Royal Caribbean and Norwegian cruise lines approved to make stops in Cuba.
The Royal Caribbean cruise ship 'Grandeur of the Seas' is seen on July 15, 2013 while docked at the Royal Naval Dockyard near the port of Hamilton, Bermuda. REUTERS/Gary Cameron

Two major cruise lines have been approved for trips to Cuba. Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line officials announced Wednesday they had received approval from the Cuban government to sail to Havana from ports in Florida starting in 2017.

Based in Miami, Royal Caribbean Cruises (RLC) said it would send Royal Caribbean and Azamara Club Cruises ships to Cuba. The company didn’t specify which ships in the Royal Caribbean catalog would be the first to dock in Havana, although in the past RLC said the 2,020-passenger Empress of the Seas would most likely be the ship used for Cuban voyages. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) said it would send three ships from the NCLH catalog to Cuba including Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line.

NCLH said its three brands would set sails to Cuba starting in March as a part of broader voyages. RLC, also only docking in Havana during broader trips, didn’t announce specifically when cruise lines would start making stops in the country but said an itinerary would be coming soon.

Oceania’s Marina ship will be the first Norwegian brand to sail to Cuba from Miami. The voyage is set to sail 1,250 people on March 7 as a part of a broader Caribbean trip. Marina will make more multi-stop voyages to Havana from March to May. Regent’s 700-passenger Seven Seas Mariner will follow making two Havana calls during April, after which Norwegian’s 2,004-passenger Norwegian Sky will host four-day voyages that will dock overnight in Havana starting in May.

Smaller cruise line, Adonia, was actually the first brand to set sail to Cuba following President Barak Obama’s lift of certain Cuba embargo restrictions. Back in May, the cruise line launched bi-weekly voyages to Cuba on its Fathom cruise ship. However, the brand was unable to bring in the American interest they were hoping for due to week-long voyages that made stops in secondary Cuban cities like Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos. Adonia announced in November Fathom would no longer make trips to Cuba as of May.

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