Make space at Havana Harbor - Pearl Seas Cruises joins the cruise frenzy to Cuba

Make space at Havana Harbor: Pearl Seas Cruises joins the cruise frenzy
to Cuba
BY CHABELI HERRERA
cherrera@miamiherald.com

Havana Harbor is getting crowded for 2017.

On Thursday, Connecticut-based Pearl Seas Cruises announced that it
gained approval to sail to Cuba from Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades
on 10-night voyages to the island's capital city and several other
cities on Cuba's sourthern border.

The line is scheduled to depart for its first voyage on Jan. 17 aboard
the 210-passenger Pearl Mist. The full trip will circumnavigate the
island, staying overnight in Havana, and stopping in Isla de la
Juventud, Trinidad, El Cobre, Santiago de Cuba and Parque Baconao.
Eleven Cuba voyages are planned between January and May.

"There is significant demand to visit Cuba on a smaller ship and we are
honored to be among the first cruise lines to have access to the
country," said Timothy Beebe, vice president of Pearl Seas Cruises, in a
statement.

$7,810 Starting price of Pearl Seas Cruises Cuba voyages
Pearl's announcement brings the number of American cruise lines that
gained Cuban approval this week to six. The others — Norwegian Cruise
Line Holding's Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven
Seas, and Royal Caribbean Cruises' Royal Caribbean International and
Azamara Club Cruises — were approved within minutes of each other on
Wednesday.

The three cruise companies — Pearl, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean — were
among several that were rushing to seal deals with Cuba before the start
of President-elect Donald Trump's administration, which has promised to
roll back engagement with Cuba.

All three cruise lines will be participating in "cultural" voyages, as
Pearl calls its Cuba trips, which fall under the people-to-people social
exchange visa category of approved travel to Cuba from the U.S.

Trips on the Pearl Mist start at $7,810.

Source: Make space at Havana Harbor: Pearl Seas Cruises joins the cruise
frenzy to Cuba | Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article119739753.html