carnival-cruise-to-cuba

Carnival Cruises is headed to Cuba.

MIAMI (AP) July 8, 2015

The cruise line, the world’s largest cruise company, announced Tuesday that U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Commerce granted approval for the company to begin travel to the island nation.

The company said it intends to begin voyages to Cuba as soon as April 2016.

Carnival will conduct the trips to Cuba under a new brand called Fathom – a new social impact travel brand providing purpose-oriented, social impact experiences.

“We are excited about receiving U.S. approval as the very important first step to ultimately take travelers to Cuba,” said Arnold Donald, President and CEO of Carnival Corporation. “We look forward to working with the Cuban authorities for their approval to help make the social, cultural and humanitarian exchanges between U.S. citizens and the people of Cuba a reality.”

Beginning in April 2016, Fathom will embark on weekly seven-day voyages from Port Miami aboard the MV Adonia, a 710-passenger vessel redeployed from the United Kingdom.

Prices for seven-day itineraries to Cuba start at $2,990 per person, excluding taxes, port and other government and related fees, and including all meals on the ship, onboard social impact immersion experiences and certain on-the-ground cultural immersion activities.

As part of the normalizing of US-Cuba relations under the Obama Administration, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has said that Americans traveling under 12 categories of authorized travel — which includes educational activities, humanitarian projects or people-to-people programs – do not need specific licenses to visit Cuba.

“We know there is strong demand from travelers who want to immerse themselves in Cuban culture,” Donald said “So this is a historic opportunity for us to enable more people to experience Cuban society.”