DR to CUBA for an American

Expensive, but easy (I think) ..

I called Cubana in S.D. in Sept. Found out they wanted US$400 (about) for round trip SDQ-HAV. They fly on alternate days. If you get to go, show them your passport at HAV and they wont stamp it at your request.

BTW, someone (DR1) said there could be a problem explaining the exit/entry stamps from DR on your Cuba trip. E.

What about if you flew on a dominican passport? I have both a US and Dominican passport. If I flew to DR wit my US passport, and then flew from DR to Cuba wit my Dominican passport, would I have problems? I heard that if the US found out you can get in a lot of trouble....

What kind of trouble would you get into? I've read this before and wondered about it. Is there a penalty$$$$ to pay or do you go to jail, behead you or what.

I have read some of my friend's posts about a trip to Cuba for a U.S. Citizen from other websites.

I will try and answer it as best as I can.

If you enter Cuba, the officials will not stamp your passport.

BUT if you go back to Mexico or the Dominican Republic from Cuba, you will have another "entry record" stamped on your passport.

So when you go back to the U.S., you will need to explain the two "entries" into the same country.

I am also a U.S. citizen and I would love to visit Cuba. But the risk is too much.

I also heard that the round trip flight from Santo Domingo to Havana is expensive (someone already mentioned this in this thread).

And in Havana, you cannot use your U.S. credit or debit card.

If I remember more, I will post them here.

But the risk is too much.

Anna Coniglio said:

What kind of trouble would you get into? I've read this before and wondered about it. Is there a penalty$$$$ to pay or do you go to jail, behead you or what.

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You Canadians are lucky to visit Cuba freely. :classic:

Just use your Dominican passport form Santo Domingo to Cuba and back. Ask Cubana Air about their Hotel included specials. Varadero Beach is beautiful and has great hotels. It is about an hour and a half from Havana by a major road.

If you can skip DR I would suggest flying to Toronto and then to Varadero, it might be cheaper than going to Mexico si, no?

From my own experience, I would skip Cuba altogether...worst vacation destination visited to date! (Havana is interesting but my life would go on..).
Enjoy your visit with your friends in the DR!

I like to experience things for myselves and almost never go by what others say. Everyone has different tastes.

I haven't been yet but I'm hoping to go before things change. Change isn't always for the better.

Jrzyguy

I would like to see Cuba one day too but my reasons I think are different from yours. Primarily, I would like to make some cultural comparisons as well, I have learned so much about Cuba through really good Cuban literature that I have read and a visit for me would be to equate what I read with what I see. Also, I have many Cuban friends who have shared their experiences with me about life in Cuba both good and bad.

I agree with you about experiencing Cuba for yourself because what one person looks for in a trip differs from another person's goal but possibly 'drloca's' comment is referring to life outside of the resort. Many people who visit Cuba come back with the notion that 'life is good in Cuba'. Well of course on an A1 in Varadero with white sand and beautiful beaches sure it is but go to La Habana, Holguín, Pinar del Río etc. and see Cuba in the everyday life of the people and maybe that would justify the poster's point of view. As well, I hear just walking down the malecón is quite the experience.

If you are adventurous I say go for it. Afterall life only comes around once. Also I think it would be interesting to hear your comments and comparisons of the two islands that are culturally similar but yet SO different etc.

Good luck!

LDG.

jrzyguy said:

yeah...i could pull it off cheaper going to canada....but i guess i really want to have my cake and eat it too and do both DR and CUba. Since i wont be traveling for a bit...i wanna make this one heck of a trip. so the hell with it..i will pay around 400 to get there.

Just wonder why the other poster had such a negative response to cuba....feel free to PM me about your neg experience there. I have heard nothing but great things.

