I agree wholeheartly that the travel ban by cruise ships should be lifted. I just returned in Feb 20

Miami is the melting pot of the Caribbean. It is the number one place where immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Belize and Columbia decide to live once they reach the U.S. Miami is an exciting, international and great place to live. More than 50% of the residents here are Hispanic. The dominant personality of the city is unquestionably Cuban - we have a Cuban Mayor, london hotels discount Cuban Judges, Cuban politicians, Cuban restaurant and shop owners.
Most Cubans living in Miami live here because they were dispossessed from their native london hotels discount country in the early 1960's. Not surprisingly, the most hated person in the world according to the people of Miami - is Fidel Castro. However, london hotels discount people in Miami are questioning the blockade of Cuba which has existed for close to 50 years.
Yesterday the Guardian newspaper in the U.K. ran an interesting article about ending the blockade - Time for the Cuban Travel Ban to Go . The article cited a poll indicating that most Americans support easing travel restrictions to Cuba - Poll: Three-Quarters Favor Relations with Cuba
Part of the blockage involves the prohibition of U.S. based cruise ship sailing to Cuba. So it was with interest I read an article, US Blockade Stops Cruises from Landing in Cuba , written by a Cuban reporter about the cruise industry and the effects of the ban against U.S. ported cruise ships sailing to Cuba. Here is the article:
According to Granma, in 2006, when the American cruise company london hotels discount Royal Caribbean bought the Holiday Dream ship from the Spanish Pullmantur Cruceros, more than 50 crew members from Cuba were not allowed to work onboard anymore.
This way, Pullmantur Cruceros put an end to its contract with the Cuban company ARIES Transportes S.A. of the Ministry of Transportation, which had established that the Holiday Dream would make 52 stopovers every year in Havana and Varadero's harbours.
Cuba, the only logical way to visit would be by cruise ship. Deploying cruise ships to Cuba would give the cruise lines leverage in attracting new customers and ease the crowding in other Caribbean ports, which during peak travel periods may be visited by up to five large cruise ships at one time.
would face new problems and challenges posed by Cuba. Unless the communist state was abolished altogether, policies aimed at allaying new national security concerns would likely be at the heart of any new relaxed travel regulations. The cruise lines would face new sources of traditional maritime threats, such as stowaways and drug and currency smugglers.
trade is likely to go the other way, as well. Allowing U.S. tourists to visit Cuba might please the American visitors, and the cruise lines may believe that it would benefit the Cuban people as well, but, in reality, opening Cuba up to tourism would cause greater hardship london hotels discount for the Cuban people as the regime cracked down, determined to limit U.S.
Given the fact that Castro and his brother, Raul, appear unlikely to endorse the changes to the existing U.S. travel restrictions that would allow cruise ships to call on the island nation’s ports, the prospect of cruise line travel to Cuba remains a distant hope for the cruise lines, much as the hope of reaching America is a dream to so many desperate Cuban citizens. Allowing cruise ships to call on Cuban ports is likely to bring a corresponding increase in maritime threats not accounted for in the current legislation london hotels discount and additional security worries for the cruise lines.
I've been to Cuba twice, not on a cruise ship, but with a church group with a religious travel license (one of a limited number of ways to travel to Cuba from the US). I agree with Craig's comment above - the people were incredibly london hotels discount friendly and welcoming. We had one afternoon on a beach, which was just beautiful. london hotels discount I'm strongly london hotels discount in favor of ending the travel ban.
US should not get reactive with Cuba..rather US should tolerate and debate london hotels discount with CASTROs and Cuba on the issues which are of mutual nature. It would be pragmatic approach which will settle the controversial issues gradually. In fact it is rightly expected that Obama will do so.
I would welcome more controlled london hotels discount cruise traffic to Cuba as a tourism person & it would create more jobs for Cubans. But I am afraid an over abundance of traffic will create too much pollution, crime and greed. It's a known fact that cruise stops don't always bring more money to a destination because the passengers eat on board the ship and don't shop alot! So they just create more traffic & mess throughout the city!Take in large amounts of free water & then pollute london hotels discount the surrounding waters! Ask the Alaskan towns they stop at?
Anytime tourism is involved in a small country, you risk the chance of greed coming along. It would help if the cruise lines made some formal agreement with the countries to donate a portion of the money they receive towards the country.
I agree wholeheartly that the travel ban by cruise ships should be lifted. I just returned in Feb 2012 from a two week excursion with Vantage out of Boston. It was a great trip and the embargo is a farce when you see all the new motorcoaches to travel on along with with the new cars and other countries that are trading with CUBA and reaping benfits that the USA could be doing when they are only 90 miles away. I am looking forward to returning to CUBA via a shipline in the future.
I cruised to Cuba many years ago aboard the MV Odessa, a soviet ship. It was wonderful london hotels discount and showed that not everything negative that was being said about Cuba was accurate. The people were very friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, the Odessa is no longer in service and was ordered london hotels discount to leave the U.S. by President Reagan. Since then there have not been any Russian or Soviet cruise ships stopping or homeporting in the U.S.
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