What will happen to your cruise to Cuba?

[wyobean]

after the change in policy today...

[3rdGenCunarder]

What has been changed?

[Shmoo here]

3 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

What has been changed?

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-cuba-travel-restrictions-20190417-story.html

 

 

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

 

 

 

There's a thread running on the Ask a Cruise Question forum:

Of course, we just booked a Cuba cruise on our last cruise.☹️

[Sea42]

Family visits only. No "veiled tourism" as of May 2nd.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/17/politics/pompeo-us-cuba-enforcement/index.html

[3rdGenCunarder]

Wow, May 2 is soon. Cruise lines are going to be scrambling for alternate ports. I think HAL's are Cuba and other ports. But some cruises go only to Cuba. 

 

Just looked at HAL's website. 40 cruises go to Cuba. 

Edited April 17, 2019 by 3rdGenCunarder

[Krazy Kruizers]

Gee -- May 2 is just around the corner.

 

And now there are changes.

 

Will be curious to see what HAL will do about these changes.

[laumicmah]

Huh....my June 2020 Carnival cruise to Cuba got changed about 2 weeks ago to Nassau. We cancelled and booked a July 2020 HAL cruise to NE and Canada in it's place. Now I wonder if this had anything to do with it. Maybe they wanted to change some to fill in other ports before all these other ships got in the fray. SIL was also booked and had to cancel and they gave her a hard time getting her deposit back (she booked early saver).

[Granny DI]

I have a cruise booked on the Veendam for Jan 2020. I have not booked airlines etc because I feared this could happen.

This is all about Venezuela. 

We lived in Venezuela for many years during the Regime of Hugo Chavez. His body guards and doctors were Cuban. 

Too many ties between the dictators in Caracas and Havana. 

[Crazy For Cats]

We are booked for Cuba over Christmas.  Air is booked.  Curious to see what HAL will do with the itinerary.

[slidergirl]

30 minutes ago, Granny DI said:

I have a cruise booked on the Veendam for Jan 2020. I have not booked airlines etc because I feared this could happen.

This is all about Venezuela. 

We lived in Venezuela for many years during the Regime of Hugo Chavez. His body guards and doctors were Cuban. 

Too many ties between the dictators in Caracas and Havana. 

 

If this is about Cuban support for Venezuela and the attempt to squeeze Maduro out...

When is the current resident of the White House going to announce a travel ban to Russia?  I guess I had better not book that cruise with the visit to St. Petersburg...

[Djptcp]

We have an Authentic Cuba cruise booked on the Veendam on Oct. 30, 2019 and I just read this:

"MIAMI - The Trump administration is tightening restrictions on travel and remittances to Cuba, reversing the engagement policies of the Obama era while increasing pressure on the island's government in response to its support of the Nicolas Maduro regime in Venezuela.

The changes will be announced during a speech by national security adviser John Bolton at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables Wednesday afternoon.

Travel to Cuba will now be limited to family visits, restricting those deemed as "veiled tourism," said a high-ranking official who spoke on condition of anonymity. That could signal the end of cruises, which started to operate during the Obama years because of an expansion of the categories of travel allowed."

 

Glad we went there last year on Carnival and at least got spend an overnight in Havana. Wonder what will happen with our Veendam cruise with 2 scheduled stops in Cuba (Havana and Cienfuegos). Only reason we booked it was because of the two Cuban ports - hope we can just cancel the whole cruise as we don't want two other ports substituted. We already have another W. Caribbean cruise that leaves this Sunday.

[Sue from Canada]

Oh dear.  This isn't good news.  Glad I did my cruise this past January that had two stops in Cuba.  I even saved my CUCs as I was planning on a 2nd cruise with stops in Cuba.  How sad.

[Despegue]

Good for MSC, Costa and other lines departing from non US ports in the Caribbean. If you want to visit Cuba, you can always go with them 😉

 

Viva 🇨🇺 

 

[myjillian]

Pleased that I was able to check one off my bucket list last Oct. The people that will be affected is, of course, the poorer people who depend on tourism.....

[ChinaShrek]

7 hours ago, Despegue said:

Good for MSC, Costa and other lines departing from non US ports in the Caribbean. If you want to visit Cuba, you can always go with them 😉

 

Viva 🇨🇺 

 

That would still be illegal under the new restrictions if you are a US citizen.

[iancal]

The whole thing is nothing but a gong show.

[CruiseShelly]

Has anyone heard directly from HAL about this situation, and what to expect? I emailed my PCC yesterday and have had no response yet. I am assuming they do not have a plan yet, but would like to know so we can cancel or move to a different cruise if our 4/15/20 Cuba cruise is either cancelled or changed to a glorified Bahamas cruise.

[Copper10-8]

17 minutes ago, CruiseShelly said:

Has anyone heard directly from HAL about this situation, and what to expect? I emailed my PCC yesterday and have had no response yet. I am assuming they do not have a plan yet, but would like to know so we can cancel or move to a different cruise if our 4/15/20 Cuba cruise is either cancelled or changed to a glorified Bahamas cruise.

 

 

This is the official announcement from HAL:

 

“Holland America is evaluating the announcement on Cuba travel, but we have not made any changes to our itineraries. We will continue to monitor the situation and notify booked guests if their itinerary is affected.”

[CruiseShelly]

30 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

This is the official announcement from HAL:

 

“Holland America is evaluating the announcement on Cuba travel, but we have not made any changes to our itineraries. We will continue to monitor the situation and notify booked guests if their itinerary is affected.”

Thank you, Copper. Not 5 minutes ago I did receive this statement my PCC. Doesn't help much, but I certainly won't book anything (air, hotels, etc) until I know what will happen. 

 

[sandyss]

If HAL makes changes to the Cuba itineraries, I hope that they also make changes to the pricing since we are paying premium prices for the cruises that stop in Cuba.

[Granny DI]

1 minute ago, sandyss said:

If HAL makes changes to the Cuba itineraries, I hope that they also make changes to the pricing since we are paying premium prices for the cruises that stop in Cuba.

Agree 100%! DH says if HAL substitutes Bahamas etc....we are bailing! Luckily final payment isn’t for awhile and our deposit was only $100. We’ll lose the $100 to avoid the Bahamas.

[sandyss]

1 hour ago, Granny DI said:

Agree 100%! DH says if HAL substitutes Bahamas etc....we are bailing! Luckily final payment isn’t for awhile and our deposit was only $100. We’ll lose the $100 to avoid the Bahamas.

 

Unless ports that we like are substituted, and the cost reduced, we will bail also - even though we already have air booked.

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, Granny DI said:

Agree 100%! DH says if HAL substitutes Bahamas etc....we are bailing! Luckily final payment isn’t for awhile and our deposit was only $100. We’ll lose the $100 to avoid the Bahamas.

 

Me thinks if HAL is forced to cancel Havana and Cienfuegos (due to new/revised federal regulations) and substitute, say George Town, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, Jamaica, you will see beaucoup cancellations 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

I have no empirical evidence, but IF the cruise lines are forced to remove Cuba from itineraries I could see HAL redeploying the Veendam outside of the Caribbean, or mover her to an alternate homeport.  She is not a competitive offering for the overcrowded 7nt cruise market from FLL/MIA.

[Granny DI]

2 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Me thinks if HAL is forced to cancel Havana and Cienfuegos (due to new/revised federal regulations) and substitute, say George Town, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, Jamaica, you will see beaucoup cancellations 

Our cruise also includes the Caymans and Ocho Rios so to subtract Cuba and add something like Nassau is a no go for us.