New Cuba rules hit ships

Cruise lines quickly drop nation from itineraries

MIAMI — The Trump administration’s new restrictions on travel to Cuba will sting the cruise industry, taking away a new and increasingly popular destination at the start of the critical summer vacation season.

Cruise lines that carried passengers under a government policy that permitted “people-to-people” travel to Cuba were told they could not continue. The U.S. Commerce Department announced the new regulations Tuesday to take effect a day later. The restrictions effectively made it illegal to cruise from the U.S. to Cuba, according to the Cruise Lines International Association, an industry trade group.

On Wednesday, major cruise lines began dropping stops in Cuba from their itineraries and hastily rerouted ships to other destinations, including Mexico.

The changes affect thousands of passengers who are already on cruises or booked for future trips, according to the trade group.

At docks in Florida and aboard ships at sea, frustrated travelers vented over wrecked vacation plans. In New York, shares of cruise line companies tumbled.

“We have a ship full of disappointed and angry people,” said Darcy Van Zijl of Cape Coral, Florida, who had planned to celebrate her 45th birthday with a cruise to Havana.

Henry Harteveldt, a travel analyst with Atmosphere Research Group, said the changes will have a “noticeable impact” on the cruise lines’ earnings this quarter, the rest of this year and likely into 2020.

Cuba trips represented a relatively small percentage of passenger cruises — about 3 percent or 4 percent for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and even less for Royal Caribbean Cruises and Carnival Corp., according to UBS analysts. But Cuban itineraries commanded prices up to 20 percent higher than cruises to the Bahamas, according to UBS.