Ban On Cuba Travel

[ArubaAce]

Last month I book a 5 night cruise to Cuba out of Miami for Sep 2020 only to find out yesterday that Trump put a restriction on travel to Cuba VIA cruise ship and some of the programs Obama put in place. I was so upset! As an American living in a democracy I don't feel a President should have a say where I can travel to. Years ago when they used to say it was illegal to travel to Cuba that was not really true. The treasury department banned using American Money in Cuba and there were no airlines, cruise ships from USA going there but you could get there thru Canada, Mexico and as long as you exchanged your money to theirs you were fine. Except if they stomped your passport you may have run into some issues coming back so they usually didn't stamp your passport and all they would know is that you went to Canada or Mexico.

[hatteras]

Ace, I saw that today. Who did you book through? I saw a post from Royal Caribbean that they are making new itineraries, along with giving 50% off of the cruise, or 100% cancellation. I know that doesn't make up for not being able to go to Cuba. I was thinking about going, also. Are you still going to Alaska?

[Pegmeister]

While out having lunch today I was talking about the ban. I haven’t heard what the reason for the ban is? There are cruise ships that are already enroute so I assume they won’t be able to dock. So sorry this is happening to you. Hopefully, they will offer a refund or a new itinerary that will interest you.

[robin]

I am so sorry Ace. I know ships change itineraries due to weather and hurricane damage which is an act of nature which is unavoidable or to security concerns. This is just wrong.

[Bri]

Sigh. I’ll keep this concise and say I’m sorry you can’t enjoy the trip you intended. Hopefully you can get a full refund or hopefully a suitable alternative itinerary.

[Andrea J.]

which cruise line Ace?

we were scheduled to do a 5 day Cuba Cruise next week on Carnival.
we booked it 10 days ago. it was a good deal and was a last minute booking.
we received notification today that the CUBA portion is cancelled and they are adding in another stop.
we were offered the opportunity to cancel with full refund and took it.

paul is very disappointed.
me, not so much.

i do not like the way CUBA is assisting the Venezuelan bad guys and I do not like the way Cuba does not share the US $ with their residents.
so as much as I disagree with most EVERYTHING "the Donald" does, this is acceptable.

[MAZOO-2]

I dislike Cuba for a certain situation----Joanne Chesimard. nough said.

[ArubaAce]

It was booked through Norwegian Cruises but I did not pay for the cruise in full. A long time ago, a cruise agent I used to work with taught me never to pay the cruise in full until the due date just the deposit. 20 years ago the deposit was usually $500 a cabin. Norwegian had a special $50 deposit which is all that I paid and I should be able to get refunded. I will probably cancel as they will probably head towards the bahamas which I'm not interested in. I still have my Alaska cruise in September to look forward to.

While I understand some of Trumps reasons like Cuba supporting a dictator in Venezuela Maduro and the one before him Chavez, it doesn't change nothing. The US put strong sanctions on Cuba for 60 years and Castro laughed all the way to his grave. I feel bad for the people though that they get small rations of rice, bread and meat every month. I read somewhere that average wage is like $32 a month and some people where depending on tourism. Oh well it is what it is..

[Andrea J.]

one thing that did not change is family fly in visits.
we have neighbors of cuban heritage and their families are still there.
(2 doors down from us is a retired Cuban airline pilot and his also retired dentist wife...they are in their mid 80s........their siblings and other relatives still live in Cuba)
when the prior administration loosened the travel restraints, it became easier for Cuban Americans to visit their families.
I am glad those familial visits won't be restricted again.

the whole thing with Cuba is a hot mess.

[nancyg56]

On eof my clients has a travel business that specializes in educational trips to Cuba. I have no idea how this will affect h er business. I am not going to get all political here other than to say that all of these seemingly arbitrary decisions this president makes have real life consequences that have a negative impact on so many Americans and their finances. My clients is an owner operator of a small business, one employee and herself. These kinds of decisions can push her little business to closure. It sounds like just 2 people, but that is 100% of her workforce.