Travel
New Cuba Travel Ban
Could Impact Cruise Travel
Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas (Source: Brian Teepell Photography)
The Trump administration has announced that it will be putting a travel ban in place which is expected to prevent cruise ships from calling on Cuba. Such a ban has been cause for concern within the cruise line industry for quite some time and will be a reality when it takes effect on Wednesday June 5th,2019.
The Associated Press reports..."the new travel restrictions will take effect Wednesday, but the government will allow anyone who has already paid for the trip to go through with their travel plans. Of course, given that cruises are often booked as far as 18 months or more in advance, it´s unclear if that means those ships will be able to sail as scheduled."
In a statement from the US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, “this administration has made a strategic decision to reverse the loosening of sanctions and other restrictions on the Cuban regime. These actions will help keep US dollars out of the hands of the Cuban military, intelligence and security services.“
Royal Caribbean released the following statement on Twitter "We are looking into how the ban will impact their future sailings and will let people know as soon as possible.
Norwegian Cruise Line released the following statement toTwitter “Today, the U.S. government announced new travel restrictions to Cuba,“ they said. “We are closely monitoring these recent developments and any resulting impact to cruise travel to Cuba. We will communicate to our guests and travel partners as additional information becomes available.“
It should be noted that cruise ships had only began returning to Cuba in 2016 and in the 3 years since has become the most popular way to travel to the country.
The Associated Press reports that, "Between January 1 and April 30th of this year, the Cuban government reports that 142,721 Americans arrived on ships, while just 114,832 arrived by air."
As this is Breaking News and a developing story we will continue to monitor and report new developments as they become available.
Cruise passengers that suspect they may be impacted by this situation should monitor their cruise line's website and social media or contact their travel agent for the most up to date information.
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