Travel Advice and Information

Themed Cruises; Enhance your vacation experience greatly!! As you seek out the best possible vacation value it is extremely likely that you are considering a cruise.   There are many general parameters to consider when selecting the right cruise for you; from budget / pricing, to level of comfort & service as well as destinations desired.  In addition to these obvious choices, you should also consider that many cruises offer a specialty theme on select sailings, with themes ranging from wine or beer to art, jazz, poker or golf to name just a few.  ~Themes are an enhancement that most cruise lines offer, typically with no additional charge or just a slight bit more expensive when compared to a similar non-theme cruise on the same ship and destination.  Activities and extra’s that are part of the theme presented are provided and operated by the cruise line in most cases~ How do you find out if there is a theme that lines up with your interests?  Not difficult, but can be

Just about a week away until the first regularly scheduled flight between the United States and Cuba!  JetBlue flights between Ft. Lauderdale and the centrally located Cuban city of Santa Clara begins August 31 st .  This will initially operate 3 days a week, becoming daily starting October 1 st . General Tourism is still prohibited, however through JetBlue one can procure an affidavit that will affirm a traveler is traveling for one of the 12 allowable reasons (ranging from humanitarian, religious and educational purposes) which allows the purchase of a Cuban entry visa ($50 USD) as well as the mandatory Cuban health insurance ($25), the latter being added to the cost of the flight (starting at $99 each way) automatically.  It is expected that other airlines operating flights between the U.S. and Cuba will follow suit. Other relevant news; Cuba has recently announced a partnership with the French companies Bouygues International to upgrade Jose Marti Havana Airport to

In another move towards less regulation and the opening of relations between our two countries, the United States Treasury has just recently relaxed some regulations regarding the use of the U.S. Dollar within Cuba. Big news regarding transportation between the U.S. and Cuba; the United States Transportation Department approved 6 U.S. based airlines to fly regularly scheduled routes directly in and out of Cuba from the United States late last month. ~ AS EARLY AS THIS FALL, MORE THAN 600 FLIGHTS EACH MONTH ARE SLATED TO START UP WITHIN THE U.S. WITH REGULARLY SCHEDULED FLIGHTS ON AT LEAST 6 AIRLINES OUT OF 5 U.S. CITIES, TO START… ~ When decisions were made and announced at the end of June, the approved carriers are American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Silver Airways, Southwest Airlines and Sun Country Airlines.  The U.S. Cities with approved routes thus far are Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Minneapolis and Philadelphia. The nine destinations servi

Cuba Blog  Part 4:              The Real Cuba, Really… This last portion of my blog about the Cuban cruise is on Cuba itself.  This is based on my assessment, my thoughts, my interpretations of the time I spent on the island, which was about 6 – 8 hours per day for 5 days, plus an overnight in Havana. I am not going to try and present a “guidebook” presentation to points within Cuba, instead sharing experiences and my assessment and thoughts of the experience.  For further geography info, you can check out my Caribbean destination info on one of my websites through this link:  http://for-travel.info/caribbean/western-caribbean Here below is the route we followed (map provided by Celestyal Cruises): The first stop was Santiago de Cuba, an important seaport located on the south coast towards the east, not far from Guantamo Bay.  Cuba’s second largest city with close to a half million inhabitants.  It is 540 miles away from Havana to the northwest.  Closer to the main

The 1200 passenger Celestyal Crystal performed admirably in every regard! From how it handled the seas and docks involved, to the on-board service, accommodations, food & beverage and entertainment, all was just fine!   The ship never felt crowded, with ample venues on board to eat, drink and have fun.  Also, large enough to handle the seas with ease yet small enough to secure dock space right in town. It was a good mix of clientele with English as the clear dominant language.  This sailing was the last for the season and it seems with the growing popularity and new-found ease of travel into Cuba, there were more Americans on this sailing than any other.  Many Canadians, and Europeans as well many of whom spoke English. The Cruise Director Danny did a great job, very personable and proactive, getting involved in pretty much everything, including the entertainment which was terrific!  ~ THE ENTERTAINMENT ON BOARD WAS SPOT ON, VERY TRUE TO CUBA AND IT’S CULTURE AND

Part 2: The story of Cuba This delves into the history of Cuba, the culture and how it became what it is today.  This is meant as an informative framework to the info on Cuba as explored on this cruise, however if you wish to skip the history lesson the next 2 parts of the blog are the “meat & potato’s” of the journey. ~ LOOKING BACK TO WHEN HAVANA AND CUBA CAME INTO BEING AS A EUROPEAN SUPERPOWER TERRITORY AS WAS THE CASE FOR ALL THE CARIBBEAN ISLANDS AT ONE POINT OR ANOTHER, WE HAVE TO GO WAY BACK TO THE VERY EARLY 1500’S. ~ The Spanish Conquistadors we learned about as children, famous explorers such as Cortes, Pizarro, De Soto and more sailed between the “new world” and Spain, discovering the immensely deep and large natural port where the city of Havana began more than 600 years ago.  Spanish Flotillas assembled here for centuries, using the safety in numbers maxim as they scurried back and forth across the Atlantic. The Spanish has kept pretty tight control o

Cuba, mysterious land of intrigue, a lush Caribbean island just 90 miles from Florida yet so different from most other neighboring islands... I have been intrigued by this island nation both personally after hearing so many stories from a dear friend who grew up in Cuba, and professionally being in the travel industry.  This is the first of a multiple-part blog about traveling through Cuba… Once virtually inaccessible to American tourists, now perhaps just “moments” away from completely open travel it seems.  Which leads me to my first point; regulations are changing so rapidly that I hesitate to write much about the latest legalities such as which travel restrictions have been eased, which “forbidden” items are now permitted for export, etc.  Instead, I wish to provide you with a link to the latest updates and news. ~ TO SEE THE LATEST REGULATIONS PERTAINING TO TRAVEL INTO CUBA, CHECK OUT THIS LINK TO THE U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT RESOURCE CENTER ON CUBA SANCTIONS, WITH LINK