The Cuba Partnership Resource Manual
Travel Process for Churches Going to Cuba.
Last Updated (Wednesday, 23 February 2011 16:33) Written by John Walter Wednesday, 23 February 2011 16:31
Updated 2.2011 / John Walter
As of 2011 our travel itinerary is composed of four elements.
(Changes and possible advantages will be discussed below.)
I. Air travel to Miami.
II. An overnight in Miami.
III. Air travel to Havana, Cuba via Marazul Charters.
IV. Ground transport in Cuba.
I. Air Travel to Miami. Depending on group size – the larger require
more coordination – a group planner should review all domestic flight
possibilities and direct each delegate to book his / her domestic flight
via an online airline or travel site. We have always chosen the non-stop f
light from American Airlines that arrives in Miami International Airport
around 5:30pm the evening before proceeding to Cuba.
II. Overnight in Miami. There are a lot of options. I prefer to be close
to the airport for the next morning’s departure. Red Roof Inn East and
La Quinta, Airport East are both near ten minutes from Miami Airport.
The more adventurous will opt for the boutique hotels at South Beach.
III. Marazul Charters. Only travelers with OFAC licenses are allowed
to use Marazul Charters. (See OFAC Licensing in this section.)
Our delegations have been using this simple and comfortable process
to get to Cuba now for five years. After reading and understanding the
State Department Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) guidelines
and having acquired an OFAC license, do the following:
1. Plan the trip dates.
2. Notify your hosting church and corresponding presbytery officer.
Give them trip dates and (when possible) charter flight arrival
information.
3. You must allow nine full weeks to receive a Cuban visa from Lucy
Zuazo, the IPRC’s secretary who handles visa requests. (See “The Cuban
Visa” in this section). Lucy does not speak or write English, so you
have two options: a) have a Spanish speaker transmit the necessary
personal information for each delegate; the trip dates; the destination
airport (Use Havana unless there is a very good reason); the arrival
flight number and time. Or b) use a translator application and have
a Spanish speaker verify it for correctness.
4. Once you have accomplished steps 1-3, and Lucy has confirmed
the receipt of all necessary visa information, proceed to book the
charter flight from Marazul Charters a full five weeks in advance
of the projected trip date.
Call:
Mayra Alonso
Marazul Charters
Cuba Program Coordinator
tel: (800) 223-5334 ext. 11
or (201) 319-1054 ext. 11
fax: (201) 319-8970
email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Request a “Individual Application Form” and Current Flight
Schedules to be emailed to your group leader. He or she can
later forward that to all the other delegates. Each person must
fill in an application and return it with A) a copy of his or her
church OFAC License, B) a letter from the pastor authorizing
said person (named as a group) to sue the license, with travel
dates and license number stated in the body of the letter. It
must be on church or presbytery letterhead. Later, these
documents will be returned to you along with the paper ticket
in the Marazul packet.
Plan correctly: Marazul cannot open their charter flights for
reservations more than one month ahead. So have all delegates
complete their applications five weeks in advance.
So for example, if your visit is planned for June 1-7, call Mayra
the second week of April for the application forms. Make sure
that all delegates have filled them out and have returned them
via fax, as a .pdf file, or via normal mail to Marazul no later than
May first with A) the requested down payment, or the filled out
credit card authorization form included in the packet, and B) a
copy of their OFAC License, and C) their church’s letter of authorization.
Be sure to sign the authorization on page five.
There are no computerized tickets or check-ins with Marazul.
You will receive a paper ticket with other Cuba regulations
information included in case you forgot to buy a book.
Be sure to have someone call Marazul two weeks before your travel
date to confirm everything is in order; I remember a mix up
occurred once and my ticket arrived via Federal Express the
night before departure.
IV. Ground Transportation in Cuba.
You can arrange this one of three ways:
Option A: Most of the pastors who have experience with visiting
delegations know small rental companies that can accommodate
your delegation. Trust them to set this up for you and quote you
a price. Make sure that the price you understand is for “round trip”,
(Ida yVuelta).
For example: For a delegation of 12-15, they will hire a small
bus (guagua is the word in vernacular in cubanese). Expect to
pay about 800 CUC or $960 USD / for the round trip door to door.
That averages out to $64.00 per person for a delegation of 15.
They will tailor the vehicle size to your specific needs, but at six
delegates the cost will be more like $160.00 USD…still, that’s
not so terrible when you consider it’s 350 km to most parts of El Centro.
Trust your host pastor to make a good decision, but make it clear to
him or her that you’d prefer a “modern” vehicle that’s air-conditioned,
even if it costs a little more. Cubans will by nature try to help you
conserve money. Remember that they will come to the airport to meet you,
and therefore have already traveled four hours in the heat. It’s a long
day for them as well.
Option B: As part of Marazul Charter’s services, you can rent a car here
in the US before leaving with a credit card. An agent of Havatur will meet
you at the airport, and will have instructions for the church’s address, etc.
If you should choose this option, be sure to advise your host as he or she
will always want to be on hand to greet you and then lead the way back
to their church.
Option C: Rent a car from Havanatur at the airport. A typical compact
car rents for about $700 / wk. Quality varies. You’ll either need to know
the way to your final destination, have a GPS with Cuba maps installed,
or have someone meet you to guide you back.
Cuban roads can be a challenge. Traveling at night can be troublesome
if there is a mechanical problem. I don’t advise this option for these and
a variety of other reasons.
2011 Update:
There is now a far greater variety of flights from the US to Cuba. TACA
Airlines has proven to be my favorite as they do not charge for carry-on
bags while Sky King and others do.
TACA also departs Miami International from Concourse J, a real
benefit as it’s far less traveled.
Given the increased number and choice of carriers (all still booked
through Marazul), it’s now possible to avoid the overnight in Miami;
however, be very careful to confirm seat availability for large
delegations (over 12) on the domestic leg of the flight.
Given that one first confirms the charter request; one has to wait
o book the domestic. This can put you in a position of not having
sufficient seats for the domestic flight if you are A) Traveling
non-stop to MIA from BWI, or B) intending to eliminate the
overnight by connecting directly to the charter.