What should have been a joyful trip to reunite with her family in Cuba turned into an experience fraught with several setbacks. A Cuban woman identified on TikTok as Masiel (@masiel0106) shared the challenges she faced upon arriving on the island with her baby Justin, a U.S. citizen, ranging from difficulties at immigration to an unpleasant surprise with one of her luggage pieces.
In a video posted on TikTok, as the second part of a series about her journey, the young woman recounted that it all began upon arriving at the Cuban airport, where an employee offered to assist her with her luggage and provided a wheelchair to help her move around with her little one.
However, the first setback occurred when passing through immigration. According to his account, the authorities informed him that his son could not enter the country because he had selected the option "family visit" on the D'Viajeros form, when, according to the instructions he received there, he should have marked "tourism" since he was a U.S. citizen.
"Obviously, my son is coming to Cuba for a family visit, to meet his grandparents and his family; he is not coming for tourism," explained Masiel, who acknowledged that she was unaware of that stipulation when she completed the document.
An official decided to help her and accompanied her to an office to try to resolve the issue. But then another obstacle appeared: the Internet connection.
"The system, of course, wasn't working; it kept crashing because the connection was terrible," recalled the Cuban woman, who had to wait while they tried to fix the information.
According to her account, the employee acknowledged that the form could be confusing for those traveling to visit family, but they needed to use a different entry category.
"The system seems to be poorly designed in that regard, because there should be an option, even if he is going with a tourist visa, to visit family, since in real life that is the purpose of his trip," said Masiel regarding the explanation she received.
Finally, the official allowed the child to proceed with the entry procedures, considering it was a genuine mistake.
The incident was related to the information entered in the D'Viajeros form, which passengers arriving in Cuba must complete, including minors. In this case, the difficulty arose from the category selected to describe the reason for their child's trip.
But when it seemed that the problems were over, Masiel encountered another unpleasant surprise: one of her suitcases had arrived broken.
The young woman expressed her disappointment upon discovering that one of the outer pockets of her luggage was damaged, even though the staff had put tape on it before handing it to her. Fortunately, when she checked her belongings the next day, she found that nothing was missing.
"It's so hard to know that with sacrifice, you can buy everything, only to arrive in Cuba or wherever you're going and find your suitcases have arrived broken," she expressed, visibly affected by what had happened.
Complaints about damage and alleged theft of luggage at Cuban airports have previously surfaced on social media, where other travelers have also shared unpleasant experiences upon recovering their belongings.
Despite these setbacks, the true reason for Masiel's trip was much more special: for her little Justin to meet his grandparents and the rest of his family in Cuba.
Her story is reminiscent of another Cuban mother who returned to the island with her baby to introduce them to their grandparents, one of those family reunions that often evoke strong emotions among Cubans living far from their loved ones.
And precisely that moment will be the focus of the third part of her story. Masiel revealed that she will share how Justin's meeting with her family went, a memory that still moves her.
"Oh my god, I still think about that and cry," she confessed while talking about the anticipated reunion.
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