Cuba

SFgal · #1 10-09-2003, 04:29 PM

Are there any issues getting to Cuba from DR?

I am planing a long trip over Christmas and New Years and wanted to plan a side trip to Cuba.

How much can I do there and how much do I need to plan ahead?

Thanks!

Matt & Nan · #2 10-09-2003, 05:11 PM

Why would anyone want to travel to Cuba. Unless you have family there. If you are American, I would think before going to Cuba.

I went last year to see family I had not seen in 42 years. I stayed in Havana at a "5" star hotel. Let me tell you this. It took me over a month to get over the disaster I saw. It was like time travel. I went back 100 years. Aside from being robed by the local POLICE, no AC at the 5 star, and being constantly bothered by the prostitutes, I had a great time.

Stay in the DR.

If you want to experience Cuba, just walk over into Haiti...........same thing.

ricktoronto · #3 10-09-2003, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SFgal
Are there any issues getting to Cuba from DR?

I am planing a long trip over Christmas and New Years and wanted to plan a side trip to Cuba.

How much can I do there and how much do I need to plan ahead?

Thanks!

You can fly on Cubana a few days a week and the flight is under 2 hours. Interestingly a NZ guy I met tried to pay with cash at SDQ airport and they said they had to have a credit card (see the following), so I am not sure how a Yankee would even buy a ticket at all.

You can do whatever you want with US$ cash, NO US credit cards, NO US travelers checks. You pay with US at dollar stores and get useless convertible (tourist) pesos in return at par with the US$ when in reality it is like 25-30:1. But you cannot have real Cuban Pesos, it is against the law. So you cannot buy the total lack of everything in Cuban stores, nor would you want the lineups nor do you have the ration books for some things anyway.

You need to ask the Cuban immigration agent ( you will only see the top of his head when you go to passport control) NOT to stamp your passport or be prepared to be fined up to $7500 US for violating the various treasury laws you guys have about spending money there. Speak Spanish or learn how to ask that quick.

Of course if you were Canadian like me you would have no worries at all.

DON'T lose your tourist card. Like the DR you have to have it to leave and unlike the DR there is hell to pay if lost.

Other than old Havana (a UNESCO site) it is dirt poor and falling apart and dog-ass ugly and while people might want to live to US standards you will hear about the "triumph of the revolution" at least 10,000 times when locals refer to the most mediocre improvement of some kind like a power plant or bridge etc.

OTOH I think it beats Haiti as a side trip and you won't need malaria prophylaxis.

rediwat · #4 10-09-2003, 09:27 PM

My close friends traveled to Cuba, from Canada, last Spring.

They always go through their travel countries by getting in touch and staying with as many local families...and they had a great time. They reported the Cuban people as being fabulous, humble and very gracious. They didn't spend a lot of time in Havana, perhaps that is why they didn't run into the kind of trouble the other two posts have referred you to. But, whatever you do, remember that the Cuban people, like all people, have self respect and appreciate others who take the time to make the effort to get to know and appreciate them.

Since you are from the Us do be careful about getting in trouble with your passport, as others have noted. But, to be very honest with you, some of the comments about how bad Cuba is are very much from people who, obviously, don't have an appreciation for other cultures...certainly watch out, but to suggest that going to Cuba is like hell or some such thing...well that is not at all the experience my two friends had. I urge you to go and I am sure you will have a very interesting experience...kind of like life.
PS MY friends visited the areas west of Havana, and south of it in about a 150 mile radius.

ClippedWing · #5 10-09-2003, 11:28 PM

Try cubalinda.com They have flights from Santo Domingo and different packages.

Just make sure you take enough US cash with you. If you're returning to SDQ after Cuba, I wouldn't worry too much about the US customs. They'll never have to know you were there unless you tell them. If you're traveling on a US passport Cuba will NOT stamp your passport unless you ask them to. I specifically asked to get mine stamped and they asked me, "Are you sure?" I said Yeah.

There's a lot to do in Cuba. Different people have different experiences... Yeah, It's dingy and dirty and smelly and they shove the revolution down your throat and try to pass it off like it's some kind of success and you kind of believe them until your'e walking down the street and get asked if you have soap to give, every five seconds.

But have fun and just enjoy the experience... Cuba is not like any other country in the world.

