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Cuba Conference Update – August 2, 2019

1715 Fleet Society Conference - Cuba Map

The Fleet Society has been quietly moving forward with our planned Conference in Cuba scheduled for March, 2020.  Here is an update from Dana Reed who is making the arrangements through his Tampa based company, ASC International USA. Also, the Conference agenda is in its final stage and should be available soon along with the Conference price.  Best Regards, Ben Costello, Director.

August 1, 2019

Dear Ben:

Great to talk with you the other day and follow up on the proposed 1715 Fleet Society conference in March of 2020.

As we discussed, the dates of March 23-27 are the optimum for weather and the end of spring break crowds.

We would advise everyone to fly from Tampa on the morning of March 23. Southwest has the best flight time pairing with a 7:00 AM departure and a return flight time of 5:40 PM.  Adhering to the 5 day 4 night proposal for the conference schedule this gives the attendees maximum time in Cuba and a leisurely return on Friday March 27 with time for morning jaunts.

Orlando has a 7:37 AM departure time, but the return time is 10:10 AM in the morning. This means attendee’s would lose all day Friday and need to be at the airport at 7:30 AM which is much too rushed.  People can also fly from Houston, Miami, New York, Newark or Miami direct to Cuba if they can’t make it to Tampa.  We can arrange these flights and coordinate pick up to join the group once they arrive to Havana.

Our suggestion is the group rally in Tampa with a group booking with a morning departure on March 23, 2020.  This would necessitate that folks arrive the day before as it will be impossible to make a connecting flight March 23.  This will also assist in the legal standing with the Department of the Treasury/OFAC guidelines for travel to Cuba as we will be traveling under the Educational and Research category to Cuba as we will be traveling as one unit.  We can assist with hotels in Tampa as well.

We would be arriving all together the morning of March 23 around 8:15 AM in Havana.  On our estimation we should be out of the airport by 930-10 AM after passing through customs and baggage claim.  We will have tour buses, guides and translators waiting for us outside the airport arrival gate.

We will not be able to check in to our hotels until around 2 PM which is why we are planning a guided bus tour of Havana in the morning. We suggest that the  tour be themed around the defense system of Havana as established by the Spanish in the colonial times given the importance of the port of Havana.  Included in this will be a visit to the El Moro Castle where folks can get a breathtaking view of Havana and take photographs.  After the tour we will have a leisurely lunch and them proceed to hotel check in.

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.

Best regards,

Dana Reed
ASC INTERNATIONAL USA

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