jules39

I have been reading through posts but would love some input & clarification........Hubby & I both US citizens.....think Cuba would be a fascinating destination. We are not beach folks so not looking for a beach vacation. Usually we travel independently or get a local operator to arrange hotels/car etc for us. So what is the current situation with US citz going to Cuba? I see Intrepid has a small group tour aimed at US citz? Does it feel a little strange when other nationalities are able to do their own thing but you are confined to a group? How much is the group thing really enforced on a daily basis when you are in country. Anyone have any recommendations for operators you have used recently? Thanks in advance for your input

Jeff_Costa_Rica

If you go with a group, you stay with the group and you participate in all activities. That's a requirement. If you aren't willing to do that, don't go with a group.

New now is that you can go on your own. Your activities must be entirely educational or cultural. In other words, you can't hang out at the beach, but it sounds like you don't want to do that anyway. You are required to keep a log of your activities. In theory, the government can ask to see it. I don't know anyone who’s ever been asked, but you are required to keep it for five years.

jules39

Thanks Jeff. So we don't need to book a package through an operator. just have some sort of log/itinerary to show what we have actually done? If this is OK then it must be OK to book a package through an operator & have an itinerary totally written out?

Jeff_Costa_Rica

Sure. You can still do the organized people-to-people tours. Those are just fine. I'm saying that if you book one of those, you can't ditch the tour one afternoon and go off on your own. You have to participate in all activities. You could get the tour operator into trouble if you sneak away.

SusieQQ

When I went to Cuba three years ago with RoadScholar, you could leave the group if you wanted...just had to tell the guide. But, almost everyone stayed with the group since we had such interesting activities that we didn't want to miss them. Also, there were no evening activities scheduled so most people went off on their own after dinner.

Eddwarm

This morning on my Facebook page was a post from www.CubanAdventures.com. I went to the site and found out that as an American I can travel all over the place with a small group, staying in casa particulars and continue to travel independently before or after meeting up with the group. Go to this website and do extenuative reading.

I had planned to go to Habana in December for its 32nd Jazz Festival or at another time with another organization for almost two weeks, but after my encountering this website and company and what it has to offer, I think I’ll select the 20 day tour and extend for a week in Habana with my own private guide with whom I’ve been in contact for over a year. He and I have also become Facebook amigos.

Eddwarm

The correct website in my post should have read http://www.cubagrouptour.com/tour/all-tours.html. Sorry!

Jeff_Costa_Rica

I should clarify. You have to participate in all the scheduled group activities. If the itinerary gives you a free evening, you certainly can go off on your own. But you don't get to ditch the morning visiting the elementary school. The strict interpretation of the law is that you have to spend the equivalent of a full workday engaged in the approved activity that brought you to Cuba. That's why these tours are packed with visits to schools and farms and co-operatives.

SusieQQ

Jeff, ...on my trip you could
ditch the activities...As I said, you just needed to tell the guide...maybe that isn't the way the law is written, but it was done.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

Susie, I'm really surprised they let you do that, especially three years ago before things started to open up. I'd have thought they could get into a lot of trouble for allowing that.

Eddwarm

In response to Jeff's most recent response, he is incorrect. In the past the travelers HAD TO comply fully with the established itinerary; this is much different in 2016.

I first went to Cuba during the latter 80s or very early 90s, prior to the "Special Period," and we 12 travelers had all of the time in the world after 4P to do whatever we desired. I and two others went to the African Museum (...can't remember its name) and was given a wonderful private tour; another male and I went to hear Cuba's leading male singer of the time in special concert on our own as well. In fact, Steve and I strolled around during the day at one or two points.) We would have done more, but the plazas, per se had NOT been restored; there were no privately owned restaurants and few casa particulars.

When I was in Habana last year for a mere week on a People-to-People, on my first day and during lunch. I sat near the tour guide and shared with her that I would NOT be going to the senior citizen facility on Tuesday because I had planned to go to the Cafe Libre. I relayed to her that I would skip out on two meal functions as well, for I had wanted to experience some of the top private restaurants. And lastly, I told her that I had wanted to visit the barrio that is comprised of lots of murals. She gave me the address as well as make arrangements so that this could be done with ease. I also managed to go to Fabrica de Arte... and to the cultural show at the Nacional Hotel on my own. As it turned out, the majority of my small, intimate group took in 90% of the established itinerary as well as getting to do some things on our own volition without restrictions.

