Travel Advice and Information

What’s this all mean, the latest from our current administration regarding Cuba?  As this is a travel blog I will focus on the effect that the latest announcement has on travel into Cuba for U.S. citizens and stay away from politics, comparisons to policies with other countries, assertions of human rights violations, etc.  Will this impact travel drastically? Not too much legally / officially, and thankfully not immediately although the President did state “effective immediately”.   His new regulations are effective immediately, however he is giving the administration time to analyze his decree and implement new policies and procedures (perhaps after a lesson learned after a chaotic “effective immediately” travel ban not long ago).   I have seen reports stating “months” from now, also 90 days as to timeframe expected to make and implement any changes.   ~The biggie with the “effective immediately” is that all travel purchased prio...

The popularity of cruising continues to grow every year, with the global forecast for passengers carried by all cruise lines in 2013 just under 21 million.   Per the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) cruise growth continues to rise every year.   Back in 1984, the year CLIA achieved official status as a non-governmental consultative organization to the United Nations, I was taking my very first cruise as a professional Tour Director.   Back then only a few million travelers experienced the joy of cruising that year, as I did with my 2 dozen clients on board Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s very first ship; the M.S. Song of Norway. Since 1984 I have had the pleasure of going on a few dozen cruises of all kinds on a wide variety of cruise lines, both for personal vacation and as a professional Tour Director.   With the variety to choose from, there are many options.   It may come as a surprise to you that most cruisers are very loyal to their fav...

Americans securing hotel reservations in Cuba is still not as straightforward as one would hope by now, still mired down in the red tape of governmental bureaucracy. We have been anxiously awaiting for U.S. based travel providers who work with international hotels on a grand scale to become established in Cuba.  This process is happening very slowly, with minimal movement towards stronger relationships between U.S. based hotel booking providers and Cuban hotels.  ~This preferred provider relationship is favorable to clients as the strong relationship between a large travel provider and the hotels they work with frequently assists in many ways.~ When hotels see that a reservation is made from a preferred vendor that sends them a lot of business, they take extra care to reserve the guests into favorable room locations, mark them down for possible upgrades based on availability at the time of check in, and are very receptive to travel agents working with them to ensu...

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?...

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 Hava...

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 s...

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 i...