Cuba is full of a rich history that most Americans didn’t have the privilege of seeing until recently because of stringent travel restrictions. Now that travel to Cuba is starting to become possible once again, it might not be long before travelers can actually cruise to the country on some of the larger cruise lines. Approval for some of these lines can come as soon as the next couple of weeks. This is what we know so far about which cruise ships might be offering sailings to Cuba by the end of this year. Cuba Cruises
Cruise Lines
Among those that are trying to be approved to cruise to Cuba are Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America, Princess Cruises, Oceania Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. It is expected that Norwegian will be the first cruise line to get approval with Carnival and Royal Caribbean not too far behind.
Ports Of Call
Once approved, Oceania will be sailing a 684 passenger vessel on an itinerary that centers around Havana. Only smaller vessels will be able to make the voyage as Havana’s port can only handle one vessel that has a maximum capacity of 2,000 passengers and a second vessel that has no more than 700 passengers. In the future the port may be able to handle larger vessels and more vessels at one time. Once approved to sail to Cuba, sailings aren’t expected to start take place until the fall of this year.
Why The Change
Improved relations with the United States and Cuba are one of the things that have made sailings to Cuba possible. Also, the U.S. Coast Guard recently removed Cuba from the list of countries that had poor port security. Restrictions have also loosened in the United States for person to person travel to the country.
Available Excursions
We will have to wait to see what excursions will be offered to passengers in Cuba. Many of them will probably be focused on seeing some of the sites in Cuba that only few Americans have seen because the country has mostly been off limits to American travelers.
While nothing has been finalized yet, once these cruises are offered, it is expected that many of them will sell out fast. We will keep you updated on new sailings that are offered as well as what cruise ships will actually be sailing to Cuba.
