Why a New Orleans-Cuba cruise could soon become reality (again)
The first U.S. cruise ship to sail to Cuba in nearly 40 years departed from Miami in May, rekindling a route long blocked thanks to a Cold War-era ban on travel to the Communist-run country. A cruise from New Orleans to Cuba is now on the horizon.
Giora Israel, vice president of strategic planning for Carnival Corp, shared that analysis Thursday (June 23) while in New Orleans for a gathering with fellow cruise line executives.
Israel, speaking at a meeting of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association, gave a bullish outlook on cruise travel to Cuba in general. He told NOLA.com he sees a bright future for New Orleans-to-Cuba cruises in particular.
“Cruising to Cuba will prosper. New Orleans happens to be the perfect location to capture that market,” Israel said. “When you look at the map, the route to Cuba is a straight line. Once you’re out of the Mississippi River, boom, it’s a beeline.”
Whether Carnival will be the first to offer a cruise from New Orleans to Cuba remains to be seen. Israel refrained from delving into specifics.
Carnival offers more cruises out of New Orleans than any other cruise line. The city is Carnival’s fourth largest homeport, with some 450,000 passengers expected to pass through the Erato Street terminal onto Carnival ships this year.
In addition to proximity, Israel observed New Orleans and Havana share a mysterious allure — what he called a “forbidden fruit” factor — that he thinks will make a cruise connecting the cities an easy sell. The two cities have a long cruise history, dating back to the 1950s when the United Fruit Co. operated a once-a-week service to Cuba.
He said the “still evolving” set of rules governing U.S.-to-Cuba cruises makes it hard to say when exactly such sailings will become the norm.
President Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced in December 2014 the two countries would begin to normalize relations after decades of hostility. While American tourism in Cuba is still technically off limits, the Obama administration has steadily chipped away at travel restrictions.
US President Barack Obama and Cuba’s President Raul Castro shake hands after a joint statement in Havana, Cuba, Monday, March 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
In March, the administration approved Americans to take “people-to-people” trips to Cuba, rendering travel limits under a decades-old trade embargo virtually unenforceable. Instead of being forced to book costly group tours, American travelers can now simply fill out a form asserting their trip was for educational purposes and not tourism.
This week, the U.S. Senate approved provisions that will allow Americans to travel freely to Cuba and lifts restrictions on U.S. ships docking in Cuba among other actions punching holes in the embargo. The provisions — amendments in a larger financial services bill — must go to the U.S. House for approval.
Carnival has led the push to reopen cruises to Cuba. It won final approval in March from the Cuban government to start voyages. By May, Carnival’s 704-passenger Adonia was sailing into Havana, the first U.S. cruise ship to dock in the Cuban city since the late 1970s. Carnival is offering the seven-day cruise from Miami to Cuba for $1,800 under its Fathom brand.
Israel said the Adonia – one of Carnival’s smallest ships – got an outsized welcome.
“It was a small, tiny little ship, but the celebration in Havana was really unimaginable,” Israel said, noting hundreds of people lined the shore to watch the ship coming into port.
Israel noted aging Cuban ports, fewer English speakers and Cuba’s peculiar two-currency monetary system all pose challenges to growing travel between the countries. But he said lifting the travel ban is the largest remaining hurdle.
The rules are slowly shifting. Cruises to Cuba used to be limited to stops only in that country. Now ships can make multiple stops in different countries, he said. Cuba also lifted a controversial ban that prevented Cuban-born people from entering or leaving the country via boat without special permission.
Until the ban on American travel to Cuba is officially lifted, however, cruise lines will be cautious in expanding trips, Israel said. The recent Senate vote indicates the ban could be in its twilight.
“That train has left the station,” he said. “We’ll see what happens next.”
Israel noted America’s largest cruise lines – Carnival, Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Lines — are all younger than the U.S. trade embargo. They managed to build a massive industry in the Caribbean all while “going in circles around Cuba,” he said.
Cuba represents a massive opportunity not just for Carnival or New Orleans, but the entire cruise industry, he said.
“Cuba, at the end of the day, is good news for all of us.”
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