We still don’t know exactly what this means for Americans cruising to Cuba on their own boats, but President Trump has just reinstated some travel restrictions making it harder for Americans to plan their own trips there. In a six-page directive, which he signed after making a speech in Miami’s Little Havana, President Trump ordered the Treasury and Commerce Departments to write the new restrictions in the next 30 days. The new regulations will end some of the more relaxed travel policies that President Obama had started in an effort to normalize relations between the two countries.
The New York Times reports that as part of the new regulations, Americans will not be able to plan their own private trips to Cuba. Americans who go as part of authorized educational or people-to-people tours will be subject to strict new rules to make sure they are not going just as tourists. American citizens who make such trips must work with a tour company licensed by the U.S. government, and they cannot spend any money at any hotels or restaurants controlled by the Cuban military But embassies in Washington and Havana will remain open, and cruises and direct flights between the U.S. and Cuba will continue.
We’ll continue to update this situation as we learn more about what it means for American cruising boat owners. For more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/16/us/politics/cuba-trump-engagement-restrictions.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
