One of the Largest Tour Operators to Cuba Has Just Received a License to Immediately Resume Its Trips There
Although the Obama Administration announced several months ago that it would again permit educational, religious or cultural tours to Cuba, it has been slow to issue actual licenses to the various tour operators who have applied to operate specific programs. But though several well-known companies in the field of such tour programs are still awaiting permission, another -- Insight Cuba -- actually received its own go-ahead document last week. Result: An impressive and varied program is immediately available, enabling Americans to visit that Caribbean nation within the next several weeks.
Insight Cuba, a division of Cross Cultural Solutions, claims that it was the largest tour operator to Cuba in the years prior to 2004, when the Bush Administration significantly tightened the regulations governing such trips. It plans, apparently, to be especially active once again, starting within the next several days. On its website, it has listed six different programs and scores of departures that it will begin operating in the days ahead:
Havana & Colonial Trinidad: eight days, seven nights, $2,995-$3,395 per person (the price varying according to whether 4-star or 5-star hotels are used), all-inclusive arrangements (hotel, meals, escorted sightseeing), but not airfare, which is extra.Havana & Scenic Piñar del Rio: eight days, seven nights, $2,495-$2,995 per person, for the same above arrangements and conditions.Bay of Pigs: Havana/Playa Giron/Cienfuegos/ Santa Clara, eight days, seven nights, $2,745-$3,095, same as above.Cuban Music & Arts Experience: Havana/Santiago de Cuba/Bayamo, nine days, eight nights, $3,395-$3,795, same as above.Havana Jazz Experience: with Jazz Times Magazine, eight days, seven nights, $3,395-$3,795, same as above;Weekend in Havana: four days, three nights, $1,695-$1,995, same as above.
As you will see, tours range in cost from a hefty $400 to $500 a day, and airfare -- usually from Miami, by charter flight-must be added to the above prices (at still-to-be-determined rates). When passengers call to book and choose from the several dates of departure per month, they will be advised of the air prices and arrangements available to them which, at the outset at least, will be usually from Miami.
Justifying those substantial costs is the fact that everything is included: all meals, fully-escorted touring, and extensive daily activities from morning till night; moreover, groups are limited to 15 persons per departure, which insures a better-quality experience.
The full details are found in a well-designed website at www.insightcuba.com (tel. 800/450-CUBA). Until licenses are awarded to the many other tour companies that have applied to operate such packages, Insight Cuba's arrangements will set the standard of what's available. It should be noted that Insight Cuba brought some 25,000 passengers to Cuba prior to 2004, when such travel effectively ended, and it will be a major player to that country in the months ahead.
Insight Cuba, a division of Cross Cultural Solutions, claims that it was the largest tour operator to Cuba in the years prior to 2004, when the Bush Administration significantly tightened the regulations governing such trips. It plans, apparently, to be especially active once again, starting within the next several days. On its website, it has listed six different programs and scores of departures that it will begin operating in the days ahead:
Havana & Colonial Trinidad: eight days, seven nights, $2,995-$3,395 per person (the price varying according to whether 4-star or 5-star hotels are used), all-inclusive arrangements (hotel, meals, escorted sightseeing), but not airfare, which is extra.Havana & Scenic Piñar del Rio: eight days, seven nights, $2,495-$2,995 per person, for the same above arrangements and conditions.Bay of Pigs: Havana/Playa Giron/Cienfuegos/ Santa Clara, eight days, seven nights, $2,745-$3,095, same as above.Cuban Music & Arts Experience: Havana/Santiago de Cuba/Bayamo, nine days, eight nights, $3,395-$3,795, same as above.Havana Jazz Experience: with Jazz Times Magazine, eight days, seven nights, $3,395-$3,795, same as above;Weekend in Havana: four days, three nights, $1,695-$1,995, same as above.
As you will see, tours range in cost from a hefty $400 to $500 a day, and airfare -- usually from Miami, by charter flight-must be added to the above prices (at still-to-be-determined rates). When passengers call to book and choose from the several dates of departure per month, they will be advised of the air prices and arrangements available to them which, at the outset at least, will be usually from Miami.
Justifying those substantial costs is the fact that everything is included: all meals, fully-escorted touring, and extensive daily activities from morning till night; moreover, groups are limited to 15 persons per departure, which insures a better-quality experience.
The full details are found in a well-designed website at www.insightcuba.com (tel. 800/450-CUBA). Until licenses are awarded to the many other tour companies that have applied to operate such packages, Insight Cuba's arrangements will set the standard of what's available. It should be noted that Insight Cuba brought some 25,000 passengers to Cuba prior to 2004, when such travel effectively ended, and it will be a major player to that country in the months ahead.
No comments have been added yet.
Arthur Frommer's Blog
- Arthur Frommer's profile
- 6 followers
Arthur Frommer isn't a Goodreads Author
(yet),
but they
do have a blog,
so here are some recent posts imported from
their feed.
