brazoseagle Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 http://www.travelzoo.com/vacations/caribbean/-1899-Cuba-Escorted-Getaway-incl-Meals-Air-Tax-1180991/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habanos2000 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I didn't feel like joining the web site to see the details, so I can't comment on the legitimacy of this offer, but just recently I received a travel catalog from National Geographic for an escorted and sanctioned trip to Cuba for us unfortunate US citizens. I believe it was about $5000 per person for a week or 10 days and a pretty nice itinerary that covered many parts of the island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danistalking Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 $5000 is way over priced...sorry USA.. There's a video I saw on youtube about this and what I gathered is that you can't stray too much away or at all from the tours and seminars that happen everyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 A friend of ours and his wife from St. Louis are joining us in Havana at the end of the month. He got one of those legal "cultural exchange" trips. I think he paid about $2,500 each excluding flights but he says he's been waiting to get to Cuba for 50 years so it's worth it. While there he is supposed to stick with the tour but we'll sort that out for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdryder Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Can Americans fly to a different country first then to Cuba or is that not allowed either? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Can Americans fly to a different country first then to Cuba or is that not allowed either? I've met quite a few Americans in Cuba who did just that. It's legal to go there as far as I know, just not legal to spend any money while there. Passports are not stamped at the airport in Havana but I suppose the difficulty might be explaining two consecutive entry stamps into Cancun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyC Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I just returned from Cuba yesterday. I have been to Cuba four times now and Usually have Americans on my flight. What they do in my area ( Windsor Ontario ) is cross the international border at Detroit and take the direct flight out of Windsor to Cuba. Because they do not stamp your passport in Cuba it is not an issue. The only issue is ( if you are a Cigar Aficionado ) is getting your cigars across the border between Canada and the United States. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sg1234 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I've met quite a few Americans in Cuba who did just that. It's legal to go there as far as I know, just not legal to spend any money while there. Passports are not stamped at the airport in Havana but I suppose the difficulty might be explaining two consecutive entry stamps into Cancun. Head over to the Lonely Planet Cuba Travel forum and read a few of the several trip reports by Americans who have said the double-entry passport stamp is a non-issue. If an American is still paranoid, you could book one-way tickets through 2 different gateway countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfenst Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 There are thousands of Americans who go to Cuba to visit family or on educational or other type of sanctioned trip every year. you just need a reason. It cant just because you want to lie on a beach and smoke cigars... +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCgarman Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Sorry Shlomo, but us common folk Americans have no control over your requests. If the embargo ends, you can bet your bottom dollar that corporate America i.e. McDonalds and WalMart will certainly want a piece of the pie. No doubt in my mind. So, keep sayin your prayers that the embargo never ends for your sake, LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murri Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Agreed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloth Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 this is one of the nice things about being broke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbass Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I refuse to slam Americans because of their government's policies because as years go by and the more I pay attention to the voting process in the US, I see that the government is one entity and the people are another.. Being a Canadian who travels to the US, I see that at the end of the day we are very similar in our ways of thinking and our day to day lives so there's no sense in me simply taking pot shots at any American simply because of their leaders. I believe that greed and the dark side of capitalism is where we should direct out attention and disdain.. What will improve in the near future?? Very little. Count on it!! The one thing we can focus on is what life is like without all of the corporate giants mentioned above and the only place in our hemisphere we can examine this is in Cuba. It is pretty surreal to walk down Havana streets and see NO evidence of ANYTHING corporate. I feel sad for those who can't visit Cuba and witness this for themselves and feel very sad for those who DON'T have the access to Cuban cigars on a daily basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brazoseagle Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 I didn't feel like joining the web site to see the details, so I can't comment on the legitimacy of this offer, but just recently I received a travel catalog from National Geographic for an escorted and sanctioned trip to Cuba for us unfortunate US citizens. I believe it was about $5000 per person for a week or 10 days and a pretty nice itinerary that covered many parts of the island. Travelzoo is a very popular site for travel deals. Each week they release their top 20 deals. This was one from this week's top 20. It's $1899 and it includes airfare, stay at the hotel Nacional guide and all meals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 If I was Cuban, living in Cuba, I'd probably fcin' love a McDonalds every now and then. For all kinds of reasons. Not to mention KFC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bcrowell Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Whatever you Americans decide to do (or are allowed to do eventually), please do not allow Wal-Mart or McDonalds to open anywhere near Revolution Square, and keep those idiot spring break college kids going to the Dominican and making a messs of things there please. Thanks. I resemble that remark! