The British ’Ambition’ cruise ship is now in Havana and was preceded by the German ’Hamburg’
14ymedio, José Lassa, Havana, 29 January 2025 — For the third time in a month, a cruise ship docked in Havana on Tuesday. It was the Ambition, from the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts and Nevis and operated by the British shipping company Ambassador Cruise Line. It is the first time that this ship, registered in the Bahamas, has arrived in the Cuban capital.
With a capacity of 1,200 passengers and 600 crew members, several dozen of them were seen on Tuesday heading towards the historic centre. Some even immediately hailed an almendrón [a classic American car in service as a taxi].
The official press echoed the arrival, citing the General Customs Office of the Republic, which stressed that “this operation confirms Cuba as a safe port for tourism and other naval activities in the region.” During the day, the note published by Tribuna de La Habana continued , “the captain of the vessel exchanged plaques with the administration of the Havana Cruise Terminal, in an act of courtesy that reaffirms the good relations and the recognition of the work of the authorities of the Island in the sector.”
Just five days ago, the MS Hamburg, operated by the German operator Conti, docked in Havana again. As usual, its passengers also strolled through Old Havana during its stop. Before that, the ship had been in Santiago de Cuba and, before that, also in the capital of the island, after a trip to Colón (Panama), San Andrés (Colombia), Roatán and Puerto Cortés (Honduras), Santo Tomás de Castilla (Guatemala), Belize and Cozumel (Mexico).
That arrival, at the end of December, marked the beginning of the high season for cruises, which, however, do not seem to be enough to lift the debacle in the tourism sector. As indicated by official data published this Tuesday – later than usual and after the conclusion of the Madrid International Tourism Fair (Fitur) – Cuba closed last year with the lowest number of international travelers since 2007 – excluding the 2020-2022 period, in which the sector collapsed worldwide due to the Covid-19 pandemic – those same 2.2 million that the Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García Granda, in December, had predicted before Parliament.
Particularly worrying are the figures for December, traditionally the best month of the year in terms of tourism, as it is the peak of the Caribbean high season. Only 197,790 travellers were received on the island.
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