Auld lang syne. On New Year’s Eve, 1958, Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista fled Havana and a new chapter began in Cuba’s history. Meet with local historians and economists to explore the legacy of the revolution. Talk, look, listen. In addition to practicing your Spanish, opportunities abound to explore Havana’s rich and vibrant arts scene. Meet with actors from a local children’s theater, watch young circus performers practice their routines and have lunch in a local artist’s home.

This trip is specifically geared toward families with kids who are high school graduates or older. Exact programming subject to change.

NOTE: this proram is subject to the renewal of Stanford Travel/Study's license and approval for travel from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assests Control.

$6,595

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26
DEPART HOME / MIAMI, FLORIDA, U.S.
Arrive in Miami and check in to our airport hotel. Enjoy a welcome dinner with fellow Stanford families this evening. MIAMI AIRPORT HOTEL (D)

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27
MIAMI / HAVANA, CUBA
Fly from Miami to Havana this morning. Upon arrival in Havana, we stop at the Plaza de la Revolucion en route to the Hotel Nacional for a welcome drink and al fresco lunch. This iconic hotel opened in 1930, when Cuba was a prime travel destination for Americans. After lunch, enjoy a brief stop at the University of Havana before checking in to our hotel. HOTEL PARQUE CENTRAL (L,D)

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28
HAVANA
This morning visit the Presidential Palace, now known as the home of the Revolutionary Museum and location of the Granma Memorial, which preserves the vessel that brought Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and other revolutionaries from Mexico to Cuba in 1956. Drive to the Plaza San Francisco to watch a performance of the only Cuban theater company made up of children, La Colmenita, or the Small Beehive. Meet with the actors and director and watch a short performance; then some members of the company will join our group for lunch at a restaurant on Plaza Vieja, a stunningly beautiful old square surrounded by mansions. This afternoon explore Cuba’s capital on foot and enjoy a private viewing of a newly created model of Old Havana. We stop last at the Parque Copelia to enjoy some delicious ice cream at its ice cream parlor, designed in 1966. Return to our hotel to participate in a roundtable discussion with a Cuban economist who is a professor at the Center for the Study of the Cuban Economy at the University of Havana. Dinner is at a local restaurant this evening. HOTEL PARQUE CENTRAL (B,L,D)

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29
HAVANA
View the brief film, La Maestra, which tells the personal stories of the young women literacy workers who traveled to the mountains and valleys across the island to teach in the early 1960s, and enjoy a conversation with one of the women featured in the documentary. Continue on to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, where we tour the Cuban Collection, a vast trove of both traditional and contemporary Cuban paintings and sculptures. Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant, where we watch a private performance of the dance and musical group, Havana Compass. After lunch, participate in a workshop with several Cuban musicians and learn more about Cuban music and rhythms. HOTEL PARQUE CENTRAL (B,L,D)

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30
HAVANA
This morning, visit Vivero Alamar, an urban garden in Havana. The effects of the Special Period of the late 1980s to the mid-1990s and consequent food shortages had serious repercussions in the city of Havana, and community gardens such as this were one outcome. While here, we learn about what the farm is growing and how it’s organized. Continue on to enjoy a traditional pig roast lunch and baseball game with local children. Following lunch, visit the Callejon de Hamel, site of a huge multidimensional Afro-Cuban mural, and learn more about the Santeria religion from a Santeria practitioner. HOTEL PARQUE CENTRAL (B,L)

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31
HAVANA
This morning visit a community project called Angeles del Futuro, which trains children and adolescents in circus arts. Close by is the studio of artist Jose Fuster, who has turned his neighborhood into one enormous piece of mosaic art. Fuster’s vast array of artwork ranges from ceramics evoking the nation’s African roots, as represented in the Santeria religion, to whimsical paintings drawn from ordinary life in Cuba. Drive through his neighborhood known as Jaimanitas before arriving at his studio where our group teams up with residents of the community to work together on a neighborhood project. This afternoon take part in a salsa class on the rooftop of the Plaza Hotel, and later this evening enjoy a gala New Year’s Eve dinner. HOTEL PARQUE CENTRAL (B,L,D)

FRIDAY, JANUARY 1
VALLE DE VIÑALES
Depart for a full-day excursion to the west part of Cuba, a region of jungle-covered peaks, limestone cliffs and verdant valleys. Stop en route at the Orchid Farm in Soroa, which is maintained by the University of Pinar del Rio and whose hilly grounds contain more than 800 species of plants. Continue by a smaller road to the Valle de Viñales, where we learn more about the process of growing tobacco, and then visit one of Cuba’s new private organic farms. After a lunch prepared especially for us, tour the farm and meet the family who operates it. Take in the valley’s distinctive landscape, with its steep-sided limestone mountains called mogotes rising dramatically from fertile flat-floored valleys where farmers cultivate the red soil for tobacco, fruits and vegetables. Return to our hotel in the late afternoon in time to freshen up before our farewell reception and dinner. HOTEL PARQUE CENTRAL (B,L,D)

SATURDAY, JANUARY 2
HAVANA / MIAMI, FLORIDA, U.S. / HOME
Transfer to the airport for our flight back to the U.S. Upon arrival in Miami, go through immigration and customs and then connect to flights home. (B)

What to Expect
Cuba has undergone many changes in the last few years and general conditions have improved. That said, Cuba’s tourism industry is still developing and patience with local service standards will greatly improve one’s enjoyment of the trip. Because of Cuba’s inconsistent infrastructure, we consider this program to be moderately strenuous. We expect that participants will be a self-selecting group whose interest in the places we visit and the people we meet far outweighs the need for creature comforts. In many ways, the challenges of this program are part of the learning experience.

