Havana & Key West Reopen to Cruise Ships

Empress of the Seas in Key West
Courtesy Key West Trolley Tours

Empress Of The Seas

Returns to Cuba & Key West

On September 20th, Havana welcomed Royal Caribbean Empress of the Seas guests. The terminal, port and transportation were ready and all tours ran as scheduled. The city is ready and receiving visitors and delivering the authentic experience this historical destination is known for.

Today, Key West welcomed Empress of the Seas guests back there as well.  Mayor Craig Cates was there to greet passengers as they disembarked.

The pictures, courtesy Royal Caribbean's Travel Itinerary Update, from their most recent visit to Havana are below.

On September 10th, Hurricane Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys knocking out power and causing extensive damage to Key West and the rest of the Keys.   Cruise ships, including Royal Caribbean Empress of the Seas, had itineraries cancelled or modified.  

Not all of Key West is up and running, but several key sights opened up for the first time Sunday to welcome guests from the cruise ship.   What Key West needs now is money from tourism to help rebuild their city.

Key West's Old Town Trolley tours was one of the popular attractions operating on Sunday.   Their trolley cars were spared from the wrath of Hurricane Irma and their employees were back at work shuttling passengers around the town for the popular tour.

It will be quite some time before most of the Caribbean recovers from two back to back major hurricanes.   The cruise lines are vital to helping with the recovery.   They have brought supplies and are donating funds to the recovery.   Check with your favorite cruise line to see how you can help.



Follow Us On

Cruising to Cuba

Explore Tours  ---  Explore Cruises

Perhaps the hottest new destination for 2017 and beyond is Cuba.  

Several cruise lines offer People-to-People experiences which include overnights in Havana, Cuba. This is perhaps the best way to visit Cuba because it eliminates any fears about the country's infrastructure not supporting tourism - your ship is your oasis.  We'll use Carnival Cruise Line for the basis of this article, but we could assist you in planning a Cuban cruise experience on any line sailing there.

President Donald Trump announced earlier this year he would reverse the historic thawing of relations between the U.S. and Cuba made under the Obama Administration. The new actions are aimed to once again restrict travel to Cuba and block business deals between the two countries. If you have a remote interest in visiting Cuba, then perhaps now would be the time to plan a visit before travel is once again restricted.

Until the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issues new regulations regarding travel to Cuba, there is no impact to Cuba sailings. Once new regulations are issued, cruise lines will notify their guests accordingly.

Who Can Travel to Cuba?

U.S. (including Cuban-born) and international guests are eligible to travel to Cuba from the U.S. if they either i) meet at least one of twelve categories of authorized travel; or ii) obtain a specific license issued by OFAC.  For complete details, see the travel links below.

People-to-People Experiences

People-to-people programs are a permitted category for U.S. guests to visit Cuba. These programs must include a full-time schedule of activities that will create educational interactions between guests and the Cuban people.

Activities can include shore excursions offered by Carnival and/or guests can opt to participate in a self-guided program. However, such self-guided guests must still have a full-time schedule of authorized activities and must maintain their own records demonstrating such a full-time schedule.

Follow Us On

Sign-up for Exclusive Email Offers

Where have you explored? 

Gather your travel and food pics and join us Wednesday night for the latest installment of #FoodTravelChat