As passengers cheered, Carnival Corp.’s Fathom Adonia arrived at Havana harbor on Monday morning, officially reestablishing the U.S. cruise business in Cuba.
The voyage of the Adonia, with about 600 passengers aboard, was the first trip from a U.S. port directly to Cuba in more than 50 years, and the importance of the historic trip wasn’t lost on anyone.
Aboard the ship, cruise passengers waved Cuban and American flags. In the Old Havana terminals, Cuban flags and banners from Havantur, the official tourism agency, were draped along the second-floor balcony as a crowd of officials, port workers and media welcomed the ship.
The ship officially docked at 10:24 a.m.
First to step on Cuban soil was Carnival’s chief legal counsel, Arnie Pérez and his wife, Carmen. Until the last round of negotiations, the Cuba-born couple could not have sailed; it wasn’t until April 22 that the Cuban government agreed to lift a Cold War-era ban that prohibited Cuba-born visitors from returning to the country by sea.
Pérez was followed off the ship by Carnival executives, including President and CEO Arnold Donald.
Passengers came next as they headed into Old Havana for a walking tour of the cobbled colonial city and a people-to-people program slated to include a visit with a coffee roaster, lunch at a privately owned restaurant and a visit with artists at Havana’s famed Taller Grafico Experimental, a cooperative printworks.
For those aboard, the Havana visit began when the first hazy outlines of the Havana skyline appeared on the horizon about 7 a.m., and excitement aboard the Adonia began to build.
About 7:45 a.m. when the city was still about seven or eight miles away, Captain David Box came on the public address system, noting the great dome of Havana’s Cathedral was clearly visible and pointing out that Havana, founded in 1515, was once known as the “Rome of the Caribbean.”
“We’ll never forget this day,” he said.
By 9:30, the ship arrived at the mouth of Havana harbor, where it lingered before finally docking almost an hour later.