Cruises to Cuba in 2017

Cruises to Cuba

By Paul Motter, iCruise Blogger   |  September 05, 2017      ( Comments)

I once believed that the day Cuba opened up to cruise ships the cruise industry would never have to worry about selling out a cruise again. It turns out my prediction was a little premature, because of government policies on both sides that put limitations on interactions and commerce with the Cuban locals. Until just recently it was required that all visits from the U.S. be “cultural” in nature, meaning largely limited to schools, hospitals, government buildings and other typical things that dictatorships use to limit their exposure to the outside world. In other words, a visit solely for a glorious night on the town in old Havana was out of the question.

Well, it is important to realize just how much visiting Cuba has changed in just the last year. It is now possible to take a four night cruise out of Florida and spend just one night, overnight, in Havana. For example, Norwegian Cruise Line offers several four-day cruises that stay in Havana overnight. There are no mandatory day-long visits to hospitals, schools or sugar cane plantations or extra cruise days added to visit the small towns on the opposite side of the largest island in the Caribbean.

In 2015 it was commonly said that Cuba wasn’t ready for US tourists because “it didn’t have the infrastructure” to support them. By this they were generally referring to hotels and restaurants. Well, the beauty of cruising is that you bring the hotels and restaurants with you and you do not have to rely on local food or lodging at all.

Now you can visit Havana overnight and enjoy what GQ Magazine characterized as, “Like the no-strings-attached one-night stand you always prayed you’d have, Havana is a town that wants to get drunk and bump and grind with you, then leave you in peace to sleep off your hangover the next morning.”

Havana stands out as a pocket of the past, stuck in the late 1950s, since Fidel Castro took over and isolated the island nation completely from Western Civilization. Back then, Havana was the original Las Vegas, with floor shows, legal gambling, and big bands for swing dancing.

And so, Americans have two visions of Cuba in mind, the one that made Havana the jewel of the Caribbean during Prohibition, when a fast sail to the island allowed Americans to enjoy all the spoils of western indulgence like the finest tobacco and rum, back in a day when no alcohol of any kind was allowed to be served legally in the States.

Then there is the way people have been forced to live for the last 60 years, since even with the fall of his greatest ally by far, the Soviet Republic, Castro still maintained his socialist ideals - much to the detriment of the local population. Sadly for Cuba, but to the benefit of Castro, alcohol prohibition ended in the 1933 and Havana’s Heyday started to decline. The country become impoverished; yet still largely run by organized crime. The Communist Castro won the country over in a popular revolt in 1959, but most people did not foresee what an isolationist he would become, replacing the gangsters with government oligarchs that would continue to rule to this day.

Today is the Best Time to Visit Cuba

Now is the time to visit Cuba - before it changes too much.

You can go ashore at night, visit some of the most famous nightclubs of the bygone era like the Buena Vista Social Club, Hotel Nacional or the Tropicana, and actually still see what life was like in the Heyday of Havana - because little has changed in music and dance culture despite the deprivation of Castro’s policies. You will see what glorious looked like 65 years ago - and it still has all of its charm.

Then you will also see Havana by day - to experience a world stuck in the 1960s, old original cars, and almost no commercialism. You will see a proud but poor people who long for the day when they can return to the modern world. And you will feel sorry that you cannot currently do more to help them.