With the arrival of the British cruise ship Marella Discovery 2 in Havana, cruise operations in Cuba have resumed. The ship, flying the Bahamian flag and owned by the German-British tourism group TUI UK, arrived on the 25th at the Havana cruise terminal with 1,600 passengers of various nationalities, who remained on the island for 27 hours before continuing their Caribbean tour. Some of the passengers explored the historic center of Old Havana, while the rest took an excursion to Pinar del Río for nature tourism and to visit the tobacco facilities that survived Hurricane Ian.
The cruise company brought the Marella Explorer 2 ship in March 2022 and announced that, together with the Marella Discovery 2, regular trips will be maintained every 15 days in Cuban ports during the high season, from November 2022 to April 2023.
The cruise industry, which was booming in Cuba, came to a halt in 2018 when the Trump Administration tightened economic sanctions against the island, in addition to the effects of the 2020 travel restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the arrival of more ships is expected throughout the rest of the year, thus beginning “a successful tourism season” in January 2023.