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danistalking Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 If I was Cuban, living in Cuba, I'd probably fcin' love a McDonalds every now and then. For all kinds of reasons. Not to mention KFC. So true. We take all of that for granted..more than we know. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazolaman Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I know you guys obviously have no control. I just fear and loathe the day that I stoll on the Malecon in Havana and see a Starbucks, next to a Second Cup, next to a Disney Store, next to a Victoria Secret, next to a JC Penny...I hope every cigar or rum lover, or any true traveller gets to visit and enjoy the wonderful country and the amazing places and people, but, it is a scary thought what will happen once it is opened up. Globalization will eventually take over Cuba and sweep through its wonderful streets and plazas, but until that day, I need to visit as much as possible! That's one of the many beaties of the island, there are none of the identikit shops that make every world city the same. I also think it is kind of pompous of me to expect a country to remain a certain way for my amusement, but I dearly hope they do not welcome all that crap. If you look at the population, poor though they are, they aren't fat, and they have good teeth.... If I was Cuban, living in Cuba, I'd probably fcin' love a McDonalds every now and then. For all kinds of reasons. Not to mention KFC. That's my experience of being there, sadly in my view, the power of symbolism had worked, and they were desperate for coca cola and mcdonalds etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I also think it is kind of pompous of me to expect a country to remain a certain way for my amusement That sums up how I'd feel about it too. What I mean by my McDonalds remark is that it's very nice to go and visit Havana and see how little things have changed in 50 years, the unspoilt romance of it all etc. None of us have to live there though and very few of us who have been there have seen how Cubans have to live. I eat very well when I go to Cuba but I don't have to save up for it or wonder when I'll next get to have a decent meal. As for the look of the place, it's very nice but occupied buildings regularly collapse in Cuba. http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=61095 I remember rain storms in Havana in February 2010 when streets in Vieja had to be closed off because stone balconies were coming down from the weight of the water. I sat in the lobby of the Parque Central and had a hamburger brought to me. It makes no more sense telling Cubans they shouldn't change the landscape than it does telling Zambians they shouldn't burn wood to cook because it contributes to deforestation and global warming. In an ideal world, Cubans themselves would introduce planning regulations along with sound preservation policies and programs when the market does open up, there are thousands of buildings of historical significance in Havana. Let McDonalds etc in, why not? Why should Cubans be deprived of the choice to go or not. Let foreign companies follow planning, health and employment legislation drafted by Cubans. As they do in other countries. Cuba could certainly use the foreign investment, give a chain shore/restaurant a 5-10 year lease on a building in return for approved restoration and making good the water mains and sewers on the street. Signage etc. would have to follow Cuban planning regulations as it does in many other areas. Of course, I'm talking about an ideal world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goalie204 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 An american friend is going on one of those tours to Cuba. Not sure what he payed, but its chartered and a whole plane full of them going out of JFK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puros Y Vino Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I know you guys obviously have no control. I just fear and loathe the day that I stoll on the Malecon in Havana and see a Starbucks, next to a Second Cup, next to a Disney Store, next to a Victoria Secret, next to a JC Penny...I hope every cigar or rum lover, or any true traveller gets to visit and enjoy the wonderful country and the amazing places and people, but, it is a scary thought what will happen once it is opened up. Globalization will eventually take over Cuba and sweep through its wonderful streets and plazas, but until that day, I need to visit as much as possible! Well put. Some places really should keep their cultural roots intact. I've been all over Italy and have yet to come across a Starbucks. Whereas in Paris and Barcelona they were present. As an espresso fanatic, seeing the SB stores was kind of sad. There was still great local coffee but over time they'll diminish as they don't have the buying power of the larger chains. It seems that the Italians are doing something right in keeping them off their streets. I don't travel to those cities to eat McDonalds and drink Starbucks coffee. I got to eat pizza, tapas and mille fuelle and drink real espresso. The only ubiquity I can get behind is proper washroom facilities. If the Cubans want McDonald's, then hopefully they can travel to America for that experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlohaStyle Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 You guys are all wrong and can stop the guessing game... McDonald's is already on Cuba! There's one in Guantanamo Bay... And for the record, I think it is so weird that there is an American military base on Cuba, but yet American citizens in "the land of the free" can't even visit the country!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drake2k Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I've met quite a few Americans in Cuba who did just that. It's legal to go there as far as I know, just not legal to spend any money while there. Passports are not stamped at the airport in Havana but I suppose the difficulty might be explaining two consecutive entry stamps into Cancun. Not legal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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