AdventureSmith Explorations Now Offers Cuba

Small ship cruise expert AdventureSmith Explorations http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com is venturing into new waters. The company has engaged a three-masted schooner, Panorama, to cruise the Caribbean carrying American travelers who for the first time in over 50 years can now visit the island nation of Cuba and meet its people.

Launching in December 2015 and scheduled into April 2016 will be a series of eight-day adventures called the Cuba People to People Cruise aboard a recently refurbished 49-passenger sailing vessel. The program begins and ends in Miami with round trip flights to Havana included in the fare. The ship stops in five ports along Cuba’s western and southern shore.

The per person, double cabin rate is from $4,799. Guests use the ship as a floating hotel as they enjoy daily shore excursions.  Included in the rate are round-trip air fare from Miami, all meals from arrival in Cuba to breakfast on departure day, cabin accommodations, Cuban visa, mandatory Cuban medical insurance and transportation. The Cuba People to People cruise has obtained all the required licenses for American citizens traveling from the US, which are included in the price of the trip.

“A strategic advantage AdventureSmith Explorations brings to the excitement of a newly engaged Cuba is the fact that we are traveling only in small ships. This offers the flexibility and access to enter ports along Cuba’s coast that may not yet be available to larger vessels,” said Todd Smith, founder/owner. The itinerary includes stops in Havana, Maria LaGorda, Cayo Largo, Trinidad and Cienfuego. Most of the sailing occurs at night as guests sleep. Come morning, the ship is in a new harbor where guests on escorted tours discover this island and meet its people.

“A socialist republic since the 1959 revolution when Fidel Castro seized power, Cuba was once the last stronghold of Spanish power in the region. Now one of the last remaining vestiges of state socialism, Cuba offers authentic interactions with real people in one of the most isolated places in the world,” Smith added.

The program’s goal is to help facilitate an unscripted, honest exchange between people of two nations whose leaders for the past 50 years were at odds with one another.  Guests will be introduced to Cuba’s rich artistic heritage: pre-Columbian cultures, the splendors of Spanish colonialism and internationally acclaimed contemporary art.

“This is a country of great natural beauty: magnificent mountain ranges and fertile plains of sugar cane and tobacco and some of the best beaches in the world,” Smith added.

Old Havana, harboring five percent of Cuba’s 11 million people, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and said to be the most beautiful city in the Caribbean. Here and throughout the week visitors will meet an easy-going, multi-racial population whose greatest enthusiasm is reserved for music. It is the home of the modern rumba, actually of African origin, the mamba, the cha-cha and the salsa and Cuban jazz. While most meals are taken on the ship, local cuisines are enjoyed on scheduled stops at restaurants and paladors (in-home businesses).

Guests visit a community cooperative to hear about the challenges locals face while relying less on government and trying to generate income by being more entrepreneurial. Cultural exchanges include an evening with the Buena Vista Social Club and a visit with the Community Cultural Project of Quisicuaba that delves into the folk culture of the free blacks who came from the Angolan Basin in the 16th century. On a nature preserve guests relax on a beach and visit a beekeeping and honey production center. The National Park at Guanahacabibes reveals 140 archaeological sites. On Cayo Largo, a limestone island of mangroves and salt pans, guests move from discussions with Cuban sports, culture and mass communications experts and local doctors to a sea turtle breeding center and an afternoon of snorkeling. Trinidad is a meticulously well preserved Spanish colonial town known as the Pearl of the South with its cluster of Neoclassical structures.

The 178-foot Panorama, built in 1993, was renovated in 2009. She cruises at 11 knots and has performed several Atlantic Ocean crossings; she has also sailed from the Syechelles to Monte Carlo and from the Black Sea to Tunis. Aboard the ship guests can mingle in the outdoor areas or in the two lounges or library. An on-board pianist plays as guests relax over drinks. Off of a swimming platform guests can dip into the sea when weather and anchorage conditions permit.

AdventureSmith Explorations notes that travel to Cuba is still restricted for Americans and a special travel visa is required. Read their Cuba Cruise FAQ to learn more about how Americans can travel to Cuba and the included licenses aboard this Cuba cruise.

For information, availability and 2015-2016 reservations, Phone: 800-728-2875 toll-free or visit www.adventuresmithexplorations.com.

