Carnival Cruises to begin sailing to Cuba starting in June 2017

The Carnival Corporation has announced that Cuba has granted approval for its Carnival Cruise Line brand to begin sailing to Cuba starting in June 2017.

To help meet demand from U.S. travelers to visit Cuba, Carnival Cruise Line will offer a full series of sailings in 2017, expanding Carnival Corporation’s total sailings to Cuba in 2017 and providing more travelers with the opportunity to visit the Caribbean’s largest island.

Carnival Corporation made history in May 2016 as the first U.S. cruise company to sail to Cuba in over 40 years with its Fathom brand, which is currently sailing from Miami to Cuba through May 2017, and has operated more sailings to Cuba than any other U.S. cruise brand to date.

Building on Fathom’s historic sailings, Carnival Cruise Line plans to deploy Carnival Paradise for a series of 4- and 5-day voyages out of Port Tampa Bay in the second half of 2017 that will include a daytime and overnight visit to Cuba. Based on guest capacity, the 2,052-passenger Carnival Paradise will become the largest cruise ship in history to sail from the U.S. to Havana when the ship arrives in June, further expanding Carnival Corporation’s presence in Cuba as the company anticipates approval for other brands to also sail to Cuba.

Carnival Cruise Line is now accepting bookings for its sailings that include a visit to Havana in 2017.

Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation, said: “Our iconic Carnival brand has carried tens of millions of passengers to the Caribbean during its nearly 45-year history, and we are excited that our largest brand will sail guests to Cuba, one of the most sought-after destinations in the world. As we expand cruise vacations to Cuba in the second half of this year, we are also optimistic we will be granted approval by Cuba for additional Carnival Corporation brands.