Cristal clears the way for Cuba

With the United States trade embargo against Cuba still stubbornly in place – despite being ruled illegal by the United Nations – there are few opportunities to cruise to the island, none of them on ships whose operators have any links with the US.
I was there a couple of years ago on Saga Pearl II, and Thomson Dream – which also visited Havana in 2011 – will be back there in November. Star Flyer, the 170-passenger sailing vessel, will be including a number of cruises to Cuban ports in its 2014 itinerary.
Now, according to Cruise Industry News, Louis Cruises has confirmed its 1,200-passenger Louis Cristal (it’s a ship, not a Champagne) will be sailing 15 Cuba cruises during 2013-14.
The vessel is usually to be found cruising the Greek islands. Originally built as the car ferry Silja Opera and converted to a cruise ship in 1995, it will be chartered to a Canadian company, Cuba Cruise.
Pythagoras Nagos, commercial director of Louis Cruises, told CIN: “The season will run from December 16, 2013 to March 31, 2014. Cuba Cruise is breaking ground with its circumnavigation of Cuba, making the island’s fascinating but otherwise hard to reach ports accessible and affordable for all.”
The seven-night itinerary travels clockwise around Cuba and includes calls to the island of Cayo Coco, Holguin, Santiago de Cuba, Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Cienfuegos. The cruises will be marketed by both Cuba Cruise and Louis Cruises.