I am thinking...2/3 days in SD/BC..then a week in Cuba...then another 2 days in BC...then home to my dreary life:rambo:

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Comment on Cuba

I have been to Cuba about 7 times since 1996 and have enjoyed all of my trips. The last few times we stayed at a 'casa particular'. It was the apt. of a lady who rented out rooms with a light breakfast for $25.00. We traveled from PR to Panama to Havana via COPA and had great flights both to Cuba and back. The arquitecture in Old Havana is marvelous to behold and is undergoing a major renovation project. In addition, the ambiance and mystique of Old Havana is difficult to understand for someone who has not been there. There are also major renovations going on along the buildings on the Malecon where years of neglect and seaspray have caused heavy damages. The government of Spain is repairing many of these structures as evidenced on large billboards. In the sectors of Vedado and Miramar are the mansions of pre-revolution Cuba. You can see from these magnificent homes that there was once money in Cuba and lots of it! We have walked the streets of Havana, Pinar del Rio, Matanzas, and other provinces and hardly got a second look. We found local peoples to be warm and dignified. They are not out to get your money as some may believe despite the lack of many of the things we take for granted. Havana is alive with nightlife from the showgirls of Tropicana, the romantic boleros at EL Gato Tuerto, and lively jazz at La Zorra y el Cuervo. Only once on returning to PR were we asked by a Customs Official (not Immigration) where we were returning from. I told her up front Cuba. She suggested that next time we get official permission from the Treasury Department... I strongly recommend to those of you wanting to visit Cuba to do so before Castro dies and 'democracy' is established with all its Burger Kings, Kentucky Fried Chickens, McDonalds, etc, etc... Hurry up before Cuba becomes just one more tourist trap in the Caribbean!

Potato_Salad said:

If you enter Cuba, the officials will not stamp your passport.

BUT if you go back to Mexico or the Dominican Republic from Cuba, you will have another "entry record" stamped on your passport.

So when you go back to the U.S., you will need to explain the two "entries" into the same country.

Click to expand...

Actually you have to explain the exit stamps as well - say you leave the US Saturday, to Cuba Sunday and back the following Sat and to the US the next day - you have 4 stamps: into DR on day one, out the next day, in the following Saturday and an exit the Sunday you go home. They may want to know what happened for the week.

Via Canada they stamp you in (not us of course) but not out. So that can look like a week all in Canada a lot easier.

Or if your passport is like mine they'd never be able to notice them among 100 others. So maybe it would work out of the DR.

Look jrzy,
Just use your US birth certificate when you travel US to DR and back. Then use your passport when travelling DR to Cuba, it's real easy, No te preocupe.

Cuba Faq...

LOGISTICS (Santo Domingo->Havana):
1. Cubana airlines flys between Havana and Santo Domingo (SDQ) on Thursdays and Sundays. [SDQ->Havana: Thr/Sun: 1:35pm - 3:30pm; Havana->SDQ Thr/Sun: 9:55am - 12:05pm] (http://cubatravelusa.com/)
2. COST: US$409 + US$20 (tourist card) + US$20 (departure tax) = US$449.00 cash
3. The round-trip ticket was bought at the Cubana airlines check-in desk at Las Americas 2 hours before the flight (the Cubana SDQ desk is only open the day of departure, 2-3 hours before the flight lifts off.)
4. The ticket was purchased by a man working out of his suitcase, standing next to the check-in desk (I was directed by a Cubana employee at the check-in desk to purchase my ticket from him.)
5. I checked-in approx. 90lbs of luggage (2 suitcases) and brought one carry-on. On the return flight, I could only check-in 30 Kilos of luggage. I was 13 Kilos overweight and was charged approx. US$4.50/lb (cost of US$60.) CHECK LUGGAGE REQUIREMENTS FOR NASSAU, THEY MAY BE DIFFERENT!!!
6. Flight time: 2 hours on a Russian Jet (a meal was served, it was not very good .)
7. While passing through customs, I was questioned about my reasons for being in Cuba (leisure)
8. My passport was not stamped (it's a given that Cuban officials will not stamp US passports.) You may be able to enter the Bahamas w/o a passport (a drivers license or birth certificate may be sufficient); therefore, you may not have to deal w/ two Bahamian entry stamps on your passport when you return to New York. (A question that may come up in customs when you return to New York)
9. Taxis cost tourists about US$20 from the airport to the city.
10. Once in the city, taxi rates are equivalent to the rates in New York.


