How do you get to Cuba?
Feb 27th, 2005, 08:36 AM
#21
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This is the book that mentions how Americans can go to Cuba
1,000 Places to See Before You Die
Author: Patricia Schultz
She went and publicized it to the world, we don't hear her in jail do we?
I think all this bruhaha is there "in spirit" rather than enforced- just to get votes from the Cubans in exile who have lots of clout.
Why would the embargo continue when te US trades with Communist China and Vietnam and us citizens cna travel there.
Ps Gapaventures is a CDN company but has North American links.
I can't find info on Marazul charters- from nyc/miami to Cancun. Bob Guild CEo.
Website is down
www.marazulcharters.com
Guidelines for Legal Travel to CUBA
Travel to Cuba for Americans is limited. The guidelines and travel restrictions are set up by the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Current travel restrictions still permit travel to Cuba for professionals who are traveling for research purposes. When you travel under these criteria (to do research related to your profession), you travel under a "general license" and do not have to apply for or receive a "specific license" from OFAC. You will be required to sign a form stating that you are traveling to do research related to your field, which is kept on file with the travel agency that books your flight. We offer intensive professional level workshops, with lectures and conferences daily for many types of professionals, including dancers, musicians, teachers and other artists can travel under a general license. If you work full-time in any of these professional areas you may fit the criteria for legal travel to Cuba under a "general license." The general license requires no application packet and authorizes travel transactions for government officials, international organizations, and other professionals doing research.
Contact us to see if you might meet the requirement for this type of legal travel. Click here to read the Treasury Department regulations on travel to Cuba.
http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/enfor...ns/t11cuba.pdf
Booking Flights
We are available to give you information, advice and assistance in arranging your travel to Cuba. You are responsible for booking and paying for your flight. There are direct flights to Cuba from Cancun (other cities in Mexico), Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Nassau and Jamaica. We can refer you to a Treasury Department licensed travel service provider to arrange your legal travel to Cuba. When calling to make reservations, say you are traveling with PlazaCuba.
CIELOMAR TRAVEL
(departures to Cuba from Los Angeles, Cancun, Miami, New York and Tijuana. See their web site at www.cielomartravel.com. Contact Niurys Elverson at [email protected] or call (562)776-8240.
MARAZUL CHARTERS
(departures to Cuba from Cancun, New York, Miami, Nassau and more). Contact Tony Minutella at [email protected] or call (800)223-5334.
CUBA TRAVEL SERVICES
(weekly non-stop service to Cuba from Los Angeles). Flights depart from and return to Los Angeles every Friday. Contact Niurys Elverson at [email protected] or call (562)776-8240.
Visa: Cuba travelers receive a tourist card, commonly referred to as a visa. It costs $25 to $50 and is good for 30 days. It is generally sold with your airline ticket. Ask your travel agent about details on securing your Cuban visa.
Re-confirm your flight: Call the travel agency a few days before your departure to re-confirm the departure time.
Traveling through Cancun
Upon arrival in Cancun, you will need your passport and custom forms you filled out on the plane to pass through Mexican Immigration.
Connecting flight: If you are not staying over in Cancun, you will go outside with your luggage and enter the building on your right to check-in for your flight to Havana. If you need transportation to a hotel in Cancun, you can either take a collective airport shuttle ($9 to $10 per person) or a private taxi ($25 to $30). Both means of transportation are easily located outside the airport terminal. The return trip to the Cancun airport in a taxi is only $10 to $15 and can be easily arranged at the front desk of your hotel.
Departure to Havana from Cancun
Check-in: You must arrive at least 2 hours before your departure time and locate the Cubana/AeroCaribe ticket counter. If you booked your flight through Marazul, you will have a voucher that you will need to present to the Divermex travel agent that will be working in that area. He will give you your ticket.
Baggage: From Cancun, the baggage limitation is 44 pounds free and $2 per pound after that, with a total weight limitation of 66 pounds (on both Cubana and AeroCaribe airlines).
