Cruise industry dreams of sailing into Cuba

It’s been more than a month since President Obama announced his plan to loosen restrictions on travel to Cuba. And the cruise industry is talking up the possibilities, with one prominent executive calling it his “unfulfilled dream” to see one of his ships “cruising into Havana harbor.”

In a recently televised interview with Miami’s CBS affiliate, newly appointed Norwegian Cruise Line

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  Chief Executive Frank Del Rio added that this wasn’t just a pipe dream. “We have itineraries in my upper right-hand drawer ready to go. People want to go to Cuba,” he said.

The obstacle, of course, is that U.S. restrictions still prevent travel to Cuba purely for tourism. President Obama’s announcement applied to those seeking to make their way to the Caribbean island nation for other reasons, including visiting family. In essence, a lifting of the embargo would be necessary to fully open Cuba to Americans.

But if such a day were to come, the business could be sizable, with the American Society of Travel Agents estimating that more than 500,000 American cruise travelers would visit Cuba within the first two years. (Another 1 million leisure travelers would come by air, the ASTA notes.)

Still, the obstacles for the cruise industry aren’t just those involving U.S. policy. The fact remains that Cuban ports aren’t necessarily equipped to handle the mammoth ships that have come to define cruise travel.

New Cuba travel rules: What you need to know

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Who qualifies to go? Will you need a visa? How much can you spend? Can you book a trip directly with a U.S. airline? WSJ’s Tanya Rivero reports.

“There are a number of factors for consideration before a cruise line would commit to adding a destination to an itinerary,” said the Cruise Line Industry Association in a statement after President Obama’s December announcement.

NCL’s Del Rio argues that if cruise ships could travel to Cuba, the beneficiaries would go beyond cruise lines or vacationers. He says Florida’s economy would also benefit since the added number of travelers would likely necessitate the expansion of local ports.

“The impact will not just be on the infrastructure in Cuba, but also the infrastructure in Miami,” he said in the televised interview.