Royal Caribbean announced today, it will replace all Cuban ports that were scheduled for its ships to visit with alternative ports due to new U.S. government regulations that prohibit travel from the U.S. to Cuba by cruise ship.
The two ships that were offering cruises to Cuba, Majesty of the Seas and Empress of the Seas, have had alternative ports secured.
In addition, Royal Caribbean is offering the option of guests on affected sailings remaining on the cruise and receiving a 50% refund, or they can cancel their cruise and receive a full refund.
Royal Caribbean issued a statement elaborating on the nature of the changes made, "In response to the U.S. government’s policy change imposing immediate restrictions on cruise ship travel between the U.S. and Cuba, we are informing our guests of revised itineraries for a limited number of sailings with Cuban port calls.
All 2019 sailings on the Majesty of the Seas and Empress of the Seas will have alternative ports in the Caribbean. Guests will have the option to cancel their current booking for a full refund, or to keep their sailing date with a new itinerary and receive a 50 percent refund.
We are working on alternate itineraries for 2020 sailings and will share those details with guests and travel partners as they become available. We appreciate our guests’ patience and flexibility as we adjust to accommodate the new regulation."
(1/3) Cuba Travel Policy Update: Effective immediately, the U.S. government has implemented new regulations that prohibit travel from the U.S. to Cuba by cruise ship. This change requires us to immediately replace all Cuban ports.
— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) June 5, 2019
(2/3) For all 2019 sailings on Majesty of the Seas + Empress of the Seas, we have secured alternative ports and we are in the process of communicating the new itineraries to our guests and travel partners.
— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) June 5, 2019
(3/3) For these guests, they will have the option of remaining on their sailing with the new itinerary and receiving a 50% refund or they may cancel their cruise and receive a full refund. Read more: https://t.co/RAWu9iRg2X
— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) June 5, 2019
Scheduled 2020 sailings on both Majesty of the Seas and Empress of the seas are still in the process of being worked on to find alternative ports, and Royal Caribbean estimates it will communicate those changes within the next week.
The United States Treasury Department announced yesterday new regulations that will end group travel to Cuba for “people to people” educational purposes and prohibiting visits to the island via cruise ships.