Departure tax: You may be charged a departure tax of $20. You should not be charged the tax if you leave Mexico the same day you arrive.
Flight time: The flight from Cancun to Havana is approximately one hour. Cuba is on Eastern Standard Time (daylight savings time in summer). You might want to eat something before this flight or bring a snack.
Traveling Direct from Los Angeles
If you book your flight to Havana with Cuba Travel Services (CTS) and are traveling direct from L.A., you will receive your ticket and visa in the mail. You should plan to arrive early to the ticket counter at LAX. CTS suggests 3 hours before the departure time.
Baggage: The limitation from L.A. is 50 pounds free, including your carry-on, and $2 per pound after that.
Departure tax: The departure tax is $40 to be paid at LAX upon departure.
Flight time: The flight from Los Angeles to Havana is close to 5 hours. Cuba is on Eastern Standard Time (daylight savings time in summer).
If you Miss your Flight to CUBA
If you miss your flight and are departing from Cancun, Nassau, or other point with daily flights, try to go straight to the ticket counter and reschedule your departure for the next possible flight. Even if the representative says the flight is full, you can show up and try to get on. If you arrive and there is no longer anyone at the airlines counter, then come back early to check-in for the next flight. Remember that if you are traveling from Los Angeles or New York you will have to wait a week to get on the next flight.
You are responsible for any cost you may incur if you miss your flight.
Entering CUBA
You will arrive at Jose Martí airport. There are 5 small terminals. Most international flights arrive at terminal 3 (the new terminal). Direct flights from L.A., Miami and N.Y. arrive at terminal 2.
Cuban Customs and Immigration: You will go through immigration before picking up your luggage. You will need your visa and passport. They will probably ask you where you are staying, so be sure to have the name of the hotel or school housing facility with you. They will stamp your visa and may or may not stamp your passport. Once you collect your luggage, you should be able to pass right through customs, but passengers do randomly have their bags checked. If you bring electronic devices not for personal use or gifts that have a consumer value of more than $100, you will be charged a duty.
Transportation: There should be plenty of taxis just outside the airport. Tell the driver where you are going to get an idea of the price. For most of our Havana program locations, the ride will be 15 to 20 minutes and should cost $10 to $15 dollars.
Departing from CUBA
Check-in time is 2 hours before the time of departure. Cancun flights usually leave from Terminal 3 and charters usually leave from terminal 2. You will have to pay a departure tax of $20 and for overweight baggage (more than 44 lbs.) Overweight charges can usually be negotiated in the Havana airport. Make an offer.
Traveling through a Third Country in Route to the U.S.
It is important to declare all products purchased in Cuba both on the declaration form and if asked by a customs official. In Mexico if you have more than one box of cigars, you will be asked to store them in their office until your flight departs. They will bring them to you at your gate.
Re-entering the United States
U.S. Customs: You will go through customs in the first U.S. city you enter. The only exception is if you are traveling through Nassau, you will pass through U.S. customs there. Be prepared to present your passport and declaration. You should honestly fill out the form stating that you were in Cuba and declaring all consumer goods that you purchased there.
Authorized travelers can enter the U.S. with up to $100 worth of consumer goods and an unlimited amount of informational material. (See our "Cuba Information" page for more details on purchasing goods in Cuba, or check out the Treasury Department web site at
http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/enfor...ns/t11cuba.pdf
Changing Ticket Dates while in CUBA
If you need to change your departure date and are traveling on Cubana or AeroCaribe airlines, try calling the Havanatur Office at 203-9776. If you cannot change it over the phone, you will have to go in person to: Havanatur Office of Multidestionos, Calle 6 between 1st and 3rd, in Miramar.
There is no charge unless you change your flight less than 3 days before your original departure date. In this case you may be charged $30. If you have been in Cuba for more than 30 days when you change your ticket, you will be charged an extra $80.
