Pearl Seas Cruises cancelled March sailings to Cuba from Miami because it still needs an OK from the island’s government.
The line expects to operate the 10-night April 5 cruise, said Tim Beebe, vice president of the Guilford, Conn.-based company. They also have trips planned on the 210-passenger Pearl Mist April 15 and 25, according to their online schedule, then they’ll do northern itineraries in the summer and resume Cuba sailings in late October.
“Pearl Seas Cruises received notice on March 10 that the meeting with the Cuban government, where we expected to receive final approval, had been postponed until after President Obama’s visit,” Beebe said via e-mail. “Therefore we had to cancel the March 16, 2016 Cuba Cultural Voyage cruise.”
Passengers were either transferred to other sailings or cancelled trips and were given refunds, he said.
Pearl Seas president Charles Robertson, who also owns U.S.-flagged American Cruise Lines, earlier told WorkBoat that the spring Cuba cruises were nearly sold out. Beebe noted that fall Cuba ticket sales are strong.
Obama, who has made dramatic changes in U.S.-Cuba relations, is scheduled to arrive in Cuba March 20.
In addition to overnight cruise lines, ferry operators would like to start serving the island. A number of companies have received licenses from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, but they also have to iron out compliance issues with the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Cuban government.