AZB · #6 10-10-2003, 10:53 AM

Go see cuba before the fall of castro. Cuba is still fixed in the time-frame of the 50's. If you like old american cars in good condition then take a camera with you to shoot pictures of restored old american cars along with their proud owners.
The real cuban experience begins if you speak spanish. This way you get to meet the real cubans who will tell you how the life is exactly in cuba. Superficially they all support the revolution but if you really talk to the people, they will tell you how afraid they are of castro and his party. There are watch-dogs everywhere and one never knows who will turn in who.
Yes, cuba is a poor country and people live below the american poverty line level.
In santiago de cuba, people speak and look like dominicans. They are very kind and friendly. They often will not want to talk to you as they know the authorities are watching but if you walk behind them and get away from the touristy areas then you can actually sit down with them in their homes and talk the real talk. Cubans are very educated and highly intellectual folks. The education system is very good and free.
Now for the guys who are going there for sex tourism:
The cuban women are beautiful and loving. You can have any girl you want for about 10 dollars in santiago de cuba. Another 10 dollars will get you a room in secret houses for a few hours. If you are smart then don't pick up aggressive women at the touristy areas. You will pay more and get less. Hang out in front of the universities and pick from the cream of the crop, students. They are more docile and trouble-free.
Food is good in cuba, usually the hotel gives you breakfast and dinner (6pm), no lunch. You can buy delicious cuban sandwiches at selected restaurants all over town and pay only 2-3 dollars for a big bite. The dollar stores are everywhere and you don't have to wait in long lines. The prices are decent and you will get your change in cuban coins with real dollar value. Which means you can use these coins as dollar but only in cuba.
The rooms in hotels are decent and come with working A/C. Santiago de cuba is located on high altitude so basically no a/c is required at night.
People like americans and castro certainly doesn't want to make problems for any dollar spending tourist. The only gringos who get into any trouble in cuba are the ones with shady activities ex: looking for sex with underage teens, kiddy-sex, pedophiles, gay activities or simply stupid enough to be looking for drugs. Some people just don't think and fall in to trouble anywhere they travel.
If you go there with a mind-set (prepared) that you will be traveling to a 3rd world communist country and be prepared to see serious poverty, then you will enjoy cuba to the fullest.

Matt & Nan · #7 10-10-2003, 12:06 PM

Do you travel there often ? I don't want to make this into a political post but....... you said " food is good in Cuba" with 11 million people starving. You should have said Tourist can eat.

"The education system is very good and free." have you ever looked at what they teach ??.. I happen to have a "History Book" from secondary school from Cuba. Fidel, Che, and Raul. in that order. According to this book, Fidel made Cuba, nothing happened before 1959.

I'll give you what you say about the women and prostitutes. After all Fidel himself has said " We have the best educated and cleanest whores in the world".

I would never again go to Cuba. The place is very sad.

Matt

bbforbis · #8 10-10-2003, 12:33 PM

Just moments ago, President Bush made an announcement that unauthorized travel by US citizens to Cuba will be strictly prohibited, and those who choose to ignore the travel ban will face serious consequences.

Personallly, I would not take the chance. You may want to look at the most latest news developments for a complete update.

rediwat · #9 10-10-2003, 01:02 PM

Let us not leap into criticism about Cuban education from a perspective that the teaching of Castro...Che..etc. makes it
an awful place, albeit a place different in government control than many countries. A look at US History books shows very little real questioning of the moral superiority of the US. That Castro has improved the education compared to the authoritarian Bastista regime is a matter of record, not opinion. The fact that people there have less choice in the matter, also a matter of record, in no way removes the reality that in the US there are many many freedom restrictions...though much more subtle...such as travel to Cuba, or the right to show displeasure with the US actions worldwide without being labeled a traitor...or being able to steal a presidential election because one party controls the Supreme Court. At least in Cuba the people know the government is going to crack down. In the US the illusion of freedom of speech is propagated daily...then the government squads of Ashcroft are ready, at any time, to chill you out or demand more "Patriot Act protections." It is all a matter of perspective.

pasha · #10 10-10-2003, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rediwat
A look at US History books shows very little real questioning of the moral superiority of the US....that the reality that in the US there are many many freedom restrictions...though much more subtle...such as travel to Cuba, or the right to show displeasure with the US actions worldwide without being labeled a traitor...or being able to steal a presidential election because one party controls the Supreme Court. At least in Cuba the people know the government is going to crack down. In the US the illusion of freedom of speech is propagated daily...then the government squads of Ashcroft are ready, at any time, to chill you out or demand more "Patriot Act protections." It is all a matter of perspective.

Where in the world do you come up with nutty stuff like this? The first sentence alone is not even at the intellectual level of a high school sophomore...and it goes downhill from there. Surely you're smarter than that. Or, maybe not. One shouldn't assume too much.

Overall you sound like one of those old recidivists in Moscow who forgot midnight knocks from the KGB, gulags, summary executions in government basements, and the starvation and forced cannibalizations that happened in the Ukraine. Let's see....according to whatever philosophy you're subscribing to, all that's OK because "the people know the government is going to crack down". Or is it you just have an affinity for dictatorships?

We're not going to wait much longer to see how history treats Brother Castro......neck tie party time on the island when he goes tits up. Wait 'till the secret police files are opened...going to make the Stasi look like Boy Scouts...especially those lovely B&W movies of execution squads working overtime at that Havana prison.

In disappointment, P