Small-Ship Specialist AdventureSmith Heads for Cuba

PHOTO: AdventureSmith will operate the sailing ship Panorama in Cuba. (Courtesy of AdventureSmith)

Small-ship cruise specialist AdventureSmith Explorations is sailing to Cuba.

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The company has engaged a 49-passenger, three-masted schooner named Panorama to operate Cuba People to People cruises starting in December through April 2016.

The trips begin and end in Miami with round-trip charter flights to Havana included in the fare. The ship stops in five ports on Cuba’s western and southern shores — Havana, Maria LaGorda, Cayo Largo, Trinidad and Cienfuego.

Fares start at $4,799 per person, double occupancy, and include the air to and from Miami, meals, accommodations, a Cuban visa, mandatory Cuban medical insurance and transportation.

AdventureSmith says the Cuba People to People cruise has obtained the required licenses for U.S. citizens since travel is still restricted, although efforts are underway to lift the trade embargo. For details on the legalities of traveling to Cuba, visit the company’s FAQ page.

“A strategic advantage AdventureSmith Explorations brings to the excitement of a newly engaged Cuba is the fact that we are traveling only in small ships,” said company founder Todd Smith. “This offers the flexibility and access to enter ports along Cuba’s coast that may not yet be available to larger vessels.”

The People to People programs to Cuba are educational in nature and do not allow independent travel once on the island.

The 178-foot Panorama, built in 1993, was renovated in 2009. It has open deck space, two lounges, a library, and a swimming platform that opens into the sea when weather and anchorage conditions permit.

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