What will the effect be on the rest of the Caribbean? Profound. The US-Cuba rapprochement has been the moment that Caribbean islands from Aruba to Jamaica has been dreading. They rely upon a steady stream of US visitors, whether flying in or calling in on cruises. Many of those visitors will switch to Cuba, leaving the other islands with capacity that needs filling – which may only be achieved by cutting prices for Europeans, especially Brits. How will the cruise lines respond? One aspect of the embargo that has proved reasonably effective has been to suppress the Cuban cruise business. By denying access to US ports for any vessel that had the temerity to visit Cuba, Washington made sure that superb ports such as Havana, Santiago and Cienfuegos featured on few itineraries. While President Obama did not specifically mention cruises, it seems likely that many Western Caribbean cruise programmes from the winter of 2015-16 onwards will be significantly amended to include Cuban ports. This will also have the benefit of providing extra accommodation until new, permanent infrastructure is created. Thomson Cruise’s excellent programme to Cuba remains in place, offering a two-night stay in Havana on the edge of the Old Town. There is still space available for departures on 29 and 30 December, if you want a New Year getaway. Finally, can you disentangle the tricky business of travel insurance? Certainly. At the moment, travel insurance for Cuba is weird in two ways. First, the country insists that every visitor has proof of health cover, and if you can’t present it on arrival you have to buy a policy at the airport. Next, insurance underwritten by the US giant AIG is not valid for Cuba. This means, for example, if you buy a policy from Boots, it excludes travel to the island (as well as Afghanistan, Liberia and Somalia – which are several orders of magnitude more dangerous than Cuba). The president’s announcement will eliminate that preposterous exclusion. Simon Calder is co-author, with Emily Hatchwell, of the first independent guidebook to the island, Traveller’s Survival Kit: Cuba – first published in 1990. For his latest stories see bit.ly/FlyDriveCuba and bit.ly/48Havana Bron: Independent.co.uk
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 16:45:36 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015