First cruise from the U.S. to Cuba in decades is headed to Havana

(Image credit: Twitter.com/VOANews)

published 2 May 2016

For the first time in decades, a cruise ship from the United States is on its way to Cuba.

About 700 passengers are aboard the Adonia, part of Carnival's Fathom cruise line, which set sail Sunday from Miami. The seven-day cruise will feature activities highlighting Cuban culture and will stop in Havana, Cienfuegos, and Santiago de Cuba. Carnival had said the cruise wouldn't happen unless the Cuban government overturned a ban on letting people born in Cuba arrive in the country by ship, and it was lifted last month. Six of the passengers were born in Cuba.

A small group of protesters huddled on a small boat near the Adonia, holding a sign reading, "Castro why do you ask Cubans for a Visa to visit their own country?" Passenger Gary Carlson told CNN he didn't understand the protest, "because it's time to put those things behind us. Really, the big issue is government to government, not people to people, and that's what we're excited about participating in."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.