Abercrombie & Kent does Cuba, with mojitos and luxury hotels

Well, it had to happen. With the U.S. earlier this year loosening restrictions on Americans visiting Cuba, luxury tour operator Abercrombie & Kent is marketing tours of the Communist island that even a capitalist kingpin could love. More affordable options are opening up too with other tour companies.

A&K’s first “Cuba: The Forbidden Isle” trip (11 days for $4,325 per person, double occupancy, land only) went on sale Tuesday for a Sept. 30 departure. It promises “exclusive accommodations at Cuba’s best hotels,” a private tour of late author Ernest Hemingway’s seaside Finca Vigia home and time to indulge in salsa dancing and mojitos, a traditional Cuban rum drink, a news release said.

Oh, and you’ll also meet “local people to talk about daily life in Cuba.” That’s important because federal guidelines for the newly revived people-to-people licenses for tours to Cuba require that each trip participant pursue “a full-time schedule of educational exchange activities that will result in meaningful interaction” with Cubans.

“We have a strong people-to-people component,” A&K USA spokeswoman Pamela Lassers said. The tour description on the company’s website also says that all travelers will participate in “a full-time schedule of educational exchange activities.”

A&K developed its tour in partnership with the Foundation for Caribbean Studies, which she said holds a government-issued license to conduct such trips.

The itinerary includes a walking tour of Trinidad, a private home visit “where you speak with a Cuban family about their hopes and dreams,” a Havana tour with a local architect “who shares his insights on the city’s restoration projects,” a visit to a tobacco plantation and more, according to the A&K website.

Lassers said the trip is already generating interest.

“There were five phone calls this morning when I arrived,” she said. “We’ve been very busy answering calls.”

A&K is planning more Cuba tours on various dates this year and next year, Lassers said.

Info: Abercrombie & Kent, (800) 554 7016.