New rules support more U.S. sailings to Cuba, but limits remain

New rules that took effect this month will give cruise lines
and ferry operators broader latitude to sail between the U.S. and Cuba without
filing for approval each time.

Last week, Cuba travel experts said that these so-called
general licenses could invite more service to Cuba but were unlikely to open
the floodgates to the tourist-oriented cruises the rest of the Caribbean
enjoys.

Several cruise lines have announced plans to start or expand
cruises to Cuba. They include Carnival Corp.’s Fathom brand, Haimark Line,
Pearl Seas Cruises and Cuba Cruise by Celestyal Cruises.

Those operations are now authorized under a general license,
provided they meet the other conditions for travel to Cuba that remain in force
under the Trade Sanction Reform and Export Enhancement Act.

The main condition is that travelers engage only in one of
12 sanctioned types of “purposeful travel,” such as cultural exchange,
professional research, education or humanitarian projects.

“That still will be followed to the letter of the law,” said
Bruce Nierenberg, president of United Caribbean Lines, a ferry operator
planning cruises to Cuba from Miami in partnership with Haimark Line.

Nierenberg said the rules won’t have much if any impact on
cruise lines, other than to make it easier to do business in Cuba overall. 

“There will be some very significant, better circumstances
for transferring funds, doing business [and] opening offices,” Nierenberg said.
“So anyone doing business with a Cuban product is going to have a much easier
time.”

He said cruising to Cuba remains limited both by the ban on
Americans doing leisure tourism there and by a rule that general licenses allow
travel between the U.S. and Cuba only.

“If you’re going on a ship, you’re going to need to leave
from the United States, go to Cuba and come back to the United States without
any third ports,” he said. “You can’t run this as a typical Caribbean cruise
with Havana as a port of call. They are really going to be very strict about
that.”

Vessels operating under general licenses will also be able
to provide lodging services “to, from or within Cuba, including when docked in
a port in Cuba,” according to a QA produced by the Treasury Department’s
Office of Foreign Asset Control.

Although the rules ease the burden for cruise providers with
an eye on Cuba, authorization from the Cuban government for entry has been slow
in coming.

Maurice Zarmati, former president and CEO of Costa Cruises
North America, said the delays on the Cuban side are likely due to bureaucratic
sluggishness. “The wheels turn very slowly,” he said.

Nierenberg said capacity and security issues also come into
play.

“They’re very security conscious down there, and rightfully
so,” he said. “They have one of the tightest and most professional security
organizations in the world.”

The new rules also won’t have much impact on inbound tourism
from Cuba, which would be a pick-up for many suppliers in the U.S.

Several years ago, Cuba broadened access to travel visas for
the U.S., but visas are still required, and some Cubans still can’t get them
under rules designed to “preserve the skilled workforce and protect official
information,” in the words of a Cuban report.

Most Cubans travel to the U.S. to visit friends and
relatives in southern Florida. Cathy Keefe, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Travel
Association, which promotes foreign travel to the U.S., said the number of
in-bound tourists from Cuba is insignificant.

“The ability of many Cubans to travel to the U.S. is so
limited that it’s not a top issue for us at this time,” she said.