Size
Limited to 45 participants

Cost*
$6,595 per person, double occupancy
$7,595 per person, single occupancy
*Association nonmembers add $300 per person

Included

• 6 nights of deluxe hotel accommodations in Cuba; 1 night of airport hotel accommodations in Miami
• 7 breakfasts, 6 lunches and 6 dinners
• Welcome and farewell receptions
• Gratuities to guides and drivers for all group activities
• All tours and excursions as described in the itinerary
• Transfers and baggage handling on program arrival and departure days
• Cuban visa fees
• Minimal medical, accident and evacuation insurance
• Educational program with lecture series and pre-departure materials, including recommended reading list, a selected book, map and travel information
• Services of our professional tour manager to assist you throughout the program

Not Included

• U.S. domestic airfare
• Passport fees
• Immunization costs
• Meals and beverages other than those specified as included
• Cuban departure tax of 25 CUC (approximately US $30)
• Independent and private transfers
• Trip-cancellation/interruption and baggage insurance
• Excess-baggage charges
• Personal items such as internet access, telephone and fax calls, laundry and gratuities for nongroup services

About Family Seminars
Family Seminars are designed specifically for families (parents and grandparents) traveling with adult children who have graduated from high school. These programs offer a unique balance of touring, family time, educational opportunities and access to Stanford faculty. Subject matter and visits are geared toward adults, and unlike Stanford Family Adventures, which feature a Young Explorer Program for children ages 6 and older, Family Seminars invite young adults to participate in the lectures and other educational enrichment alongside their parents and grandparents. Families have the opportunity to explore together, and young adults can enjoy the camaraderie of traveling with their peers. As with all of our family programs, there will be plenty of fun activities and opportunities for the entire family to interact with local students and families.

Eligibility 
We encourage membership in the Alumni Association as the program cost for nonmembers is $300 more than the members' price. Parents and their children under 21 may travel on one membership. To purchase a membership, call (650) 725-0692 or click here for more information.

Deposits, Payments and Cancellations
A $1,000 deposit is required to hold space. Deposits and any payments are refundable, less a $500-per-person cancellation fee, until 120 days prior to departure. After that date, refunds can be made only if the program is sold out and your place(s) can be resold, in which case a $1,000-per-person cancellation fee will apply.

Insurance 
Stanford Travel/Study provides all travelers who are U.S. or Canadian citizens with minimal medical, accident and evacuation coverage under our group-travel insurance policy. Our group policy is intended to provide minimal levels of protection while you are traveling on this program. You may choose to subscribe to optional trip-cancellation and baggage insurance. A brochure offering such insurance will be provided to U.S. residents with their welcome materials. The product offered in this brochure includes special benefits if you purchase your policy within a specified window: 14 to 21 days of the date listed on the welcome letter, depending on your destination and state of residence.

Responsibility 
The Stanford Alumni Association, Stanford University and our operators act only as agents for the passenger with respect to transportation and ship arrangements and exercise every care possible in doing so. However, we can assume no liability for injury, damage, loss, accident, delay or irregularity in connection with the service of any automobile, motorcoach, launch or any other conveyance used in carrying out this program or for the acts or defaults of any company or person engaged in conveying the passenger or in carrying out the arrangements of the program. We cannot accept any responsibility for losses or additional expenses due to delay or changes in air or other services, sickness, weather, strike, war, quarantine, force majeure or other causes beyond our control. All such losses or expenses will have to be borne by the passenger as tour rates provide arrangements only for the time stated. We reserve the right to make such alterations to this published itinerary as may be deemed necessary. The right is reserved to cancel any program prior to departure in which case the entire payment will be refunded without further obligation on our part. The right is also reserved to decline to accept or retain any person as a member of the program. No refund will be made for an unused portion of any tour unless arrangements are made in sufficient time to avoid penalties. Baggage is carried at the owner's risk entirely. It is understood that the ship's ticket, when issued, shall constitute the sole contract between the passenger and the cruise company. The airlines concerned are not to be held responsible for any act, omission or event during the time passengers are not on board their plane or conveyance. Neither the Alumni Association, Stanford University nor our operators accept liability for any carrier's cancellation penalty incurred by the purchase of a nonrefundable ticket in connection with the tour. Program price is based on rates in effect at the time the brochure is printed and is subject to change without notice to reflect fluctuations in exchange rates, tariffs or fuel charges. As a condition of participation, all confirmed participants are required to sign a Release of Liability. 

California Seller of Travel Program Registration #2048 523-50