Cuba Cruises Banned For U.S. Citizens

Above, our cruise ship, Majesty of the Seas, in Havana Port in April. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It is now obvious that the cruise to Cuba Mitch Geriminsky and I took in April was "just in the nick of time" as President Trump has imposed new restrictions on travel to Cuba that will take effect Wednesday.

This does not come as a surprise as there were strong rumors at the time of our cruise that we may be on one of last cruises to Cuba. Our cruise was aboard the Majesty of the Seas with Royal Caribbean cruise lines.

According to Fox 17 Nashville:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Tuesday imposed major new travel restrictions on visits to Cuba by U.S. citizens, banning stops by cruise ships and ending a heavily used form of educational travel as it seeks to further isolate the communist government. 

The Treasury Department announced that the U.S. will no longer allow cruises to Cuba or the group educational and cultural trips known as "people to people" travel to the island. 

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the measures are a response to what it calls Cuba's "destabilizing role" in the Western Hemisphere, including support for the government of President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. 

"This administration has made a strategic decision to reverse the loosening of sanctions and other restrictions on the Cuban regime," Mnuchin said. "These actions will help to keep U.S. dollars out of the hands of Cuban military, intelligence, and security services."

Cruise ships have brought thousands of Americans to Cuba since the U.S. began restoring full diplomatic relations with the communist government in December 2014 and have provided an important economic lifeline to the island.

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