Three women went to the beach; one boxer went to a gym on a few occasions; things just are NOT the same as they were in the past, Jeff. (I've read most of your wonderful and helpful posts, but the "times are a changing." Folks who go with some P-to-P programs do have more freedom now. The tour that I plan to take will allow me to make my own flight reservations and arrive before it begins and do "my own thing or permit me to travel independently after the tour.

I've done lots of searching for and connecting with what interests me as well as to acquaint myself with many companies. On this next trip, I do envision having a wonderful time without feeling constrained and limited.

(In spite of my being on two tours previously, I had a dynamic and highly memorable experience.)

Eddwarm

I slightly erred in wording at the beginning of my post. I wrote that in the past the members on a P-to-P had to comply fully; that's wrong. Read what I wrote afterwards... Don't know how to edit, once I'd submitted, without doing a separate post.

ekscrunchy

I may be wrong but is it not the US law, rather than Cuban law, that required you to attend all the group activities in the past? So who in Cuba would care if you ditched a visit to a farm in order to wander around alone? I've met a number of Americans who have gone on their own recently, one even rented a car and drove around with only her mother as a companion.

There is a great report here from a traveler who visited recently and toured around with a guide. There did not appear to be any mandatory visits.

SusieQQ

Jeff, who would stop you from going off on your own?

Would someone forcefully put you on the tour bus?
Would you be arrested?

As mentioned this is a US law not a Cuban law...

We had a lot of freedom even three years ago...

Eddwarm

Folks, SusieQQ is "absolutely correct" in her assessment of Americans being on a P-to-P and their freedom in NOT participating in every aspect of the established itinerary.

It's Monday, May 2, 2016. I rang the tour company to which I alluded in my posts of yesterday. I hope to be on its 20 day tour with a 5 to 7 day or more extension. I will be required to keep a daily log or journal of my activities during and after the tour. This is a REQUIREMENT of the United States government, and I find it easy to live with until our ridiculous travel restrictions and the embargo have been lifted by our US Congress!

I hope to take my 3rd trip in early 2017; I plan to adhere to most of the itinerary, but I also plan to do some exploration on my own as I did in 2015. I plan to stay in both casa particulares and possibly a hotel while in Habana during my own extension of a week or more while traveling independently.

So might I suggest if you're in doubt about your travel limitations, go to the companies and read as well as ring the companies and ask. Again, it's an AMERICAN thing, not the CUBANS.

Lastly, I super-enjoyed our group in 2015, the itinerary, our super-stellar guide, and the experiences that I undertook with the group as well as on my own without encountering or undergoing "ANY PROBLEMS!"

[Excuse the length, por favor!]

Jeff_Costa_Rica

You're right. Nobody can forcibly stop anyone from leaving the tour group. If your guide told you it was okay to leave, then so be it. But the tour company could get into trouble with the U.S. government if it's found in general that their participants are not going on the tours. If you're not willing to participate in the activities, then don't sign up with the tour group. Don't put them at risk. That's not fair to them. I think that's the issue.

ekscrunchy

Or: Just go with a guide and go where you want, as did the poster who wrote the recent report here..

annhig

Jeff - have you [or anyone] ever heard of any US citizen being investigated, let alone prosecuted, for going "off piste" in Cuba? will anyone read Edd's daily log?

cw

Our trip to Cuba was in 2001. It was an "educational" tour comprising about 15 people. I'm not sure all 15 of us were ever all together except for the bus trip from Havana to Trinidad to Cienfuegos. And even then, one person traveled separately. No one, including the tour guide, insisted we be together. People went to museums while others went to the ball game, and we all didn't eat together every night (though it was included).

Many things have changed since then, but I'm not sure this has.

annhig

cw - we did come across some american groups whilst we were in Cuba recently [Jan '16] and they did seem to stick together a lot. Whereas we met lots people from all over the world travelling independently, like we were, none of them were americans.

that's not to say that some weren't striking out on their own, but they weren't very noticeable.