GENERAL/ADVICE:
1. There is 10% tax on the dollar
2. Business will only accept Convertible Pesos (CP) from tourists (Dollars/Euros can be exchanged for CPs at major hotels)
3. There are 2 types of currencies in place in Cuba. Cubans use the peso. Tourists use the Convertible Peso (the FX rate of the peso to the Convertible Peso is 26:1)
4. Most Cubans cannot enter the hotels.
5. Cubans are not to associate (be seen) with tourists.
6. Rental car rates are approx. $100/day for a compact automatic car.
7. Local phone numbers are 6-digits
8. Your cellphone will not work in Cuba; however, GSM cellphone service is available in Cuba, but SIM chips (I hear) are US$100.
9. Cuba can be expensive. Taxis are expensive, food is moderately priced, hotels are expensive, cigars are expensive ($3-10 a piece), rental cars are expensive ($80-120 a day)
10. Cuba can be cheap. Casa particulares are cheap ($20-40), rum ($5).
11. No ATMS in Cuba
12. The cash you bring in is the cash you'll have.
13. US credit cards (credit cards under a US bank) cannot be used in Cuba.


I hope this helps,
Helpmann

LatinoRican said:

I have been to Cuba about 7 times since 1996 and have enjoyed all of my trips. The last few times we stayed at a 'casa particular'. It was the apt. of a lady who rented out rooms with a light breakfast for $25.00. We traveled from PR to Panama to Havana via COPA and had great flights both to Cuba and back. The arquitecture in Old Havana is marvelous to behold and is undergoing a major renovation project. In addition, the ambiance and mystique of Old Havana is difficult to understand for someone who has not been there. There are also major renovations going on along the buildings on the Malecon where years of neglect and seaspray have caused heavy damages. The government of Spain is repairing many of these structures as evidenced on large billboards. In the sectors of Vedado and Miramar are the mansions of pre-revolution Cuba. You can see from these magnificent homes that there was once money in Cuba and lots of it! We have walked the streets of Havana, Pinar del Rio, Matanzas, and other provinces and hardly got a second look. We found local peoples to be warm and dignified. They are not out to get your money as some may believe despite the lack of many of the things we take for granted. Havana is alive with nightlife from the showgirls of Tropicana, the romantic boleros at EL Gato Tuerto, and lively jazz at La Zorra y el Cuervo. Only once on returning to PR were we asked by a Customs Official (not Immigration) where we were returning from. I told her up front Cuba. She suggested that next time we get official permission from the Treasury Department... I strongly recommend to those of you wanting to visit Cuba to do so before Castro dies and 'democracy' is established with all its Burger Kings, Kentucky Fried Chickens, McDonalds, etc, etc... Hurry up before Cuba becomes just one more tourist trap in the Caribbean!

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Hello there

Wow, it sounds like you love Cuba. :classic:

Are you a U.S. Citizen? I am a U.S. Citizen and I would like to visit Cuba as well.

ricktoronto said:

Actually you have to explain the exit stamps as well - say you leave the US Saturday, to Cuba Sunday and back the following Sat and to the US the next day - you have 4 stamps: into DR on day one, out the next day, in the following Saturday and an exit the Sunday you go home. They may want to know what happened for the week.

Via Canada they stamp you in (not us of course) but not out. So that can look like a week all in Canada a lot easier.

Or if your passport is like mine they'd never be able to notice them among 100 others. So maybe it would work out of the DR.

Click to expand...

Thank you ricktoronto for the info. :classic:

My passport is almost full of stamps to Asia, the U.S., Canada and the DR. So "maybe" they will not notice it.

Going to Cuba for U.S. Citizens is so hard. :angry:

So Canadians like you are lucky!!!