Carnival Gets Green Light to Begin Traveling to Cuba

zoom  Cruise line conglomerate Carnival Corporation & plc has won approval from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Commerce to begin travel to Cuba. Carnival Corporation intends to take travelers to Cuba beginning in May 2016 via its newly launched fathom brand – a new social impact travel brand providing purpose-oriented, social impact experiences, initially in the Dominican Republic. Carnival added that it was in active discussions and plans to work with the appropriate authorities in Cuba so that Cuban approval is granted. The brand expects to attract 37,000 annual travelers who collectively could spend a total of more than 100,000 days a year either volunteering or immersing in educational and cultural exchanges in local communities. Beginning in April 2016, fathom will embark on weekly seven-day voyages from Port Miami aboard the MV Adonia, a 710-passenger vessel redeployed from Carnival Corporations P&O Cruises (UK) brand. Fathoms first impact destination will be the northern region of the Dominican Republic, where Carnival Corporations new port of call, Amber Cove, will serve as home base. We look forward to working with the Cuban authorities for their approval to help make the social, cultural and humanitarian exchanges between U.S. citizens and the people of Cuba a reality, said Arnold Donald, President and CEO of Carnival Corporation. We know there is strong demand from travelers who want to immerse themselves in Cuban culture, so this is a historic opportunity for us to enable more people to experience Cuban society. It is also an important opportunity for our new fathom brand to expand its positive influence in the world with this potential to add full-week immersion sailings to Cuba to its already planned full-week social-impact itineraries to the Dominican Republic beginning in the spring of 2016. Tara Russell, president of fathom and global impact lead for Carnival Corporation, added: After establishing the Dominican Republic as our first partner destination, Cuba represents an important step for us to expand our ability to offer meaningful and enriching experiences to purpose-driven travelers. Our goal remains the same for both destinations – to enable travelers to immerse, learn, serve and flourish while making enduring, sustainable contributions on a scalable and systematic basis. The announcement comes following MSCs homeporting of MSC Opera in Havana, Cuba.