Cruises to Cuba

[marco]

This AM on CBS "This Morning" they interviewed the CEO of Carnival Corp. They will start cruises from Fla to Cuba in May 2016 (pending Cuban approval, US approval has all ready been given). However, it will not be "Carnival Cruises" going. It is their P&O brand and the ship will be the "Adonia". It's a bit pricy.....an outside cabin for the 7 day cruise will be $2990. Another port of call is Dominican Republic and I don't know where else, if anywhere. I'm sure a lot more details will be forthcoming.

[Essiesmom]

Interesting. that's the same ship they say they are going to use for the 'fathoms' program. EM

[kelkel2]

That's wonderful! I hope this is the step towards the future where there will be more cruises to Cuba! I can't pay 2,990 for an outside, especially if that's per person. But maybe in the future Carnival will test the market and send more ships there. I would absolutely book a cruise that went to Cuba!

[paul929207]

Thanks for the update. That sure is expensive unless something(s) are included that we don't know about

[chengkp75]

Interesting. that's the same ship they say they are going to use for the 'fathoms' program. EM

 

That's the only way they are getting the license from the US to do the cruise. Humanitarian travel is allowed. So this will be the Fathom brand, not Carnival. Interestingly, I found that to visit Cuba you must have "non-US" medical coverage, and Cuba is happy to sell you a temporary policy. This also explains the price.

[janetz]

No interest here in a cruise with a stop in Cuba. When allowed, I would prefer a land trip. One day would not be enough. :)

Edited July 7, 2015 by janetz

[John Bull]

Adonia is very "British", with food, entertainment etc geared to Brit tastes, and on-board currency is GBP, though of course all of that can change.

Brits have had cruise options to Cuba for many years, and much easier on fly/cruises from Barbados or Jamaica rather than a tortuous transfer via Florida.

So I'm surprised that they're using Adonia, because I can't imagine that Brits are the target market.

 

My only guess is that she's been chosen because she's available, and because she's a small ship so she can easily berth in Havana.

And low passenger capacity mean a lower risk of empty cabins for a suck-it-and-see first cruise to Cuba- so why not jack up prices (she normally sails at mainstream prices) for those Americans who want to be first to sail to Cuba. ;)

 

With the greatest of respect to the little old lady, she's not a "premium-class" ship & the quoted fares are rather heavy. But she's a little beauty with classic cruise ship lines and a super atmosphere.

Those who sail her will enjoy, as long as they forget the premium price-tag.

 

JB :)

[MCC retired]

Give it time for restrictions to totally ease up .

Then watch the cruise lines jump in .

Finally, something new in the Caribbean .

[SantaFeFan]

This is nothing like a typical cruise. Passengers will have signed up as volunteers, not tourists. They will be going ashore to work with residents -- and local volunteer organizations -- employing the skills they learned onboard. There will be little to no time for sightseeing.

 

Here is the CC news article from June 4th:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6393

[Keith1010]

Thanks for the update.

 

Keith

[sail7seas]

I like having the choice. If I want to go, it's nice to know it's possible.

Thanks for sharing the info, OP. :)

[donaldsc]

This is nothing like a typical cruise. Passengers will have signed up as volunteers, not tourists. They will be going ashore to work with residents -- and local volunteer organizations -- employing the skills they learned onboard. There will be little to no time for sightseeing.

 

Here is the CC news article from June 4th:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6393

 

So they are going to charge me more than $3000 for the "opportunity" to take a 7 day trip to Cuba where I live on and eat on a ship and have to volunteer to work with the locals but do not have to sleep on land or eat in local restaurants.

 

Did I get it right?

 

I did a 16 day people-to-people RoadScholar trip where I I had the opportunity to meet Cubans in a planned formal basis and informal basis, stay in local hotels, eat in local restaurants, etc. Sounds much better than this Carnival cruise.

 

DON

[Krazy Kruizers]

The announcement about Carnival going to Cuba in May 2016 was just on our local news.

[ithaca gal]

So they are going to charge me more than $3000 for the "opportunity" to take a 7 day trip to Cuba where I live on and eat on a ship and have to volunteer to work with the locals but do not have to sleep on land or eat in local restaurants.

 

Did I get it right?

 

I did a 16 day people-to-people RoadScholar trip where I I had the opportunity to meet Cubans in a planned formal basis and informal basis, stay in local hotels, eat in local restaurants, etc. Sounds much better than this Carnival cruise.

 

DON

 

$6000 for two volunteers. No thanks.

[shazee]

I just talked to Haimark Cruise Line. They are offering the St Laurent 9 nights Miami to Cuba. Winter 2016. Anyone know this line? Or this company?

 

Thank you, Catherine

[Essiesmom]

I believe there is a thread about them on the Other Cruise Lines forum. EM

[Keith1010]

Pearl Cruises is also offering several sailings in 2016.

 

Keith

[john watson]

As far as I can make out the Carnival "Fathom" brand seems to be organised as a sub brand run by P&O Cruises UK. This would make some sense as Adonia is currently under the P&O Cruises UK fleet and also distancing the product slightly away from the US for political reasons. Currently non-US cruise lines are doing cruises to Cuba without restrictions but I am not sure if US citizens may travel there.

 

An interesting cruise line doing the Cuba cruises is Star Clippers which run a weeks cruise which stops at five Cuban ports. These are fly cruises from Havana. The amount of time in Cuba seems to me to be extensive. If you want to experience the maximum book your own flights. Cubana Airlines do a nice flight from Madrid to Havana using the Tupolev Tu-204.

 

Regards John

[PCruzer]

I just talked to Haimark Cruise Line. They are offering the St Laurent 9 nights Miami to Cuba. Winter 2016. Anyone know this line? Or this company?

 

Thank you, Catherine

We booked this Cuban cruise on the St. Laurent through Vantage Deluxe World Travel for February 2016. We recently received a Vantage catalog, and this trip was in it.

[Extra Kim]

I just feel that we should have booked Cuba before it opens up for the Americans :(

 

I expect the prices going up and a lot of the old going out when the U.S market opens up for Cuba.

[donaldsc]

I just feel that we should have booked Cuba before it opens up for the Americans :(

 

I expect the prices going up and a lot of the old going out when the U.S market opens up for Cuba.

 

Totally agree. Also if you do Cuba as a cruise as opposed to a land trip, it will be a totally inferior experience with little opportunity to see the "real" Cuba, whatever that is.

 

DON

[donaldsc]

I just feel that we should have booked Cuba before it opens up for the Americans :(

 

I expect the prices going up and a lot of the old going out when the U.S market opens up for Cuba.

 

Totally agree. Also if you do Cuba as a cruise as opposed to a land trip, it will be a totally inferior experience with little opportunity to see the "real" Cuba, whatever that is.

 

You have to stay overnight in local hotels and have the opportunity to wander around towns with the locals and eat in local restaurants to even have any chance of seeing what life is like for the people who live there.

 

The problem with a ship cruise of Cuba is that everyone will be back on the ship at 5:00 because they can not stand to miss dinner or maybe they will even come back to the ship for lunch. This means that you miss the evening action in the towns where all the locals come out to enjoy the evening with their friends.

 

DON

[Extra Kim]

We didn't have the time to cross the Atlantic during this up coming holiday (just one week off from work during week 44), so we are going to the mediterranean sea.

 

I will have time off work during december, but my fiancée have to work and we already have a trip to the caribbean booked for jan/feb 2016.

 

Doesn't look like we will make it in time :rolleyes: