and Seabourn to be U.S. companies.  Crystal is Asian owned and I believe that Silversea is/was Italian before the majority of the cruise line was purchased by Royal Caribbean (which I assume now makes it a U.S. based cruise line).

 

As I have mentioned previously, we have visited Cuba "illegally" twice and loved it.  There were no restrictions put on us as to where we could or could not go (which is the same for people in most of the world).  However, In my opinion, it behooves Regent to follow what the U.S. government dictates - whether we like it or not.

 

 

Edited April 18, 2019 by Travelcat2

[Kwaj girl]

Glad we went last month on the Voyager, but won't be upset if we don't return on our Dec Explorer cruise.  For us, once was enough.  Too bad,  though, as we were looking forward to the "farm to table" excursion in Havana but that's about it.

[wishIweretravelling]

We don’t know for certain yet that cruise stops will be cancelled. It should become clearer in the next couple of weeks.

[forgap]

We went to Cuba n a “people to people” land trip and loved everything we were able to do.   This type of tour gets you up close and personal with the Cuban people which, I guess, is the whole point.  What a disappointment to curb tourism from the US.  

[MalbecWine]

55 minutes ago, forgap said:

We went to Cuba n a “people to people” land trip and loved everything we were able to do.   This type of tour gets you up close and personal with the Cuban people which, I guess, is the whole point.  What a disappointment to curb tourism from the US.  

Well, you know who to blame for that.  Sad, as the Cuban people are lovely and so much  history.

[rallydave]

A clarification on whether Regent or other cruise lines are US Companies.  For sure Regent and other cruise lines under the NCLH umbrella are NOT US companies.  They have their home offices in the US but, are registered in foreign companies, Panama I believe.

 

Thus most if not all US based cruise lines in fact are foreign registered just like their ships which are all foreign based except the Spirit of Hawaii which is US flagged in order for them to comply with the Jones Act.

 

Just like many multinational companies where the home office is located does not determine where the company is registered.  For instance many true US companies are registered in Delaware for business reasons however don't have any true offices there.   

[mrlevin]

14 hours ago, wishIweretravelling said:

A friend and I are also booked on that cruise. I suspect that, if existing plans are not grandfathered, Regent will switch it to a more traditional Caribbean cruise. Which would not appeal to us. We made our own air arrangements, so I suppose we'll just be out that money.

 

It will be great to travel with you again; that is, assuming, we are still going to Cuba.

 

Marc

[Travelcat2]

1 hour ago, rallydave said:

A clarification on whether Regent or other cruise lines are US Companies.  For sure Regent and other cruise lines under the NCLH umbrella are NOT US companies.  They have their home offices in the US but, are registered in foreign companies, Panama I believe.

 

Thus most if not all US based cruise lines in fact are foreign registered just like their ships which are all foreign based except the Spirit of Hawaii which is US flagged in order for them to comply with the Jones Act.

 

Just like many multinational companies where the home office is located does not determine where the company is registered.  For instance many true US companies are registered in Delaware for business reasons however don't have any true offices there.   

 

You have brought this up before.  No one said that Regent was registered in the U.S. - what I said was "IMHO, the whole thing about where the headquarters for a cruise line is located vs. where the ship is flagged convoluted.   Regent clearly caters to residents of the U.S...................."

 

Regardless of where Regent is registered, their customer base is in the U.S. and, as also mentioned, I doubt if Regent could fill one of their ships with non-U.S. citizens/residents in order to go to Cuba.  Keep in mind that none of the ships from major cruise lines (NCLH, Royal Caribbean or Carnival) went to Cuba prior to our former President opening the doors for U.S. visitors.  Regent also pays attention to government dictates and warnings in terms of where they do and do not visit with their ships.

 

So, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck (or in this case, it is a U.S. cruise line for all intents and purposes other than its' registration).🦆

Edited April 18, 2019 by Travelcat2

[rallydave]

13 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

I consider Regent and Seabourn to be U.S. companies.

They are not US Companies as not registered or incorporated in the US.

Edited April 18, 2019 by rallydave

[hypercafe]

I would guess if US citizens are not allowed to go to Cuba again if they are on the ship then they will not be allowed off. In the past I cruised oh HL and they didn't take US citizens on cruises that stopped in Cuba. Guess time will tell 

 

[rcandkc]

I’m in the minority here.  After being a young child during the Cuban missile scare in Houston and having constant disaster drills, I had recurrent nightmares for long time.  I have no desire to go to Cuba and will not go on a cruise stopping there.  I understand others want to go and I have no problem with that. However, so many of the Caribbean cruises were stopping there it made it harder to choose a cruise for us.  I do hope something works out for those that really want to visit though. 

[Portolan]

1 hour ago, hypercafe said:

I would guess if US citizens are not allowed to go to Cuba again if they are on the ship then they will not be allowed off. In the past I cruised oh HL and they didn't take US citizens on cruises that stopped in Cuba. Guess time will tell 

 

 

Since the majority (by a wide margin) of the passengers on Regent cruises are Americans, I see no way they'd go to Cuba if the restrictions are put into place as described.  Note that this is much tighter than the person-to-person/educational context of earlier restrictions (before those in place until a day or so ago which were much looser).  No way that a cruise ship could certify that everyone was visiting family.

 

As for those who have suggested that since Regent ships might not have to adhere to the new policy because they are foreign flagged, imagine the situation when you bring a shipload of Americans into Miami..."would the hundreds of you who visited Cuba please step to the side."

 

We went to Cuba in December on the Voyager and enjoyed the one day port call in Havana.  It looks like we'll all have to wait a couple of years to do so again.

[Travelcat2]

2 hours ago, rallydave said:

They are not US Companies as not registered or incorporated in the US.

 

Not sure that you are reading what I'm posting.  I did not say that that Regent is registered or incorporated in the United States.  It is based in the United States, follows directives from the United States government and has a customer base that is approximately 80% from the United States.  

 

Finally, I agree with Portolan!

Edited April 18, 2019 by Travelcat2