Cuba door cracks slightly

by Tom Johansmeyer on

President Barack Obama has announced that restrictions on travel to Cuba are about to become looser. But, it’s not time for cigar smokers across the United States begin to rejoice yet. So far, the measure will only allow Cuban-Americans with family on the island to visit, and Obama has stated that he supports the embargo.

The change in travel restrictions is part of a $410 billion spending bill approved by the Senate late Tuesday. It had already passed the House of Representatives and was signed by the president yesterday. The new law permits annual travel (rather than once every three years, under the Bush Administration‘s program) and increases a visitor’s allowable daily spend from $50 a day to $179 a day.

This is a small move, but by virtue of its involving Cuba, it becomes substantial. Bringing families back together, at least once a year, is a step in some right direction, whatever it may be.

Bike and cruise options for Alaska and Caribbean

by Jamie Rhein on

Here’s a cruise option that combines two different elements: biking and cruise ship amenities. The company Bike and Cruise, paired with Norwegian Cruise Lines offers unique vacation options in Alaska, Europe and the Caribben. Each day the ship takes you to a new port where you set off on your bicycle to enjoy the sights and scenery.

The cycling portion is led by an expert cyclist which certainly has benefits. The beauty of this sort of bicycling trip is that you don’t have to schlep all you gear with you. Plus, after a hard day of cycling, there’s a hot tub to enjoy, oodles of food options and all the rest of the amenities on a ship.

According to the Bike and Cruise trip descriptions, when you’re on the ship, you’re able to do what you want and eat with who you want to spend time with. It’s not like you have to be with just the people who are part of your tour group.

Years ago, I did an organized cycling trip in Western Australia. Except for the fact that, in order to take the trip, I chaperoned 20 high school-aged kids, mostly boys, it was grand, particularly on the days I was able to head off alone. Even fifteen minutes can work wonders.

I read in the Columbus Dispatch travel briefs that the Alaska cruise is to sail from Seattle on June 28th and the trip goes until July 5. The website reflects the 2008 dates, so if you’re interested, contact the company. The cruise dates for the Caribbean and Europe are not yet listed either.

The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act

by Brenda Yun on

Alas, a quiet bill was introduced by the House of Representatives earlier this week and could finally bring an end to a near 50-year U.S.-Cuba standstill. While everyone else in Washington has been deliberating on the stimulus package, Democratic Representative from Massachusetts, William Delahunt proposed the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act.

The proposed act hopes to end all travel restrictions for all U.S. citizens across the board. Some people still have concerns about the drastic effects this would have on travel to the still quite Communist country. In fact, the Cuban American National Foundation would like the bill to be amended to allow only Cuban exiles to visit the island whenever they wish to see family. The foundation wants to see restrictions to exist for American tourists until Cuba shows some indications of democratic reform.

President Obama has long been a proponent of alleviating the harsh ban on American travel to and from Cuba.

Regardless of the outcome, tourism in Cuba is hot compared to nearly all of the other travel destinations in the Caribbean and even in Latin America.

Take off that swimming suit in Grenada

by Annie Scott on

The Caribbean island of Grenada has banned bathing suits! Unfortunately, they don’t want to see your bits and pieces; they want you to put on something else.

Wearing your g-string at the beach is still okay, but walk around inland with just your bikini top on? You could be slapped with a $270 Indecent Exposure fine. No shirt, no shoes, no Grenada.

It’s fair enough, we suppose, considering that walking around in your swimming suit is akin to walking around in your underwear — and they don’t like that, either, the law also applies to low-slung gangsta pants.

Recently, a group of tourists who were at a Grenada fort in beachwear were sent back to their cruise ship to change. This ain’t no St. Tropez!

[via The New Zealand Herald]

A wrap-up of Cuba news and stories

by Brenda Yun on

As my plans to travel there solidify, Cuba has been on my mind — and luckily quite present in the news! Here’s a wrap-up of some of the interesting stories coming from Castro country.

  • Taxis and transportation: Unlike his brother, Raúl Castro is encouraging independent drivers to apply for taxi licenses to improve transportation in major cities in Cuba.
  • Guantanamo hunger strikes reach a two-year high: Despite the looming closure of the Guantanamo prison, close to 50 prisoners are refusing to eat.
  • Fidel is lost but not gone: Venezuelan President and close friend of ailing Fidel Castro says the former Cuban leader, who has not been seen in public since July 2006, will likely stay behind closed doors.
  • Over 10,000 artifacts from Hemingway’s Cuban farm are being digitized: To literary historians’ delight, 2,000 documents, 900 maps, 3,000 photographs, and 9,000 books are being preserved for the Ernest Hemingway Museum in Cuba.
  • Dateline Havana on NPR: I heard a great program on NPR yesterday based on Reese Erlich’s book, Dateline Havana: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Future of Cuba, which touches on such ripe topics as organic farming and traveling musicians.