For decades, American-based cruise ships have gone out of their way to sail around the elephant in the Caribbean Sea ? Cuba.
But now a new cruise company is about to debut weekly voyages that explore that fascinating and mysterious island that is, for the most part, off-limits to U.S. citizens.
Canadian adventure travel entrepreneur Dugald Wells ? he previously ran companies including Cruise North Expeditions and Marine Expeditions ? has partnered with Athens-based?Louis Cruises?on the new?Cuba Cruise, which is scheduled to depart on its first voyage Dec. 16.
The 1,200-passenger Louis Cristal will operate 15 weekly circumnavigations around Cuba through March 24.
Wells opened bookings in April. ?It?s going great,? he said. ?The numbers are right at where expected them to be. Well over 100 tour operators around the world are offering the product. Scandinavia has been a huge producer for us. It?s been terrific.?
But the bulk of the passengers will be Canadians, Wells said. ?A million Canadians are going to Cuba every winter,? he said.
The cruises will depart from two ports ? Havana on Mondays and Montego Bay, Jamaica, on Fridays. (Havana?s cruise terminal, built back when European lines called on a regular basis, is in terrific shape, Wells said.)
Fares start at $586 Canadian (about $568 U.S.). Cuban ports of call include Santiago, Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Punta Frances on the Isle of Youth.
?We?re making one stop in Montego Bay to get fuel because the Cubans are not able to guarantee that they?ll have enough,? Wells told Travel Pulse. Plus, Montego Bay has plenty of air lift.
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