Cruising to Cuba: Which Lines Can Sail There Right Now?

Editor’s note: This blog post was updated as of December 12, 2016, to reflect the ongoing influx of cruise ships carrying U.S. passengers to Cuba.

Cuba has the potential to change the face of Caribbean cruises as we know them. With renewed diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba and the resumption of regularly-scheduled flights between the U.S. and the island country, it’s only a matter of time before we start seeing ports like Havana, Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cubapositioned alongside places like St. Thomas and Grand Turk.

For the rest of the world, it’s all a bit mystifying: guests from Canada, Europe, Asia and around the world have all been traveling – and cruising – to Cuba to vacation for years. UK-based lines like Fred.Olsen have called on Cuba in the past, as have the ships from Spanish cruise operator Pullmantur – that was, at least, until they became a fully-owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean. (By the way, Royal Caribbean begins cruising to Havana in April 2017.) In the past, lines with U.S.-based parent companies have been prohibited from calling on Cuba, and foreign ships calling on Cuba were banned from entering the United States for months on end.

Of course, that’s all changing now, thanks to a new thaw in relations between the United States and Cuba. High-profile lines like Fathom have also brought renewed focus on cruises to Cuba, and other lines continue to follow suit. In an interesting twist, Fathom will actually be discontinuing its “voluntourism” cruises to Cuba in spring 2017. But there are several other lines taking its place, including some of the biggest names in luxury and upper premium cruising: Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises.

Celestyal Cruises’ Celestyal Crystal, shown here in her seasonal Cuba Cruise livery (as Louis Cristal) in Cienfuegos, Cuba, has been sailing to Cuba for the past three winters. Photo © 2014 Aaron Saunders

Other companies have been around for a while, but may be less familiar. In 2013, a Canadian company called Cuba Cruise partnered with Celestyal Cruises to market Cuban cruises to Canadians and Europeans. It was such a success that Celestyal bought them out, and will now base the Celestyal Crystal (the former Louis Cristal) in Cuba year-round as of this winter. The product is open to Americans as well.

It’s important to note that there are other cruise lines – like MSC Cruises – that sail to Cuba at the moment, but don’t actively market their Cuban-based itineraries to American customers. Because of that, we’ve left them out of the table for the moment; the lines below are all ones that are actively pursuing American customers looking to travel to Cuba for the first time.

Who Sails to Cuba?

LINE	SHIP	APPROVED?	START DATE	DEPARTURE PORT
Regent Seven Seas Cruises	Seven Seas Mariner	Yes	April 2017	Miami
Oceania Cruises	Marina	Yes	January 2017	Miami
Azamara Club Cruises	Azamara Quest	Yes	March 2017	Miami
Celestyal Cruises, also known as Cuba Cruise	Celestyal Crystal	Yes; sailings began in late 2013.	Already in operation; sailings operate year-round beginning in late 2016.	Havana, Cuba or Montego Bay, Jamaica
Fathom	Adonia	Yes, but discontinuing in spring 2017	Already in operation	Miami
Lindblad Expeditions	Panorama II	Yes	December 7, 2016	Havana or Cienfuegos, Cuba
Pearl Seas Cruises	Pearl Mist	No	October 26, 2016	Miami
Ponant	Le Ponant	Yes; “People-to-People” voyage	January 2017	Havana
Royal Caribbean	Empress of the Seas	Yes	April 2017	Tampa and Miami
Star Clippers	Star Flyer	Yes	December 27, 2016	Havana or Cienfuegos, Cuba (12/27 departure begins in St. Maarten).
Victory Cruise Lines	Victory I	Pending	October 28, 2016	Port Canaveral (inaugural); Miami.
Viking Ocean Cruises	Viking Sun	Yes	December 1, 2017	Miami