Cruise lines are laying the groundwork for further expansion
into Cuba now that the rules governing U.S. tourism to the island have been
revised and clarified by the Trump administration.
CEOs from seven cruise companies met in Havana on Nov. 27
with Cuban government officials, along with representatives from CLIA and the
Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association, to exchange viewpoints.
It was the first time so many cruise CEOs had gathered in
Havana, according to Charles A. Robertson, who attended the meeting as chairman
and CEO of Pearl Seas Cruises, which sails to Cuba from Fort Lauderdale.
"It was very positive," he said. "The Cuban
government did a great job. I think the whole relationship with the cruise
industry is maturing very nicely."
Cruise lines were left largely unscathed when the new rules
for U.S. trade and travel to Cuba were announced a month ago. Hotels in Havana
that are owned or operated by entities with ties to the Cuban military were
made off limits, crimping land tourism. The Trump administration also blocked
individual travel to Cuba, restricting visits to groups in itineraries
designated as people-to-people exchanges.
MSC Cruises CEO Gianni Onorato, who also attended the Nov.
27 summit, said Cuban officials asked the group to back an easing of President
Trump's restrictions.
"We had sort of an official presentation of CLIA to the
Cuban authorities, and the Cuban authorities were also asking for some sort of
help or support to lift the ban," Onorato said.
An effort to seek comment through Cuba's Ministry of Tourism
was unsuccessful.
As a practical matter, the cruise lines were unaffected by
almost all the new U.S. restrictions.
"I would say it's a minimal impact," Robertson
said. "It's sort of a refining of the people-to-people rules under the
general [travel] permit. There's no significant change."
So, for example, Robertson said that Pearl Seas passengers
taking the line's 10-day cruises circumnavigating Cuba can participate in
organized group tours with guides and interpreters, but they also have time on
their own.
"They do both," Robertson said. "That's true
in all the cities we visit in Cuba."
Cruise ships sailing from Florida have only been visiting
Cuba since May 2016, when the now-defunct Carnival Corp. brand Fathom offered
the first regular cruise to depart the U.S. for Havana in 50 years.
Since then, two Carnival Corp. brands, all three Norwegian
Cruise Line Holdings brands and two Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. brands have
made plans to visit the island from the U.S., along with Pearl Seas and Victory
Cruise Line.
Cruise CEOs have said that pricing and demand for the
cruises has been strong, stimulating plans to add new capacity. Norwegian
Cruise Line has scheduled Cuba calls on a second ship in 2018, adding the
Norwegian Sun from Port Canaveral to its Cuba cruises on the Norwegian Sky from
Miami.
Cruises on both ships will include overnights in Havana.
A day after the summit in Miami, Royal Caribbean
International announced that it, too, would add a second Cuba ship. Starting in
April, its 2,350-passenger Majesty of the Seas will offer four- and five-day
cruises from Tampa that include daytrips and overnight stays in Havana. In
October, it will do the same from Fort Lauderdale.
Royal's 1,602-passenger Empress of the Seas, which had been
sailing to Havana from Tampa, will move to Miami, where it will offer more
varied itineraries. Along with five-day sailings to Havana and Key West, the
Empress will offer seven-day trips that feature Nassau, Havana and Cienfuegos,
which is a new Cuba destination for Royal.
The Empress will also debut an eight-day cruise that calls
in Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba, another new port, along with Grand Cayman
and Royal's private destination in Labadee, Haiti.
Robertson said Pearl Seas, too, is planning to expand. In
2018 and 2019, it will offer more Cuba cruises on its 210-passenger Pearl Mist.
By late 2019, Pearl Seas expects to take delivery of two more ships, at least
one of which will likely be added to Cuba.
MSC Cruises is in a somewhat different position. Based in
Geneva, it already has a well-developed business of taking European passengers
to Havana. It has two ships, the MSC Armonia and the MSC Opera, that homeport
in Havana year-round. In addition, it operates a ship seasonally from
Martinique or Guadalupe that calls in Havana.
None of those cruises is sold in the U.S., so MSC doesn't
have to conform to U.S. regulations.
But MSC is also adding ships in North America, beginning
with the MSC Seaside in Miami later this month, and Onorato said he is
definitely interested in adding a Cuban port call for those ships in the
future.
He said MSC has announced itineraries for its North American
ships through 2020. "Until 2020, we don't go," he said. "We see
the worst thing you can do in this business is to change itineraries, because
this creates uncertainly and disruptions among the customers."
As things stand, it wouldn't be feasible anyway for either
the 3,502-passenger Divina or the 4,138-passenger Seaside to call in Cuba
because the ships are too large for existing piers there.
Robertson said Cuban officials addressed the infrastructure
obstacles at the summit.
"I think they're working on it," he said. "There
were no specifics that I heard, but they are working on it, and I think we're
all going to see some improvements in the infrastructure coming along fairly
soon."
Another stumbling block was a U.S. State Department warning
against travel to Cuba. Issued in late September, the warning was tied to
mysterious health symptoms suffered by some U.S. and Canadian diplomats in
Havana.
Robertson said the impact on bookings was short-lived.
"Demand remains strong," he said. "When the
travel warning came out, there was a dip for about 10 days. I would say it's
quite normal now, and it's encouraging us to operate more to Cuba."