cuba

The Rise and Fall of Fathom Cruises: Carnival’s Experiment in Social Impact Travel

In 2016, Carnival Corporation introduced fathom, (stylized with a leading lowercase ‘f’) a new cruise brand that sought to redefine the industry by blending tourism with volunteerism, commonly known as “voluntourism.” Fathom’s mission was unique: it promised travelers a chance…

It’s official; cruises to Cuba from the US are no more. (June 2019 edition)

In connection with the news yesterday, cruise lines have begun cancelling calls in Cuban ports. A overwhelming majority of those cruises are booking those voyages solely for calls in Havana. Here are the updated cruise lines statements: NCL NCL has…

UPDATE: The Future of Cuban Cruises (2019 edition)

Update June 04: News broke today that the US government released a statement saying they will officially be revoking recreational travel to Cuba. More on this as cruise lines release their statements. Going forward, the United States will prohibit U.S.…

MSC To Sail Cuba Out Of Miami

MSC Cruises announced that the MSC Armonia will sail 7-night western Caribbean itineraries featuring an overnight in Cuba. She will reposition to Miami and start the itineraries this December. She will sail on Mondays and overnight in Havana on Saturday and…

Norwegian Sun to Sail Cuba Next Year

Norwegian Cruise Line just announced a change to their summer deployment next year. This may seem last minute but that’s the benefit of a smaller fleet of ships to manage. The biggest highlight is that the Norwegian Sun will reposition…

UPDATED: Are the Future of Cuban Cruises Really in Jeopardy?

The below originally posted in 2017. You can follow along with the 2019 restrictions here. UPDATE 6/16/2017 PM:The new policy for US-Cuban relations going forward is out. As predicted, it won’t interfere with cruise operations too much. The relations will…

Carnival Cruise Lines Granted Permission to Sail to Cuba

Carnival Cruise Lines has just been granted permission to sail to Cuba. Carnival will be sending the Carnival Paradise out of Tampa. She will be the highest capacity ship to sail to the island nation. 4 & 5-night cruises are…

Cruise Lines Get Approval For Cuba

It’s official, US Cruise lines can now sail US passengers to Cuba from US ports. The US Government just handed approval to a bunch of cruise lines today. Let’s take a look. Royal Caribbean Cruises received approval for Royal Caribbean…

Carnival Corp. Pulls the Plug on fathom

Carnival Corp has decided to send fathom’s Adonia back to UK’s P&O Cruises. They will not replace her with another ship. This effectively spells the end to the start-up line. Carnival Corp instead announced that social impact excursions, the focal…

Back When You Could Cruise to Cuban

This post originally appeared on CruiseInd 8 years ago and goes over the background of how Americans could legally cruise to Cuba. It was posted just prior to Royal Caribbean announcing that the Empress of the Seas would be their…

New Cruise Line: Victory Cruise Lines

Founded by Industry veteran Bruce Nierenberg (Former executive of NCL, Costa, Premier and Delta Queen Steamboat) the new Victory Cruise Lines will be a small one ship line. The main focus will be the US inland waterways during Summer and…

Empress of the Seas Starts Sailing from Miami

The Empress of the Seas finally arrived in Miami this morning. The recently reacquired ship was delayed quite a bit in drydock in Cadiz, Spain, forcing her to reposition to the Grand Bahama Shipyard for the completion of her work.…

fathom Sails into Cuba

After a rocky start, Carnival Corp’s fathom brand is now officially underway. After an inaugural cruise to the Dominican Republic, fathom’s Adonia(ex- R Eight, Minerva II, Royal Princess) made quite to scene as the first american based cruise ship to…

Carnival Corp. Granted Governmnet Approval for Cruises to Cuba

Big news from Carnival today: Carnival Corporation & plc , the world’s largest travel and leisure company, today announced that the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Commerce granted approval for the company to begin travel to…

MSC To Homeport The MSC Opera in Havanna

from MSC: MSC Cruises, the world’s largest privately-owned global cruise line and the market leader in the Mediterranean and South America, announced today that, starting in December 2015, its 2,120-guestMSC Opera will homeport in Havana for the winter 2015-16 season to offer…

[UPDATED] Update On Cuba

UPDATE MONDAY:Celestial Cruises offered this clarification to CIN: We gradually increased our stake over the past two years to where we are now the significant majority (shareholder). Our intention is to support the venture’s continued growth and further commit to…

American’s Can Now Book Cruises to Cuba

According to travelagentcentral this morning, American citizens can now legally book cabins on Cuba Cruise itineraries to Cuba. Of course flights to and from Havana are still not widely or publicly available yet, so you must arrive/depart in Montego Bay,…