nero: If you call Mexicana Airlines using their toll-free Mexican number (011 52 55 5448 0990) and buy your ticket that way, the only thing that will show up on your credit card is a 'Mexicana' charge. For all they know, you flew from LA to Guadalajara. Do not call the US toll free number, as they are in the US, subject to US laws, and will not process your ticket.
It's your safest bet, unless you want to buy your ticket through a non-US travel agent. And if you do that, same rules apply, it'll list the charge, not the destination.
Posts: 422 | Location: Charleston, South Carolina | Registered: 08 November 2004
Hi there, I'm Canadian so the question doesn't involve travel restrictions, but I would like to know something a little difficult to find out on the internet. I am going to Cuba this winter with my mother who is a director of health services for a region in B.C., and she would love to visit some Cuban hospitals and talk to local doctors and nurses about how their health care system works. Now i've done some searching on the internet, found lists of hospitals with contact numbers, but I am not sure if it's wise to just call them up and say "hey, can we visit you guys?". Would anyone know anyway to get in contact with people in the health care system who are interested in talking to fellow health care practitioners? Websites, tips, etc would be great. Thanks
Posts: 3 | Location: Canada | Registered: 27 May 2006
Originally posted by erikee: health care system who are interested in talking to fellow health care practitioners? Websites, tips, etc would be great. Thanks
I'm living in Cuba and can look into this for you. I have a friend who's doing a lot of research on the health care system here. I don't know the answer right now, but I will let you know ASAP. Can you comment on my blog with some contact info and I'll get back to you? Thanks!
Posts: 2 | Location: La Habana, Cuba | Registered: 15 July 2007
My message is for fallingnow and alexazul who live in Cuba. I am immigrated to the U.S. from the country of soviets in the late 80s, so I am very curious to revisit my past, so to speak, though certainly it is not my only motivation. The official "excuse" is planning to attend the film festival in Havana. Are there any suggestions/tips as to where to go for good food? I am sure it'll be much easier to find places with good music, but I've heard that food is a big problem in Cuba. Any recommendations? I am no meat eater so I am happy with rice, beans and plantains as long as I could get some other variations and flavors... Thanks in advance.
Posts: 16 | Location: Los Angeles | Registered: 19 January 2006
so I am very curious to revisit my past, so to speak
I went for the same reason, but not only. I stayed in casas particulares (private homes) and had interesting conversations with the locals. Being from Poland it made it much easier for me to understand their hardships, although their reality was very different. Still a lot of similarities. That was '97. Since then, Cuba has remained one of my favourites. Highly recommended.
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Posts: 387 | Location: Poland and Sweden | Registered: 23 November 2007
Oh, well, I just read Ay, Cuba by Andrei Codrescu and it gave me chills. It's a great read by the way, I finished it in 2 days. It brought back memories, but I have to say I have never experienced the kind of hardship described in the book. The worst thing about any dictatorship is the obliteration of the individual and free speech. Now, why do we have to learn about each other from the books? Isn't it shocking that people in the States who were/are born free tolerate such a ridiculuous restriction on their (constitutionally supported) freedom to travel? In fact, most people I talk to have no idea that it is illegal to go to Cuba and now, considering the consequences, I am having second thoughts myself. The last thing I want is to have problems with the customs and immigration, though I certainly do not consider traveling to Cuba a crime... But it seems like there would be no way to explain the double stamps in my passport and I don't want to lie... so ... I wish I had a double citizenship and I hope this ban goes down sometime soon.
Posts: 16 | Location: Los Angeles | Registered: 19 January 2006
Anyuta, You can avoid the problem with Am authorities easily. I know there are a lot of Americans who travel to Cuba. Most of them go via Canada or Mexico. I don't know how the passport procedure is handled - either on a separate loose sheet, or if it is a stamp in the passport, it doesn't say anything. You can go to LP TT - they have a separate Cuba branch, where you can find all you need to know. Cuba is a special country, different than others. It has crowds of afficionados from the western world, who find there much of what we've lost.
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Posts: 387 | Location: Poland and Sweden | Registered: 23 November 2007
Cuban immigration won't stamp a US passport. They know they'll lost tourists if they do. They stamp a loose paper. Just be sure you have a bunch of stamps in your passport already so US customs doesn't notice 2 Mexico entry stamps and begin to ask questions. Or, pay a Mexican agent $20 not to stamp your passport...and you'll only have 1 stamp. They'll do it. We saw it done in the Cancun airport a year ago...
Posts: 78 | Location: Santa Cruz, California | Registered: 24 October 2005
For those interested, I just contacted Intrepid Travel about being able to travel to Cuba through them as a U.S. citizen. A sales consultant promptly responded. They just opened an office here in America, Colorado I think, and they are still waiting for a response from their head office about how they will be able to offer that to U.S. citizens. She said they should find out sometime next week and she will keep me posted! I'll post here with her response when I get it!
I have read that it isn't illegal for an American to go to Cuba without a permit as long as they don't spend any money. A completely ridiculous and impossible situation, if you plan on eating. However, I am assuming that it would be legal to go to Cuba as a tourist if someone else, a non-American of course, paid for all your eating and habitation needs, provided that you didn't bring back any souvenirs. Is my assumption correct? My boyfriend is Central American, and we would like to go to Cuba next summer. We can easily buy plane tickets to fly out of his country, and if I "gifted" all my money to him and he spent it for me, I wouldn't technically be breaking the law, right? Please reply if you know about this. Thanks!
I personally read some wods of the law about U.S. citizens travel to Cuba. Travelling there isn't prohibited now. But U.S. citizens pohibited to spend money in Cuba, so the Cuba economy wouldnt improve. I dont know how they control it, but when we were there I was spending all the money for travel charges instead My U.S. friends, although it looked very stupid. So taek one European friend with you and travel to Cuba easily.
Posts: 35 | Location: Baku | Registered: 14 February 2008
