Can we holiday in Cuba?

anro15

Check with you police flight or equivalent, especially if you are cleared for access to certain material. They have a nominated individual who will be able to brief and advise on things like identification, etc.. I know of individuals who have gone in the last 6 months and had no problems. The worst they will do is give you a boring brief, and in exchange you will not have to explain yourself if something unexpectedly happens out there (i.e. medical or legal problem).

In addition, unless the CO is directly involved in security and is making his decision based on a specific security concern, he is in no position to make a decision because 'it sounds a bit dodgy'. If you have the security section's agreement you can go, then his letter denying you your holiday is going to look pretty weak.

And lastly, make sure you check your travel insurance covers you too. My travel policy with Pax has a specific exclusion for Cuba and other states that have not been overtly friendly for that long.

mum2one

Apologies 1st, as Im not forces, but came across the thread as it said Cuba,, I was meant to go to Cuba last yr, but hols fell through........sods law

I remember reading in the holiday brochere, they said not to have any luggage or clothing on that looked liked military / combat wear and also not to take personal dvd players into the country, as they can get taken at arrivals.

Rainbow_Butterfly

Dustangle wrote: »

CO, police flight, int corps, RMP, CI... I get that your partner is somehow involved in the military, but how difficult would it be for people to use plain English in this thread?

This really does seem very small minded. This is a massive site and this area is specifically for forces people so why should we have to clarify what abreviations mean for others.
There are areas of the boards that I do not go in, because they are not relevent to me and I would not know what was going on even if I did.
Mortgages for example.. I dont have one, have never had one, and dont have any idea how they work.
I dont have any questions about them, and I dont have anything to add to any discussions about them.

Do you have any forces related questions? Can you add anything to this discussion? If not, maybe stick to the parts of this website that are relevent to you.

Rainbow_Butterfly

Im sure I saw a list somwhere a while ago of places forces people wernt allowed to goto without clearance.. remember laughing with hubby about it as it had places you would never want to go anyway like north korea. I'll ask him about it when he gets in from work in a bit. xx

islanddaughter

I am a serving member of the RAF. I decided in 2007 that I fancied visiting CUBA for a two week holiday. This was going to be a holiday that took me actually touring around the whole of the Island on my own, (all be it with a group of strangers).

I made a social visit to the RAF Police CI section and mentioned the destination. They gave me the all clear and said "Have a good time".

I feel that any serving member of the armed forces, that wishes to take a holiday to a slightly "different" country should just mention it to the police section.

Hope this helps.

Islanddaughter

loopyloo41

Hiya,

Im off to Cuba for my honeymoon too and we are both RAF, our friends who have just come back from Cuba, one of whom is RAF Police, have said you just need to go and let your security ppl know, they arent about to stop you going, they just want to make sure you know stuff for your own safety :-). Well, thats how she worded it! Have a good time :-)

Stavros_3

Some words of advice re Cuba. We went 4 yrs ago, Its a fantastic island, Havana is magical, (Go to Hemmingways bar in Havana when you visit the capital and enjoy a Ciba Libra). The military museum in Havana is good, it has the original tank that Castro rode in to repel the US backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs) Don't buy cigars from street vendors, they contain the 'sweepings' and not the real things, go to a cigar shop if you want to bring them back. Visit Revolutionary square where Castro and Che Guavara made their victor speeches. Getting through immigration at the airport on arrival is a 'mare' they are very security conscious. Watch your baggage weight on leaving, the B$£$&**ds have a scam going at the airport on exit, they state your baggage is over weight and charge you extra (back pocket me thinks). Do not tell them you are military and leave any ID cards at home