Even more interesting is that Pullmantur has a cruise brochure printed in English will all prices in the US dollar. I had no idea Pullmantur had any presence in the US except of course that they are owned by RCCL. They even have a toll free number. 1-888-7PULLMA I searched the fine print in the back of the brochure for an address (such as where to send payments), and the only address listed is Mahonia 2, 28043 Madrid. I assume in the US Pullmantur is using a general sales agent, but interesting no address in the US is listed.

Five ships are included in the brochure:
EMPRESS
ZENITH
OCEANIC
OCEAN DREAM
SKY WONDER

I also received Pullmantur's large European land brochure, which is entirely in Spanish but with prices in US dollars. Also included is a small brochure on just Spain and Portugal, which is in both English and Spanish and prices again in the US dollar. The little brochure does have another logo on the front, "Mena International", "Wholesale Tour Operators Since 1943".

All very strange.

In any case the letter announces how pleased Pullmantur is to be a new member of the Royal Caribbean family. It also speaks a bit about the product with an emphasis on the 'ALL INCLUSIVE' cruise concept. Also in capital letters, 'ALL DRINKS' are included in all of our ships' bars, restaurants and discos! What the letter doesn't say is that Spanish is the exclusive language onboard. It's does say the that Pullmantur is "high quality cruising with a Spanish-Mediterranean flair".

The phone number is listed and the letter is signed by Jose Arriola, Director General, Pullmantur, S.A. Director General is a corporate title that is not generally used in the US. Again, no address listed anywhere in the letter, nor on the letterhead itself.

[ 05-21-2008: Message edited by: Westerdam ]

But there's no particular reason for the letter to say anything about the language on board because Pullmantur's ships are bilingual.

Ok, I know, I'm not a potential customer...

(Ernie, you should send them a letter of complaint for them having violated your private life and then how much hurt you feel and then request a free cruise...)

[ 05-21-2008: Message edited by: Vaccaro ]

On the SKY WONDER photo, the P&O house flag is waving proudly from the bow flag post as well as the mast.

Not much attention to detail I'm afraid.

quote:

---

Originally posted by eroller:
One thing that is kind of funny about the Pullmantur brochure are the large pictures used for OCEAN DREAM and SKY WONDER (I hate that name!). Anyway, on OCEAN DREAM the Costa house flag is clearly flying from the bow flag post.

On the SKY WONDER photo, the P&O house flag is waving proudly from the bow flag post as well as the mast.

Not much attention to detail I'm afraid.

Ernie

---

It makes me think to some old MSC brochures where the ship pictured in the photo here to illustrate some itineraries were a RCCL vision class.

quote:

---

Originally posted by eroller:
One thing that is kind of funny about the Pullmantur brochure are the large pictures used for OCEAN DREAM and SKY WONDER (I hate that name!). Anyway, on OCEAN DREAM the Costa house flag is clearly flying from the bow flag post.

On the SKY WONDER photo, the P&O house flag is waving proudly from the bow flag post as well as the mast.

Not much attention to detail I'm afraid.

Ernie

---

The US government previously interpreted the law as meaning that it was possible to travel to Cuba on a "fully hosted" basis. This is no longer the case. The current administration interprets the law as prohibiting you from spending any money on travel to or from Cuba even if that money is not paid to Cuba or a Cuban national, and from consuming any goods and services in Cuba even if they were paid for by a third-country national (e.g. a tour operator). Basically, since August 2004 if you are a US citizen you may be prosecuted if you visit Cuba except for certain specific reasons (tourism is explicitly excluded), even on a cruise.

I'm not a lawyer and I don't know whether it's really illegal to travel to Cuba on a cruise, but the US government now goes under the assumption that it is. (It would also be illegal for Pullmantur to operate cruises to Cuba now, as it is a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean, which is based in the US. This is even though Royal Caribbean is a Liberian, not a US company.)

From the US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control:

"OFAC ... has come to the position that even a person who accepts goods or services in Cuba without paying for them is in fact engaging in a prohibited dealing in property in which Cuba or a Cuban national has an interest. Therefore, OFAC is removing the language regarding fully-hosted travel from the [Cuban Assets Control Regulations] and is thereby eliminating any authorization of fully-hosted travel. ... OFAC interprets the prohibition ... on dealing in property to include a prohibition on the receipt of goods or services in Cuba when those goods or services are provided free-of-charge, whether received as a gift from the Government of Cuba, a national of Cuba, or a third-country national, unless otherwise authorized by an OFAC general or specific license."

[ 05-23-2008: Message edited by: dougnewman ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jack McCoy:
Anyone know any other cruises that stop in Cuba?

---

Even if, as a US citizen, you were allowed aboard a ship going to Cuba, it would be a moot point; I don't think anyone is currently stopping there. Fidel more or less kicked out the cruise industry a couple of years ago, claiming that the passengers coming were not contributing to the local economy and were in fact a nuisance. Seems that I've heard that from a number of Caribbean ports over the years!

Just come on down to Miami--it's almost like Cuba, but with all the mod-cons!

Rich

[ 05-23-2008: Message edited by: Linerrich ]

In addition to the ships Pam mentioned, C. COLUMBUS calls in a number of Cuban ports on her world cruise. (I think this has been the case every year for a long time.)

With all due respect, if you spend money on a cruise that goes to Cuba, you're spending money to get to Cuba. It's not like the ship is going to Cuba accidentally! You may not be spending money to go only to Cuba, but if Cuba's on the itinerary, you're paying someone to take you to Cuba, among other places. I don't think the fact that Cuba is not the cruise's sole destination makes much of a difference.

The way the rule is written, you couldn't even go on a cruise to Cuba without getting off the ship, since you've still paid for travel to Cuba, and the cruise line is still paying port charges, which you contributed to with your fare.

Moreover, once you're in Cuba, you couldn't consume anything legally, whether you paid for or it or not. Even drinking tap water would be illegal, since someone paid for it. Going to the beach? Well, someone pays to keep the beach clean, right? Of course, nobody could prove that you drank some water in Cuba, but OFAC assumes that if you went there, you must have done something illegal, and under its interpretation of the law, it would probably be right. It would be awfully hard to go to Cuba and not use anything that anyone, anywhere paid for.

According to OFAC, the act of traveling to Cuba is not itself illegal, but the act of traveling to Cuba is illegal if either you paid for it or someone else paid for it, which means that in effect, it is illegal. Either you or someone else will pay for it... Someone is paying for it! And as long as it was paid for by someone, you can't do it. So the legality of traveling to Cuba is a legal fiction of sorts - it's legal, but you can't actually do it. (That is, unless of course you are traveling for a "legitimate" reason, e.g. visiting relatives, journalism, academic reasons etc., not a tourism-related one.)

It is of course all hokum anyway as thouseands visit Cuba every year on holiday so a few Americans would make sod all difference, in fact if they did visit it might actually hasten change there as the Cubans are then exposed to alternatives.

quote:

---

Originally posted by mike sa:
If I remember correctly Pullmantur HAD to stop cruising to Cuba before the sale to RCI, it was a condition of the sale.

---