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Seabourn Cuba sailings given green light

Seabourn has become the third Carnival Corporation brand approved to sail to Cuba.

The luxury line will join sister lines Carnival Cruise Line and Holland America Line in offering five sailings to the largest island in the Caribbean.

Seabourn will sail to multiple ports in Cuba from Miami and San Juan in Puerto Rico from November 4, 2019. The cruises will be operated by 458-passenger Seabourn Sojourn.

Four itineraries with five different departure dates go on sale this week covering five ports in Cuba. All five voyages include overnight stops in the capital city of Havana.

Other ports of call include Antilla, Cienfuegos, Punta Frances and Santiago de Cuba.

Passengers will be able to join UNESCO partner tours and other excursions.

Seabourn president Richard Meadows said: “For many luxury travellers, they aim to find new places to explore and discover meaningful new cultural opportunities, and Cuba is one of the most sought-after emerging destinations for many of our guests.

“We are excited to finally be able to include Cuba in our itineraries, and our guests and travel partners have been anxiously awaiting an ultra-luxury travel experience with a wider selection of destinations in this relatively undiscovered Caribbean treasure.

“These Cuba itineraries are fresh and sure to satisfy the curiosity of anyone who has considered visiting.”

Carnival Corporation led the opening of the Cuba market for cruising from the US in 2016 for the first time in over 40 years with its Fathom brand using the former P&O Cruises ship Andonia, which is now operating as Azamara Pursuit for rival Azamara Club Cruises.

The move helped change a long-standing travel policy preventing Cuban-born travellers from sailing to and from Cuba.

Carnival Cruise Line ships Carnival Sensation and Carnival Paradise now have several Caribbean itineraries that include visits to Cuban ports.

The voyages, which began in June 2017, have become so popular that the 2,052-passenger Carnival Paradise, which became the largest US cruise ship to sail from to Cuba, will feature an additional 20 sailings to Cuba.

The 3,002-passenger Carnival Sunshine will take over as the biggest ship to call on Havana when it begins sailing regularly to the island from Charleston in South Carolina next year.

A total of five Carnival Cruise Line ships will depart regularly to Cuba from Charleston, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Tampa in 2019 and 2020.

Holland America Line’s 1,350-passenger Veendam began sailing to Cuba in December.

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