Cruise Lines Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Get Cuba Go-Ahead

becomes first cruise liner to sail between the United States and Cuba since Cuba’s 1959 revolution on May 2, 2016. REUTERS/Enrique de la Osa

Dec 7 (Reuters) – U.S cruise operators Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd said on Wednesday they had got approval from Cuban authorities to begin operations to the country.

Norwegian Cruise Line said its first ship would set sail to Havana from Miami on March 7 next year, while Royal Caribbean did not specify a date.

The approval comes nearly seven months after Carnival Corp’s Adonia, a small ship carrying 700 passengers, reached the Cuban capital after getting an approval.

The Adonia was the first U.S.-owned ship to sail to Cuba from the United States since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.

Cuba said in April it would lift a ban on Cuban-born citizens entering and leaving the country in commercial vessels, paving the way for cruise operators to begin offering itineraries from the United States. (Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

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