Cuba Disappears

I visited Cuba many years ago when tourism was just emerging, and it is a really fascinating island. I stayed in both the resort  Varadero and Havana. Varadero has beautful white sand beaches and excellent hotels which I`m sure have grown up over the year since I was there. Then the hotel rooms were a bit strange to say the least, with orange curtains and purple bedspreads, a real mish mash  of colours.

I really loved Havana, it is such a different city with its own identity , not Caribbean or Spanish just Cuban. Th e people were great and the atmospeher wonderful. One of the best things was the bars and cafes at lunchtime when suddenly waiters, and everyone else, would just get up and sing and dance. A visit to El Floridita bar and reatsuarant in Old Havana  was a must , being  famous for its daiquiris and for having been one of the favourite hangouts of Ernest Hemingway in Havana. The Mojito`s were wonderful !

During the last few years Cuba has become a very popular destination for cruise ships, appearing in many itineraries mainly taking in a couple of Caribbbean islands on the way. At one time Cuba was a big no no for American tourists but that all changed with Barack Obam` s presidency. So the news that the US has reversed it policy has meant huge disruption for cruise lines.

The announcement came on 4th June from the U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and restricts tourist travel to the Caribbean island. This is what he had to say –

“Cuba continues to play a destabilizing role in the Western Hemisphere, providing a communist foothold in the region and propping up U.S. adversaries in places like Venezuela and Nicaragua by fomenting instability, undermining the rule of law, and suppressing democratic processes,” Munchin said in his statement. He continues: “This Administration has made a strategic decision to reverse the loosening of sanctions and other restrictions on the Cuban regime. These actions will help to keep U.S. dollars out of the hands of Cuban military, intelligence, and security services.”

So basically Cuba has been dropped like a tone, in some cases while ship were actually into their voyages causing disappointment and disruption to thousands of passengers, and damage to the islands economy as well.

Here in the UK we can, of course, still visit and sail to Cuba and Marella have some lovely itineraries in January & February 2020 – Flavours of the Caribbean calling at Havana with prices from £ 1429 pp based on flights from Gatwick.