To Cuba and Back, While (Mostly) Following the Rules
August 10, 2015 2:11 PM Subscribe
This isn't a question about how to be a tourist in Cuba, but rather about how risky it might be to go there for a professional meeting (a sanctioned reason) and then bend the rules a bit.
I'd like to bend the rules--potentially--in two ways:
(1) stay extra days (thus apparently violating the " traveler’s schedule of
activities must not include free time or recreation in excess of that consistent with a full-time
schedule" rule) and/or (2) take my son with me on my officially-sanctioned trip.
Please share recent travel experiences, especially w/r/t how customs and immigration control are working. I'm really wondering how closely anyone will look at my daily schedule, etc.
And, well, even though this isn't a question about tourism per sé, I'm happy to hear any suggestions about how to prepare for a trip to Havana and what touristy things would be teenager-friendly. Thanks!
You can assume I've read this NYT article about new rules for travel to Cuba and this Gothamist article on going to Cuba.
I'd like to bend the rules--potentially--in two ways:
(1) stay extra days (thus apparently violating the " traveler’s schedule of
activities must not include free time or recreation in excess of that consistent with a full-time
schedule" rule) and/or (2) take my son with me on my officially-sanctioned trip.
Please share recent travel experiences, especially w/r/t how customs and immigration control are working. I'm really wondering how closely anyone will look at my daily schedule, etc.
And, well, even though this isn't a question about tourism per sé, I'm happy to hear any suggestions about how to prepare for a trip to Havana and what touristy things would be teenager-friendly. Thanks!
You can assume I've read this NYT article about new rules for travel to Cuba and this Gothamist article on going to Cuba.
Best answer: The best touristy thing to do is walk around the neighborhoods- you can spend hours and it's endlessly fascinating. Museum-wise, I thought the Museum of Communism (I think that's what it's called) was the most interesting and thought provoking. If you're there in the right season, which I think is fall/winter, it's definitely worth checking out a baseball game. We never did find a schedule when we were there but it's really easy to ask around and someone is bound to know the game times. It's a little confusing because tourists buy different tickets than Cubans and they cost more (it's like $3/ticket for tourist), but you're seated in the front section behind home plate. It's also worth exchanging some of your tourist currency (CUCs) for pesos so you can buy pizza and ice cream from the street stalls. If you like spice, bring your own bottles of hot sauce because most of the food- but especially the street pizza- can be bland.
I second that you don't need to worry about travelling there. I have two entry stamps to Mexico on my passport with no exit stamp and no one has ever looked twice at it.
posted by shornco at 2:48 PM on August 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
I second that you don't need to worry about travelling there. I have two entry stamps to Mexico on my passport with no exit stamp and no one has ever looked twice at it.
posted by shornco at 2:48 PM on August 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I work in the adventure travel field and have been looking at what it takes to run a trip there. Working with experts who have been operating legally licensed trips to Cuba for 30 years, I'm learning that the biggest problem right now is simply lack of hotel space. Demand for Cuba is so high at the moment that unless you book well in advance with a licensed operator and get hotel space confirmed at least 6-8 months in advance, it is nearly impossible to find hotel space on an individual basis. In fact, this is what they told us:
Hard to know how soon Cuba will be able to accept direct reservations…their infrastructure is not ready. There are not enough hotel rooms and air space for individuals to be able to do planning on their own. Also commercial airlines are not booking yet…only a couple of airlines have secured space from destinations other than Miami - Havana; and flights are not offered daily.
So bottom line, unless whomever you've booked your Cuban travel with can guarantee that they can get you a couple of extra nights at your hotel and can change your chartered flight's return date, your idea of staying a few extra days just to be a tourist may not work out.
posted by HeyAllie at 4:05 PM on August 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
Hard to know how soon Cuba will be able to accept direct reservations…their infrastructure is not ready. There are not enough hotel rooms and air space for individuals to be able to do planning on their own. Also commercial airlines are not booking yet…only a couple of airlines have secured space from destinations other than Miami - Havana; and flights are not offered daily.
So bottom line, unless whomever you've booked your Cuban travel with can guarantee that they can get you a couple of extra nights at your hotel and can change your chartered flight's return date, your idea of staying a few extra days just to be a tourist may not work out.
posted by HeyAllie at 4:05 PM on August 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Belatedly (but, well, I still haven't traveled yet), I wanted to thank everyone for your reassurances and info. We leave in a couple of weeks and I couldn't be more excited.
And here's a recent (Sept 21) NYT Article about travel to Cuba.
posted by correcaminos at 10:15 AM on September 23, 2015
And here's a recent (Sept 21) NYT Article about travel to Cuba.
posted by correcaminos at 10:15 AM on September 23, 2015
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Customs has never cared, not even when I point out the stamp, they still so don't care. They don't care if I went there legally (I did, on a state department sponsored trip) or illegally, they don't care what I was doing there, they just don't care.
What they did care about was checking my luggage rather rigorously to ensure I wasn't bringing anything illegal back (I wasn't). I wouldn't stress about it.
posted by arnicae at 2:31 PM on August 10, 2015 [4 favorites]