To purchase a ticket to Santiago or other destination in Cuba, go to: Cubana Airlines, La Rampa, Calle 23 at the Malecón. We recommend that you go early in the morning.
1,000 Places to See Before You Die
Author: Patricia Schultz
She went and publicized it to the world, we don't hear her in jail do we?
I think all this bruhaha is there "in spirit" rather than enforced- just to get votes from the Cubans in exile who have lots of clout.
Why would the embargo continue when te US trades with Communist China and Vietnam and us citizens cna travel there.
Ps Gapaventures is a CDN company but has North American links.
I can't find info on Marazul charters- from nyc/miami to Cancun. Bob Guild CEo.
Website is down
www.marazulcharters.com
Guidelines for Legal Travel to CUBA
Travel to Cuba for Americans is limited. The guidelines and travel restrictions are set up by the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Current travel restrictions still permit travel to Cuba for professionals who are traveling for research purposes. When you travel under these criteria (to do research related to your profession), you travel under a "general license" and do not have to apply for or receive a "specific license" from OFAC. You will be required to sign a form stating that you are traveling to do research related to your field, which is kept on file with the travel agency that books your flight. We offer intensive professional level workshops, with lectures and conferences daily for many types of professionals, including dancers, musicians, teachers and other artists can travel under a general license. If you work full-time in any of these professional areas you may fit the criteria for legal travel to Cuba under a "general license." The general license requires no application packet and authorizes travel transactions for government officials, international organizations, and other professionals doing research.
Contact us to see if you might meet the requirement for this type of legal travel. Click here to read the Treasury Department regulations on travel to Cuba.
http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/enfor...ns/t11cuba.pdf
Booking Flights
We are available to give you information, advice and assistance in arranging your travel to Cuba. You are responsible for booking and paying for your flight. There are direct flights to Cuba from Cancun (other cities in Mexico), Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Nassau and Jamaica. We can refer you to a Treasury Department licensed travel service provider to arrange your legal travel to Cuba. When calling to make reservations, say you are traveling with PlazaCuba.
CIELOMAR TRAVEL
(departures to Cuba from Los Angeles, Cancun, Miami, New York and Tijuana. See their web site at www.cielomartravel.com. Contact Niurys Elverson at [email protected] or call (562)776-8240.
MARAZUL CHARTERS
(departures to Cuba from Cancun, New York, Miami, Nassau and more). Contact Tony Minutella at [email protected] or call (800)223-5334.
CUBA TRAVEL SERVICES
(weekly non-stop service to Cuba from Los Angeles). Flights depart from and return to Los Angeles every Friday. Contact Niurys Elverson at [email protected] or call (562)776-8240.
Visa: Cuba travelers receive a tourist card, commonly referred to as a visa. It costs $25 to $50 and is good for 30 days. It is generally sold with your airline ticket. Ask your travel agent about details on securing your Cuban visa.
Re-confirm your flight: Call the travel agency a few days before your departure to re-confirm the departure time.
Traveling through Cancun
Upon arrival in Cancun, you will need your passport and custom forms you filled out on the plane to pass through Mexican Immigration.
Connecting flight: If you are not staying over in Cancun, you will go outside with your luggage and enter the building on your right to check-in for your flight to Havana. If you need transportation to a hotel in Cancun, you can either take a collective airport shuttle ($9 to $10 per person) or a private taxi ($25 to $30). Both means of transportation are easily located outside the airport terminal. The return trip to the Cancun airport in a taxi is only $10 to $15 and can be easily arranged at the front desk of your hotel.
Departure to Havana from Cancun
Check-in: You must arrive at least 2 hours before your departure time and locate the Cubana/AeroCaribe ticket counter. If you booked your flight through Marazul, you will have a voucher that you will need to present to the Divermex travel agent that will be working in that area. He will give you your ticket.
Baggage: From Cancun, the baggage limitation is 44 pounds free and $2 per pound after that, with a total weight limitation of 66 pounds (on both Cubana and AeroCaribe airlines).
