Cuba will make my 91st nation visited!

Cuba will make my 91^st nation visited!

I just booked a trip to Cuba that will leave in four days. I have been watching the prices for months and it decreased so dramatically (for this sailing), I could not resist this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to finally visit Cuba, especially at such a great price! What's even better, is that I will be on a cruise with "fathom impact travel", a company that provides a whole different kind of travel, with cultural immersion experiences and even includes all of the shore excursions complete with walking tours, bus tours, and lunches in local restaurants.

fathom is a new subsidiary Cruise line of Carnival Cruise Lines that provides weeklong sailings every other week--alternating between The Dominican Republic and Cuba. According to fathom, "we will participate in an ongoing cultural exchange program that will give us a chance to interact with the Cuban people, one on one. We will build on the contributions of the travelers who have come before us." The "f" in fathom is not capitalized reflecting the humility embodied by their approach to interacting with members of the local culture and making a difference. The recently renovated, 700-passenger cruise ship, Adonia, was part of the renaissance fleet of ships that were eventually sold to Carnival, Oceania, and Azamara cruise lines.  Interestingly, fathom is the first American cruise line that received approval from the US and Cuban government's for Travel to Cuba. Their first history-making sailing to Cuba took place just two months ago, May 15, 2016.  I am happy they will provide us with Cuban visas. 

For an incredibly low price, I will sail from Miami, (where I live), to Cuba (90 miles away) visit three cities, have access to multiple lectures about Cuban culture and history, enjoy multiple meals all included, have 4 lunches in Cuban cities, and will enjoy all entertainment on board the ship, all while not having to enter an airport or suffer from any jet lag. We will even experience an overnight stay in Havana, where I will experience some of its nightlife. Importantly I will be able to visit Cuba while it is still a Cuban city from a bygone era.  As we all know, in no time, Cuba will resemble the rest of the cookie-cutter Western world replete with high-profile brand establishments such as McDonald's, Starbucks, Sunglass Hut, Gucci, Guess Jeans, and more, on every corner. Coca-Cola does not even exist there. Cuba has been on my bucket list for a very long time and will make my 91st nation visited. 

The ship will depart from the port of Miami at 4:30 PM on Sunday, August 7. The first day we will spend at sea; the next two days in Havana where we will visit the old town, revolution museum, Batista's presidential office, Fidel Castro's yacht, cigar factories, Hemingway's former home, and more;  then we will visit the cities of Santiago de Cuba,  the country's second largest city--home to many of its famed musicians and artists and a UNESCO world heritage site; finally French-influenced coastal city of Cienfuegos, the center of Cuba's sugar, tobacco, and coffee trades.  I will experience all shore excursions with the same cohort that will be preassigned and dinner seating is open-seating. We will even take dance lessons in Havanna and after our walking tour, I plan to take a tour of the rest of the city, in a classic car from the 1940s.

I have already begun to brush up on my knowledge of Cuban culture and history with my collection and the books I checked out of the library today.

I look forward to this once-in-a-lifetime experience to drive less than 30 minutes away to board a ship to finally visit Cuba, a uniquely beautiful country, rich in history.