MSC Cruises Releases Details on Cruise Itineraries Without Cuba

Following Tuesday’s decision by the Trump Administration to eliminate the people-to-people category of travel to Cuba, MSC Cruises has released details on the changes to itineraries on the MSC Armonia, which will no longer be permitted to call at Havana

MSC said that it will replace Havana with either Key West, Florida; Costa Maya, Mexico; George Town, Cayman Islands; or Cozumel, Mexico, on the ship’s seven-night Caribbean itineraries. The remainder of the schedule will continue as originally planned. 

Guests currently onboard the MSC Armonia and their travel advisors have been informed of the changes, MSC said, and offered the following options:

  • $400 per stateroom as onboard credit. If this credit is not fully used during the cruise, MSC Cruises will refund the difference upon check-out from the ship. Any shore excursions in Havana that were pre-purchased before the cruise, or which are included in the ticket, will be automatically refunded to the guest’s onboard account.

Guests on future MSC Armonia sailings that were scheduled to visit Cuba will be offered one of the following:

  • $400 per stateroom as onboard credit. If this credit is not fully used during the cruise, MSC Cruises will refund the difference upon check-out from the ship. Any shore excursions in Havana that were pre-purchased before the cruise, or which are included in the ticket, will be automatically refunded to the guest’s onboard account.
  • The possibility to change ship and itinerary. MSC Cruises will waive cancellation fees and transfer already paid funds to the new booking.
 

MSC is the latest cruise brand to release itinerary changes following the decision to tighten the restrictions on travel to Cuba, following Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean. We’ve rounded up a full list of the Cuba cruise changes here

On Tuesday the Trump Administration announced that it was amending the regulations regarding travel to Cuba, most notably ending the “people-to-people” category of educational travel to the country under which many cruise lines and tour companies had operated. A grandfather clause continues to allow certain group people-to-people travel for which at least one travel-related transaction had already been made. 

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