Best way to travel to Cuba

Categories There have been a lot of announcements related to Cuba.  As of January 2017 many cruise companies have announced some sailings, and several airlines began scheduled departures from many airports in the USA. But where's the beef so to speak?

Yes there are several airlines with scheduled service, from Florida, NY, and other states.  Suffice it to say you will not get run over in the boarding line by the crush of travelers.  Some airlines while not cutting back on flights have put smaller planes on the routes while they wait for the expected and hoped for quantity of travelers. 

There are also several cruise lines, most notably Fathom that began biweekly sailings from Miami on a 7 night multi port call on just Cuba.  The other week, the "Impact Travel" based style cruise line went to Dominican Rebulic on a 7 night immersive travel in support of charitable projects such as teaching, assisting in making water filtration systems, and several other needed projects that make a difference in the lives of this area. 

Fathom has decided to discontinue their operation after this year, not due to Cuba demand, but mainly for the lack of succes of the Dominican Republic sailings.  Carnival Corp, the owner of Fathom cruise line, will instead add Cuba port calls to its other lines, such as Holland, Princess and others, and create a immersible shore excursion on those lines and more for ports of call in Dominican Republic.

The big impact though is that Fathom, nor the Carnival Corporation lines will be making dedicated Cuba cruises.

Announcements by other cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean, Azamara, NCL, and other upscale brands will continue to see lots of port calls to Cuba, but usually for one day or perhaps an overnight (See Azamara Quest).  Land tour operators are continuing to package land and cruise options, especially with Celestial ( formerly Louis ) but land capacity if far less than that of one cruise ship and much easier to mandage for Cuba than 1000's of passengers.

There is at least one cruise line that is not only maintaining a dedicated Cuba itinerary, but increasing it and enhancing it.  That is Pearl Seas Cruises.  They now are delivering one of the most comprehensive Cuban Voyages I have been seeing, and selling.  They are probably the most comfortable and comprehensive Cuban cruises as well.  Their ship while one of the newest sailing to Cuba is also visiting exclusive ports of call that the remaining larger ships will not be able to visit.  And Pearl provides the upscale and elegant atmosphere with large staterooms, mostly balconies, nightly cocktail hours and gourmet dining.  And they have modified all their voyages to be 10 night - 11 Day with ports of call of Havana, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, El Cobre, Santiago, and Parqu Nacional de Baconao.

Here are some comparisons between Pearl that stood out with me, and why they should be in any Cuba visit mix.

Cruise Details	Pearl Seas Cruises	Other cruise Lines
Disinations Visited in Cuba	7 Different	1 port in Cuba
Age of Ships	3 Years	15 Years Avg
Avg number of Passengers	210	1,157
Oversized Staterooms	All	Some
Balconies	All	Some
Included Shore Excursions	All	Varies
Complimentary Cocktails hours	Each Night	Some
Open Single Seating	All	No
2017 Departures	13 10 Night	other than Fathom 1-2 per line
2018 Departures	19 10 Night	expect more tbd.

So if you are thinking or planning on Cuba in the near future, click on contact us above and we will:

Send you a free Cuba travel report
Provide you electronic brochures on both land and cruise options, and current pricing and promotions.
Provide all the options for you for the particular time of travel.

But if you do not have Pearl Seas Cruises on your list, we hope we have provided a reason above to change that list.  We are also experts with all the cruise lines, including Pearl Seas, and make our recommendations to you based on whats in your interest, style, and desires.