16 AUG: A Canada tour firm is going to operate week-long cruises around Cuba using a 1200-passenger liner built in 1980.
Toronto-based Cuba Cruise will run the sailings from Havana, calling at seven other ports, including a private island, according to a report on website cruisecritic.com
Cruise-only fares will start at $CAD586 a person.
Food served on the liner, Louis Cristal, will be shipped in weekly from Canada, avoiding problems which can arise with local provisioning.
Entertainers will be Cuban.
First sailings are scheduled for the coming northern winter.
Currently, a firm called Tropicana Cruises operates round-Cuba sailings, but cruisecritic.com says these are mainly for Russians.
Britain’s Thomson Cruises has dropped Cuba plans for logistical reasons.