About AdventureSmith Explorations
Think Outside The Boat!
Founded in 2003, AdventureSmith Explorations is based in Tahoe City, CA, along the northern shore of Lake Tahoe. A recognized leader in small ship cruising, in 2012 owner Todd Smith joined the ranks of Conde Nast Traveler's prestigious Annual Travel Specialists List as the world’s expert on small ship expeditions.

Travelore News: Hope in Havana: People to People Delegation Returns to U.S. After Witnessing "Joyful Optimism Everywhere"

Nation's premier educational travel provider has brought more than 400 Americans to Cuba in the last two years

 A group of nine U.S. citizens witnessed history in the making while traveling on an international good will

 tour to Cuba sponsored by People to People Ambassador

 Programs this past week. The group, led by University of Minnesota history and American studies professor

 Elaine Tyler May, returned to the U.S. on Dec. 20, after a remarkable turn of events during their 7-day stay

 that included tours of the rehabilitation of Old Havana, meetings with Cuban historians and exchanges at

 local community projects.

"We were amazed to be in Cuba when the news came of the beginning of a new relationship between our two

 countries," said Professor May. "We were fortunate to be in the beautiful biosphere community of Las 

Terrazes

 (located in a mountain area of the Candelaria municipality, about two hours from Havana) when the news

 arrived, and we watched the speech of President Raul Castro in the company of Cubans, along with wandering

 peacocks, chickens and cats!  From that moment on, all of our meetings and conversations were filled with

 excitement and questions about what changes were in store." 

People to People began offering adult travel programs to Cuba in July 2013, and has since sent 27 groups

 totaling more than 400 people to the island nation located just over 90 miles south of the U.S. People to

 People acquired a travel operator "people-to-people" license from the U.S. Department of the Treasury,

 Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which allows U.S. citizens to legally visit Cuba.

Optimism Everywhere; U.S. Investment Dollars to Follow? Professor May explained that the initial celebration in Cuba last week revolved around the return of three

 members of the "Cuban 5," prisoners who spent more than 15 years in U.S. jails on spying charges. Two 

other members of the Cuban 5 were released in 2012.

"In conversations with people we met, there was great optimism about the future, and the possibility of easing

 or lifting the (U.S. trade) embargo," said May. "At the same time, there is some caution, because Cubans do

 not want a return of the American takeover of the Cuban economy reminiscent of the pre-1959 era.

 Nevertheless,

 there was joyful optimism everywhere we went."

The easing of tensions between the U.S. and Cuba is "extremely important to the Cuban people," noted 

Jacqueline Castledine, a professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, who also traveled with the

 group. "Something was in the air when we arrived in Cuba," Castledine said. "While many Cubans appeared

 not to be surprised on the morning of December 17th to hear that within hours Raul Castro would be speaking

 to the nation, they were unsure of what he might announce. Slowly but surely reform is underway. There are

 renovations and infrastructure improvements going on everywhere, focused on the historic sites and tourism

 areas. What they need is investment. They are extremely hopeful U.S. dollars will flow into Cuba. The word

 'hopeful' came up in many, many conversations."

People to People's adult travel programs give professionals a hands-on immersion in local culture and direct

 interaction with people in the same profession. "That peer to peer exchange, accompanied with our best in

 class guides and local experts, add up to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see countries around the world,"

 notes Marcia Dartley, Program Director for People to People.

For more information about People to People's Citizen Ambassador Programs visit

 www.peopletopeople.com/cuba or call 877.787.2000.

About People to People Ambassador Programs People to People Ambassador Programs is the world's most recognized student educational travel provider.

 Since the 1960s, more than 500,000 people from around the world have traveled with People to People

 Ambassador Programs to help further global understanding through cross-cultural exchange. Offering

 unmatched safety measures and unparalleled access to foreign cultures and countries, People to People

 Ambassador Programs promotes personal success in a globalized world and fosters international friendships

 for both students and professional adults. 

People to People Ambassador Programs is the exclusive educational travel provider of People to People

 International (PTPI), a nonprofit organization founded in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to promote

 peace through understanding worldwide. Together, PTPI and People to People Ambassador Programs are 

united in a mission to bridge cultural and political borders through education and exchange. For more

 information, please visit www.peopletopeople.com.