U.S.-Based Cuba Sailings Expand Into 2018

Mar 13, 2017

Though Cuba has only approved U.S.-based cruising through May 2017, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, Oceania Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line recently announced that they have now scheduled cruises that will call in the destination into 2018.

Norwegian Cruise Line, which sails weekly from Miami on cruises that call in Havana, has been approved for 25 cruises on Norwegian Sky, visiting Havana from June through December, in addition to its previously announced May cruises.

Sky will sail four-day roundtrip cruises from Miami departing Mondays, each combining an overnight in Havana with a visit to Great Stirrup Cay, Norwegian's recently enhanced private island in the Bahamas, which will see additional features this summer.

Royal Caribbean, too, confirmed that it now has clearance to call in Cuba through the end of the year. Last December, the line had announced that it was launching three cruises in April and May 2017 calling in Havana; the total now comes to 11 sailings onboard Empress of the Seas out of Tampa, Fla.

Some of Royal Caribbean’s new four- and five-night sailings also visit Key West, Fla., and Cozumel. The five-night cruises have two configurations: one makes a 12-hour daytime call in Havana, and the other includes an overnight in the city.

Carnival also announced that it is including an overnight call in Havana on select Carnival Paradise voyages from Tampa this year. The 12 four- and five-day cruises have departures from June through October, along with May 3, 2018, and include a daytime and overnight visit to Havana. The five-day sailings couple the visits to Havana with calls in either Cozumel or Key West.

And most recently, Oceania reported a set of six- to 13-day cruises to Cuba from Miami onboard Insignia in November and December. The itineraries include a seven-day all-Cuba route visiting nine UNESCO World Heritage sites in Havana, Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba; other sailings combine Cuba with destinations such as Cozumel; Key West; Roatan and St. Thomas in the Caribbean; Harvest Caye in Belize; Costa Maya, Mexico; and Great Stirrup Cay and Nassau in the Bahamas.