Departure tax: You may be charged a departure tax of $20. You should not be charged the tax if you leave Mexico the same day you arrive.
Flight time: The flight from Cancun to Havana is approximately one hour. Cuba is on Eastern Standard Time (daylight savings time in summer). You might want to eat something before this flight or bring a snack.
Traveling Direct from Los Angeles
If you book your flight to Havana with Cuba Travel Services (CTS) and are traveling direct from L.A., you will receive your ticket and visa in the mail. You should plan to arrive early to the ticket counter at LAX. CTS suggests 3 hours before the departure time.
Baggage: The limitation from L.A. is 50 pounds free, including your carry-on, and $2 per pound after that.
Departure tax: The departure tax is $40 to be paid at LAX upon departure.
Flight time: The flight from Los Angeles to Havana is close to 5 hours. Cuba is on Eastern Standard Time (daylight savings time in summer).
If you Miss your Flight to CUBA
If you miss your flight and are departing from Cancun, Nassau, or other point with daily flights, try to go straight to the ticket counter and reschedule your departure for the next possible flight. Even if the representative says the flight is full, you can show up and try to get on. If you arrive and there is no longer anyone at the airlines counter, then come back early to check-in for the next flight. Remember that if you are traveling from Los Angeles or New York you will have to wait a week to get on the next flight.
You are responsible for any cost you may incur if you miss your flight.
Entering CUBA
You will arrive at Jose Martí airport. There are 5 small terminals. Most international flights arrive at terminal 3 (the new terminal). Direct flights from L.A., Miami and N.Y. arrive at terminal 2.
Cuban Customs and Immigration: You will go through immigration before picking up your luggage. You will need your visa and passport. They will probably ask you where you are staying, so be sure to have the name of the hotel or school housing facility with you. They will stamp your visa and may or may not stamp your passport. Once you collect your luggage, you should be able to pass right through customs, but passengers do randomly have their bags checked. If you bring electronic devices not for personal use or gifts that have a consumer value of more than $100, you will be charged a duty.
Transportation: There should be plenty of taxis just outside the airport. Tell the driver where you are going to get an idea of the price. For most of our Havana program locations, the ride will be 15 to 20 minutes and should cost $10 to $15 dollars.
Departing from CUBA
Check-in time is 2 hours before the time of departure. Cancun flights usually leave from Terminal 3 and charters usually leave from terminal 2. You will have to pay a departure tax of $20 and for overweight baggage (more than 44 lbs.) Overweight charges can usually be negotiated in the Havana airport. Make an offer.
Traveling through a Third Country in Route to the U.S.
It is important to declare all products purchased in Cuba both on the declaration form and if asked by a customs official. In Mexico if you have more than one box of cigars, you will be asked to store them in their office until your flight departs. They will bring them to you at your gate.
Re-entering the United States
U.S. Customs: You will go through customs in the first U.S. city you enter. The only exception is if you are traveling through Nassau, you will pass through U.S. customs there. Be prepared to present your passport and declaration. You should honestly fill out the form stating that you were in Cuba and declaring all consumer goods that you purchased there.
Authorized travelers can enter the U.S. with up to $100 worth of consumer goods and an unlimited amount of informational material. (See our "Cuba Information" page for more details on purchasing goods in Cuba, or check out the Treasury Department web site at
http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/enfor...ns/t11cuba.pdf
Changing Ticket Dates while in CUBA
If you need to change your departure date and are traveling on Cubana or AeroCaribe airlines, try calling the Havanatur Office at 203-9776. If you cannot change it over the phone, you will have to go in person to: Havanatur Office of Multidestionos, Calle 6 between 1st and 3rd, in Miramar.
There is no charge unless you change your flight less than 3 days before your original departure date. In this case you may be charged $30. If you have been in Cuba for more than 30 days when you change your ticket, you will be charged an extra $80.
