Cruise Ships To Cuba Post Castro?

Anybody think the directors at the big cruise lines are licking their
lips waiting for Castro to die and Cuba to open up? Have cruise lines ever
wanted to go to Cuba? If they ever do, wouldn't that have a negative effect
on Key West since Cuba is so close to the Keys, why not bypass the Keys and
head to Cuba?

Cuba is a big island too. Cruise ships would obviously head to Havana but
I assume there would be one or two other places in Cuba that would be
interesting for ships to visit.

On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 17:58:28 GMT, "Von Fourche"
wrote:

Anybody think the directors at the big cruise lines are licking their
lips waiting for Castro to die and Cuba to open up? Have cruise lines ever
wanted to go to Cuba?

Hi Von,

All of the major cruise lines have had plans for Cuba for many years.
Cruise lines do go to Cuba now. They not the ones that have a presence
here in the US. Before Carnival purchased Costa, they sailed to Cuba
on a regular basis.

Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com
--

Even in the absence of Commander in Chief, Dr. Fidel Castro Ruz, the
communist infrastructure is still in place and the Revolution will still
prohibit tourist cruise ships from docking in their ports.
Cruise ships were once welcome in Havana just a few years ago, but the
island quickly discovered that passengers were only spending a few hours in
port, leaving their garbage behind and using their already overflowing
toilets.

Ideally Cuba wanted to broker a deal so that passengers would be forced to
spend the night on land in one of their hotels in order to generate more
revenue for the communist dictator.
We all know that that plan would NEVER get approval from any cruise line.

I.V.

"Von Fourche" wrote in message
ink.net...


Anybody think the directors at the big cruise lines are licking their
lips waiting for Castro to die and Cuba to open up? Have cruise lines
ever
wanted to go to Cuba? If they ever do, wouldn't that have a negative
effect
on Key West since Cuba is so close to the Keys, why not bypass the Keys
and
head to Cuba?

Cuba is a big island too. Cruise ships would obviously head to Havana but
I assume there would be one or two other places in Cuba that would be
interesting for ships to visit.

"Von Fourche" wrote in message
ink.net...


Anybody think the directors at the big cruise lines are licking their
lips waiting for Castro to die and Cuba to open up? Have cruise lines
ever
wanted to go to Cuba? If they ever do, wouldn't that have a negative
effect
on Key West since Cuba is so close to the Keys, why not bypass the Keys
and
head to Cuba?

Cuba is a big island too. Cruise ships would obviously head to Havana but
I assume there would be one or two other places in Cuba that would be
interesting for ships to visit.


I've got bad news for you my6 friend. The death of Castro is not going to
bring any change in the immediate future. The USA will probably keep this
stupid embargo in place, the country will still be communist and under the
leadership of his younger brother who has been his right hand man and is
even more of a hardliner than he ever was. His brother is really a vicious
person. I don't see anything chaning unless we finally quit this embargo
using the excuse that Castro is dead and then maybe the native Cubans will
rise up and topple the government after finding out how good they could have
it. The celebrations in Miami are very premature.
Jim

Thus spake "Von Fourche" :



Anybody think the directors at the big cruise lines are licking their
lips waiting for Castro to die and Cuba to open up? Have cruise lines ever
wanted to go to Cuba? If they ever do, wouldn't that have a negative effect
on Key West since Cuba is so close to the Keys, why not bypass the Keys and
head to Cuba?

Not as long as Raul is in power. And given that he's even more of a
hardliner, his successor will probably not be much of a fan of the US.
And the 40 year embargo hasn't made very many friends in Cuba.


Cuba is a big island too. Cruise ships would obviously head to Havana but
I assume there would be one or two other places in Cuba that would be
interesting for ships to visit.


From Canadian friends who have been there, there's not much
infrastructure outside of Habana.
--
dillon

How much power does it take to run a server farm?
A googlewatt.

Anybody think the directors at the big cruise lines are licking their
lips waiting for Castro to die and Cuba to open up?

Isn't it funny that any American with the means can visit South Viet Nam on
a cruise ship, but not Cuba?

In article ,
"rieker" wrote:

Anybody think the directors at the big cruise lines are licking their
lips waiting for Castro to die and Cuba to open up?

Isn't it funny that any American with the means can visit South Viet Nam on
a cruise ship, but not Cuba?

WHy? VN isn't 90 miles off the coast, or (and this is the most
importatnt) VN doesn't have a bunch of ex-pats running around Miami and
other other places making life miserable for any politician that dares
suggest Castro might not be so bad.
In seriousness, I also think that the passing of the Bad Boys in
VN (Ho Chi Minh and his generation) have made it more palatable. Thus
you'll probably see some thawing when Fidel and Raul are taking dirt
naps.

Thus spake Kurt Ullman :

In article ,
"rieker" wrote:

Anybody think the directors at the big cruise lines are licking their
lips waiting for Castro to die and Cuba to open up?

Isn't it funny that any American with the means can visit South Viet Nam on
a cruise ship, but not Cuba?

WHy? VN isn't 90 miles off the coast, or (and this is the most
importatnt) VN doesn't have a bunch of ex-pats running around Miami and
other other places making life miserable for any politician that dares
suggest Castro might not be so bad.
In seriousness, I also think that the passing of the Bad Boys in
VN (Ho Chi Minh and his generation) have made it more palatable. Thus
you'll probably see some thawing when Fidel and Raul are taking dirt
naps.

Viet Nam is a ****ing capitalist paradise next to Cuba. When the Bank
of India outsourced it's IT department (how's that for payback?), they
looked at Viet Nam before going to the Phillipines.
--
dillon

How much power does it take to run a server farm?
A googlewatt.

I think if Cuba falls into chaos from a lack of a strong central
government, then we are looking at a long, slow, painful process of the
island opening to the cruise industry. If the government, under
whomever, displays the ability to keep the country intact, and opens
the nation to less risky investment than has been the case, you could
see a rapid change. There surely is enough private money that is
waiting to build in Cuba, which could keep the unskilled labor force
working in construction and such. The tourist industry could massively
improve the income of vast swaths of the population. That added
income, if inflation can be contained, would drive massive improvements
in living conditions.

All of this is hinged on the assumption that a civil, progressive, and
trusted effort to transition the Cuban economy to a free-market is
possible.

I've heard to schools of thought on Raul. Some say he is more of a
hardliner. Others say he is more pragmatic in his approach to running
things. Nobody really knows what he'll do when his brother isn't
around to control the show.

I don't really think Cuba will fall into the same rut some of the other
Caribbean islands have. It could get messy. But with some luck, the
powers that will be in Cuba understand the staggering chance that
island has to erupt as a major money-making power in the region.

NWLB
http://www.RCIfan.com

In article . com,
"NWLB" wrote:

I think if Cuba falls into chaos from a lack of a strong central
government, then we are looking at a long, slow, painful process of the
island opening to the cruise industry. If the government, under
whomever, displays the ability to keep the country intact, and opens
the nation to less risky investment than has been the case, you could
see a rapid change. There surely is enough private money that is
waiting to build in Cuba, which could keep the unskilled labor force
working in construction and such.

And think of all the cheap houses in Miami if everybody really returns
like they say they will.