DESTINATIONS & PORTS : THE CARIBBEAN & LATIN AMERICA ::::
Cuba: A New Cruise Destination with New Opportunities for the Caribbean By Giora Israel, Senior Vice President, Global Port and Destination Development Group, Carnival Corporation & plc
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hen Carnival Corporation’s newly created brand Fathom, and its ship MV Adonia, departed at 4:00 PM on Sunday, May 1, 2016 from the Port of Miami and arrived in the early morning hours of Monday, May 2 to beautiful skies and a spectacular view of Havana harbor, filled with large crowds of Cubans brimming with excitement, the voyage took less than 20 hours. But the process behind this historic journey was a long 54 years in the making. The arrival of MV Adonia signified the first time in half a century that US cruise ship passengers were able to sail from a US port to Cuba, a voyage operated by P&O Cruises UK, another member of the Carnival Corporation family. In an interesting twist, it was another a P&O cruise ship that sailed to and from Cuba for the last time 54 years ago. 44 | Third Quarter 2016 | Travel & Cruise
The contemporary cruise industry as we know it was created in the late 1960s, initially through a joint venture between Ted Arison and Knut Kloster. They created Norwegian Cruise Line, the first modern day cruise company, and soon thereafter Royal Caribbean came to be. Eventually, once Mr. Arison and Mr. Kloster went their separate ways, Ted Arison founded Carnival Cruise Line. The three cruise companies, Carnival, Norwegian and Royal, have all grown over the years; not only in expanding their namesake company, but they also added a number of other cruise brands under their corporate umbrellas. All three started their operations in Miami; all three are headquartered in Miami; and all are large publicly traded companies with 19 different brands, 173 ships and 80% of the cruise business, representing an extraordinary success story in the travel industry. The cruise industry was able to prosper and become highly successful without ever calling on Cuba. These three large cruise companies and their various cruise brands have provided over 70