Holland America Line said it has approval to sail to Cuba
and will start with a Dec. 22 holiday departure from Fort Lauderdale.
HAL said the 12-day cruise will be offered on the
1,350-passenger Veendam and will visit Havana and Cienfuegos. The Veendam is
HAL’s second-smallest ship (the Prinsendam is the smallest). HAL plans
a total of nine 7-day cruises that will feature Havana. Three of those cruises
will include Cienfuegos.
Other stops on the cruises will be a combination of
Caribbean ports including Amber Cove, Dominican Republic; Belize City, Belize;
Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico; George Town, Grand Cayman; Grand Turk, Turks
and Caicos; Key West, Florida; and Montego Bay, Jamaica.
In addition to the seven-day cruises, an 11-day spring
cruise sails March 17 and features Havana and Cienfuegos, as well as Key West,
Cozumel, Montego Bay and Georgetown. The final seven-day Cuba sailing departs
on April 18, 2018.
Bookings for the Cuba cruises open May 26. HAL said guests
booked on the Veendam’s previously scheduled winter deployment will be given a
full refund and opportunity to book on another HAL voyage.
Fares for Cuba cruises begin at $899 per person. Taxes, fees
and port expenses are additional.