Cruises, Cuba’s first opening to Trump

Miami - Cuba is opening up to American cruise ships. It is an historic turning point, and almost unexpected, because it comes weeks after the election of the new president of the United States, Donald Trump. After the announcement of the cessation of the activities of Fathom, a Carnival Corporation brand dedicated to “voluntourism” in the Dominican Republic and Cuba, Royal Caribbean announced that it had been authorised to operate on the island. And not only Royal Caribbean, because a few minutes later, the Cuban government gave its approval to another cruise sector giant, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), a Norwegian cruise company based in Miami, which is one of the largest operators in the global cruise sector. And there is more: in the short term the biggest player in the sector, Carnival Corporation, is expected to receive authorisation. “This is a dream come true,” said NCL’s President and C.E.O., Frank Del Rio, who has shown great enthusiasm about the possible opening of Cuba to American cruise ships in the past. Del Rio, who is Cuban in origin, in fact, pushed hard to obtain the approval from the authorities in Havana, and admitted in advance that his group would make its debut in Cuba with a ship from the Oceania brand.

The Texan Richard Fain, the president and C.E.O. of Royal Caribbean, after learning of the opening up on the part of the Cuban government, spoke of “an historic turning point for the entire cruise market.” Fain added, “In the past, our guests have always expressed real interest in Cuba. And for our part, we are looking forward to bringing our fleet’s ships to Cuban ports.” The first ships will call at the island next year, starting in the month of March. With all probability the Regent Seven Seas Cruises (RSSC) brand will be first. The RSSC brand belongs to NCL and is specialised in luxury cruises with ships that can accommodate a limited number of passengers. But the opening of Cuba to U.S. ships also concerns MSC Cruises, the Italian-Swiss company owned by the Aponte family and which will from this point on no longer operate as a quasi-monopoly out of Havana. In fact, since MSC is not controlled by American capital, it was able to be the first to reopen the island to cruise tourism, setting up an unprecedented collaboration with the local authorities.

Before the announcement of the termination of Fathom cruises last May, the ship Adonia came to Cuba. There were 704 passengers on board, including a dozen Cuban-Americans. The unit entered Havana Harbour with dozens of curious people lined up along the seafront, some of them waving Cuban and American flags. It came to a grinding halt, until yesterday, when Cuba somewhat surprisingly gave the go ahead. The major U.S. cruise groups were certainly encouraged by Obama’s policies, which led to the thaw in U.S.-Cuban relations. The final hurdle seemed to have been overcome when Raul Castro’s government repealed the rule that prohibited Cubans residing abroad from returning to their country by sea, thus paving the way for the arrival of American cruise ships to the island’s ports. But no official statement was made to the press. And after the election of Donald Trump, many people at the biggest cruise lines had feared yet another closure.