Last stop for Cuban cruisers - Santiago

Last stop for Cuban cruisers: Santiago

Cruise ship makes last stop before returning to Miami
Carnival's Adonia is the first U.S. cruise ship to visit Cuba
Carnival has bigger plans for Cuba
BY MIMI WHITEFIELD

As the Fathom Adonia headed into the final leg of its history-making
cruise to Cuba Friday, Carnival Corp. Chief Executive Arnold Donald was
already thinking about the next steps in opening the Cuban cruise market.

Carnival, the world's largest cruise company, wants to bring at least
seven of its cruise lines to the island and has asked for thousands of
port calls, he said.

Carnival's Fathom line, which returns to Miami Sunday after its
inaugural voyage to Cuba, is the only Carnival brand to get a green
light from Cuban authorities so far. But "there is tremendous positive
energy from the Cubans," Donald said.

The Cuban people also warmly greeted the cruise ship, from a crowd that
gathered at the port in Havana to high-five and welcome passengers to
those on shore near the Adonia's ports of call who waved and cheered as
the blue-and-white ship passed.

Donald worked when he was in Havana, meeting with Cuban tourism and port
officials and Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the chief of mission at the U.S.
Embassy in Havana. He left the cruise in Cienfuegos Thursday, expressing
dismay he would have to miss the ship's final call in Santiago.

Donald said the first Cuban cruise exceeded expectations. The Adonia
will travel to Cuba every other week, leaving from PortMiami on Sundays.

In the future, he said, Carnival hopes to offer more variety on Cuban
itineraries. There are 11 ports in Cuba, but most need improvements to
support a thriving cruise industry.

"All the ports we could pretty much get into, but infrastructure is
lacking at some," said Donald. Some would require tender operations for
passengers to get ashore, he said.

In Cienfuegos, there is no cruise terminal. Cruisers disembark down a
short gangway and then walk across a parking lot to a small building
that houses little more than metal detection and baggage-screening devices.

Executives from the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri were aboard the
Adonia at the invitation of Carnival to discuss the potential for new
cruise ships for Cuba.

"The pier in Havana looks a bit rough. There is a lot of potential for
improvement," said Marco Bognolo, who works for Fincantieri.

Currently, a tunnel that runs under Havana harbor limits the draft of
vessels that can enter the waterway. The Adonia's capacity is only 704
passengers, but Bognolo said there's the potential to bring a ship with
a capacity of up to 2,000 passengers "if they create a channel.

"This is only the first cruise [from a U.S. port], but certainly this
industry can develop in Cuba in the coming years," he said.

Most Carnival ships could get into Havana from "a depth standpoint,"
said Donald. But some are too long for the current piers.

Cuban officials have not requested any investment by Carnival to upgrade
cruise facilities, said Donald "We'll do what they want us to do," he
added. But at this point, all they have requested is input from Carnival
"on what we think they should do," said Donald.

Cuba is currently shifting its cargo facilities from Havana to the Port
of Mariel, a deep-water port west of the city, and officials have said
they want to develop Havana as the center of cruise operations.

Donald acknowledged that the Cubans could put larger cruise ships into
Mariel. "They have not indicated Mariel is exclusively for cargo," he said.

Source: Last stop for Cuban cruisers: Santiago | In Cuba Today -
http://www.incubatoday.com/news/article76018207.html