Norwegian cruises to Cuba from Port Canaveral on sale

Norwegian Cruise Line will offer cruises to Cuba from Port Canaveral starting in summer 2018.

The cruise line will send Norwegian Sun fresh off a dry-dock overhaul to the port, offering four-night voyages with overnight stops in Havana, as well as Key West, and three-night itineraries to the Bahamas.

“We felt that Port Canaveral was the ideal location to offer our guests a value-rich onboard experience and exciting action-packed ports of call, including an overnight call in Havana, Cuba,” said Norwegian Cruise Line president and CEO Andy Stewart in a news release.

The cruise industry continues to double down on Cuba sailings, while airlines have cut back on service to the island nation. JetBlue flies to Cuba daily from Orlando International Airport and said earlier this month it plans no changes.

Travel to the communist island, which under the Obama administration had been allowed for individual “people-to-people” visits, is being rolled back under President Donald Trump. Now, these mostly educational and cultural visits must be done as part of a group, something the cruise lines are banking on.

Carnival Corp. was the first U.S.-based cruise line to visit Cuba on a regular basis in nearly 50 years when it sailed on May 1, 2016, on its Fathom brand. In 2017, the company shifted service to Carnival Cruise Line, which began sailing to Cuba last month from Tampa. Royal Caribbean also sails from Tampa, while Norwegian this year offers Cuba sailings from PortMiami.

The Port Canaveral plans are something new for Norwegian Cruise Line, which had always previously vacated the port in the summer months. Currently sailing from the port, Norwegian Epic will migrate to Europe next April for Mediterranean service before its return in November.

Before its arrival, the 1,936-passenger Norwegian Sun will sail the fall and winter season in South America, and then undergo a 2½-week dry dock in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. On April 19, the ship will make its way to Port Canaveral via the Panama Canal on a 17-night sailing from Seattle.

The 78,309-gross-ton ship, which was built in 2001, will begin Port Canaveral sailings May 7 with MondayFriday voyages to Cuba and Friday-Monday Bahamas trips with stops that include Nassau, Freeport and the line’s private island Great Stirrup Cay.