New Cuba air service rolled out from Fort Lauderdale

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/new-cuba-air-service-rolled-out-from-fort-2311962.html

Coral Gables-based Airline Brokers Co. has added the first ever direct charter service from Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport to Cienfuegos, Cuba. The Cienfuegos service was inaugurated Tuesday and will be offered every Tuesday with 3:15 p.m. departures.
Airline Brokers, which offers extensive service to Cuba from Miami International Airport, also has added a second weekly flight from the Fort Lauderdale airport to Havana at 11 a.m. on Tuesdays.

Read More http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/new-cuba-air-service-rolled-out-from-fort-2311962.html

Thanks for the info, I always wanted to go an visit the world heritage sites. Hopefully with one of these companies, I might be able to do so in the near future.

Very cool... The problem is that we all (Americans) can not just get on a flight and go visit Cuba! It seems like the person to person tours that are offered are way over-priced. I'd love to visit Cuba and not have to get stuck on an expensive tour.

You'll have to sign up for a licensed tour to get a seat on those charters (or be Cuban American, I suppose). There are already plenty of charter flights every day out of Miami. I just returned yesterday.

I second that! As a traveler I am pretty independent, thus guided tours are generally not my thing. However, if one allows me to fulfill a personal goal such as this one (being able to legally visit Cuba) then I might just bite the bullet and go. Just as in N. Korea.

Since I have no linage that connects me with Cuba, I would have to sign up with one of those tour operators so I may visit. So you just got back, really, please elaborate or advise on which ones might be better in your opinion. You may PM if you wish, thanks!

I totally agree but that is so not the way I want to visit Cuba! I want to go and see what I want!

The North Korea tour is one of the top things I'd love to do. It sounds amazing and I'd love to attend the Mass Games. One day hopefully!

Right now I am on my flight back home, using GoGo. I'll post some details, maybe even trip report, when I get back to a computer (typing this on my iPad).

Then go via Mexico. It's not like North Korea - you can do the trip on your own. You just can't tell anyone or at least not the wrong people. Or show off the Cuba stamp in your passport

I will look forward to it. Have a great and be safe. ;-)

I agree with you, again! I would love to do it my way too (as FS crooned it so well) to see all the different World Heritage Sites that I want and stay with some of those families who rent a room, but only God knows when we'll be able to do that, at least in the near future!

So I have come to believe, recently, that sometimes is better to get 50% of something than 100% of nothing! ;-)

I know that's one option, via Venezuela is another or even via Canada, but if I try and go any of these ways, for sure I would be the guy that gets caught coming back home, somehow. Thus my interest on these 'tours' !

I'm not looking to go illegally! I know you can go through Mexico and many places in the Caribbean... I don't see why it is fair that tour companies are allowed to go & over-charge for tours.

What good is a visit without a stamp to show off? LOL

Oh MLW20, you are a kindred spirit!

It's fair because that's how capitalism works They charge what the market will bear. They ultimately have to pay the Cuban government for providing the bus, the guide, the hotels, the meals, the activities, ... I am sure there is profit in this, but I don't know how much goes to Cuba and how much to the US-based organizer. You can definitely get a cheaper trip if you go on your own, though. You just can't do it legally at this time if you are a US resident, and once that changes, it will soon not be as interesting anymore.

That is exactly the problem. Once we are allowed to legally go on our own, that will probably be the end of what intrigues us about Cuba.

Is there a chance that Cuba stamp might get noticed, when you send your passport in for renewal?

There are "fees" that can be paid for them to not stamp your passport. Or so I hear.

I'd be too afraid I'd get caught to ever find out. When it comes to potential jail time in foreign countries I have a very low risk tolerance.

No chance in my case, but if you go "illegally" (in violation of US embargo rules), definitely don't get your passport stamped.

By default, the passport doesn't get stamped. I had to explicitly ask for the stamp upon arrival and departure.

Since I traveled with a license from the US Treasury Department, I can parade around my stamp and talk about my trip. I paid for it

I didn't want to risk getting caught, so I went the expensive route. It was worth it to me. The penalty from the US is generally monetary, so it wasn't a prison sentence I was concerned about.

Great, thanks! If you posted a trip report anywhere, I'd love to read it! Not planning to travel there myself in the near future, but always curious about unexplored regions.

Thanks for clearing that up. I really did hear that though, from a newspaper reporter actually.

Remember that it is not illegal for Americans to go to Cuba. It is only illegal to spend money there. Many people do that every day via Canada, Mexico, Venezuela etc. without problem. The Cubans won't stamp in your US passport if you ask them not to.

Then of course there are the official permissions that come with people who are selling something in Cuba that the US Cuba lobby approves of.

But good luck explaining to US immigrations/customs/treasury that you spent a week in Cuba and didn't spend a single cent. And I think the excuse that your friend from Canada mites you and paid for everything would work. If you get caught, that is.

I've said this many times and had the idea to go to Cuba with friends that live in Canada and have them pay for everything... I am not sure that it would really work so well in reality though!

First, they will not know because you will not have a passport stamp and you'll be coming from elsewhere. US Immigrations is not working hard to find potential violators anyway. Almost everyone knows the stupid embargo only exists due to a few hardliner immigrants that no politician wants to offend. Most observers would argue the Castros would be long gone had it not been for the US embargo that has propped them up morally. Frankly, I don't think the greater US bureaucracy much cares.

It is great ads long as you buy them plentiful supplies in Canada!