To purchase a ticket to Santiago or other destination in Cuba, go to: Cubana Airlines, La Rampa, Calle 23 at the Malecón. We recommend that you go early in the morning.
Apr 28th, 2005, 09:18 AM
#22
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I was mulling over this for anyone who wants to know....
You know there is US representation on the cuba if god forbid there's a need..A huge american compound in front of the Tribunal in Havana (wehre tehy had the Elian Gonzalez and other manifestations)...and Guantanamo is a us military base/colony...but you don't want to go there.You want to avoid getting caught by your authorities...but there always is a way if you are sick.you get caught is nothing if you are hurt etc..there's a way.plus,the health car ein Cuba is one of the few things you can really rely on in Cuba. Top-rate even though the doctors aren't paid as they ought to be.They have cheap laser surgeries for tourists and they invented the 'viagra'.
p.s.
if you use us dollars you get charged 10% ,use euros or cdn dollars.
p.s.s.i found this other American tour operator on Trip advisor.
Tour companies
Cross-Cultural Solutions
New Rochelle, NY
Cuba
Tel: 800-380-4777; 914-632-0022
Fax: 914-632-8494
URL: http://www.crossculturalsolutions.org/
E-mail: [email protected]
Insight Cuba makes it possible to really see "inside" Cuba and experience first hand the everyday life of Cuban citizens. Explore Havana, Pinar del Rio, Matanzas and Guira de Melena. Visit tobacco farmers as they work in their fields and cigar rollers at a factory; discuss contemporary art and literature with Cuban artists and writers in their studios; talk with Cuban women at local centers developed to empower them with education and skills; learn about the Afro-Cuban religion Santería with a Santero priest, and be enthralled by the music of street musicians.
You know there is US representation on the cuba if god forbid there's a need..A huge american compound in front of the Tribunal in Havana (wehre tehy had the Elian Gonzalez and other manifestations)...and Guantanamo is a us military base/colony...but you don't want to go there.You want to avoid getting caught by your authorities...but there always is a way if you are sick.you get caught is nothing if you are hurt etc..there's a way.plus,the health car ein Cuba is one of the few things you can really rely on in Cuba. Top-rate even though the doctors aren't paid as they ought to be.They have cheap laser surgeries for tourists and they invented the 'viagra'.
p.s.
if you use us dollars you get charged 10% ,use euros or cdn dollars.
p.s.s.i found this other American tour operator on Trip advisor.
Tour companies
Cross-Cultural Solutions
New Rochelle, NY
Cuba
Tel: 800-380-4777; 914-632-0022
Fax: 914-632-8494
URL: http://www.crossculturalsolutions.org/
E-mail: [email protected]
Insight Cuba makes it possible to really see "inside" Cuba and experience first hand the everyday life of Cuban citizens. Explore Havana, Pinar del Rio, Matanzas and Guira de Melena. Visit tobacco farmers as they work in their fields and cigar rollers at a factory; discuss contemporary art and literature with Cuban artists and writers in their studios; talk with Cuban women at local centers developed to empower them with education and skills; learn about the Afro-Cuban religion Santería with a Santero priest, and be enthralled by the music of street musicians.
May 24th, 2005, 11:03 AM
#23
Join Date: May 2005
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For any Americans considering travel to Cuba from Canada, bear in mind that some airlines will share manifests of passengers to US customs authorities. In other words, by going through Canada you don't necessarily escape detection. I don't know if Mexico does the same thing. Best bet: Go legally with a group (many named in previous posts, but recent tightening by U.S. has eliminated many group licenses) with a license to take you to Cuba. In the mean time, write your elected officials to end the travel ban.
May 25th, 2005, 08:02 AM
#24
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You can always use a relgious Visa or travel from a 3rd country like mexico or the Bahamas. Careful with the money you take if you want to carry cash on a debit card I recommend www.worldexpresscash.com the are a international debit card provider so you can use your international card anywhere in the caribean enjoy your trip.
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