Starting today, traveling to Cuba just became more difficult. In an effort to “channel away” economic activity that benefits the Cuban military, intelligence, and security services, recreational travel to Cuba by cruise ship has now been banned by the Trump Administration.
“Cuba continues to play a destabilizing role in the Western Hemisphere, providing a communist foothold in the region…” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement explaining the change.
Advertisement
“People to people” travel is no longer allowed
Previously, during the Obama Administration, you could travel to Cuba from the U.S. as long as your travel fell under at least one of twelve categories, which include matters like family visits or educational, journalistic, or religious activity. Technically, pure tourism to the country has remained illegal, however.
As a workaround, many travelers would use what’s known as “people-to-people” educational travel, meaning you could book a trip organized via a tour group or volunteer project; cruise ships from the U.S. (and other private passenger vessels like yachts and fishing boats) could also freely visit the country, the most common travel method for Americans visiting Cuba.
Advertisement
This changed back in November 2017, when the Trump administration mandated that people-to-people group travel would only be allowed if it included a guide who could schedule all educational activities, as we’ve written before; solo educational travel was also banned.
As of today, however, both people-to-people group travel and travel via cruise ship are no longer allowed. What does this mean for American travelers? Well, according to the press statement, if you have a “travel-related” transaction to Cuba that was booked prior to today (like a flight itinerary), it will be “grandfathered” in, meaning it will likely be honored—though it isn’t clear what this means for existing cruise reservations. Going forward, however, these restrictions will make it more difficult for many Americans to visit the country for tourism only.
What’s next
If you’re hoping to travel to Cuba now, you’ll have to meet a slightly stricter set of criteria; you can still travel to the country for one of the eleven other reasons, but you can no longer use the “educational” catch-all category. (Commercial flights from the U.S. also remain in effect for family travel and “other lawful forms of travel.”)
Advertisement
Still, cruise ships traditionally facilitated a large portion of American tourists’ visits to Cuba. “We are closely monitoring these recent developments and any resulting impact to cruise travel to Cuba,” Norwegian Cruise Line said in a statement. “We will communicate to our guests and travel partners as additional information becomes available.” If you’ve already booked a cruise to the country, it’s best you contact your cruise liner to find out how your trip may be affected.
For more from Lifehacker, be sure to follow us on Instagram @lifehackerdotcom.
Advertisement
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
