On Tuesday of this week, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it was restricting travel to Cuba for American citizens and specifically mentioned that it was prohibiting travel to the Caribbean country by private planes and boats. For the last four years, cruising folk who wanted to explore Cuba were able to get U.S. permits and Cuban visas under the auspices of cultural, educational or journalistic endeavors. You can read the Treasury’s announcement here. Without getting into the complicated politics in the Caribbean, it looks like cruisers planning to sail to Cuba this coming winter will have to keep a close eye on how regulations evolve. In the meantime, it appears that commercial air flights from the U.S. to Cuba will continue and cultural, educational and journalistic trips will be considered for visas and travel permits. Read more in the Los Angeles Times.