Can Americans Travel To Cuba On A Cruise?

Above, yours truly at Havana Port aboard the Majesty of the Seas in April 2019.

In April 2019, Mitch Geriminsky and I took a cruise to Havana, Cuba aboard Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas. This was before travel restrictions were re-imposed on June 5, 2019 by President Donald Trump.

During the 2020 campaign, Joe Biden said he would reverse the Trump restrictions. So far, Biden has done really nothing. 

People wondering about travel to Cuba, especially cruises, can go to Cruise Critic for an article that answers their questions.

They begin with:

One of the biggest questions raised frequently in the US travel industry is this: Can Americans travel to Cuba? That's because the past decade saw the more-than-sixty-year travel embargo to Cuba eased just long enough for some lucky Americans to have enjoyed cruises to Cuba, both on specialty cruise lines and even on mainstream lines.

However, the short window of opportunity closed on June 5, 2019, when U.S. policy changes again blocked tourist travel to Cuba.

Travel to Cuba from, or transiting through the United States by any person considered to be under U.S. jurisdiction (which includes U.S. citizens located anywhere, as well as anyone located in the U.S., regardless of citizenship) must abide by the regulations of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), under the Department of Treasury.

As of June of 2022, those regulations allow twelve types of general travel authorizations, but retain the restriction on travel strictly for tourist activities.

Here are some things Americans should know about the status of sailing to this long off-limits country.

To read more, go here.