Thomson Cruises recently announced that they will no longer be cruising to Cuba come 2012. They currently visit Havana, offering an itinerary which has been met with much enthusiasm from travellers and travel agencies alike. However, Thomson have had a change of heart and from 2012 onwards, they will no longer be visiting this exciting island. I’m sure that I’m not the only one looking at that picture of a Cuban beach and thinking… WHY?!?!
At the minute, the cruise line offers a bit of an over complicated circuit of the caribbean which takes 21 days to complete. However, cruisers have to choose between the first 14 nights of the cruise, the middle 14 nights of the cruise, or the final 14 nights of the cruise. They will therefore visit Cuba at the beginning, middle or end of the cruise.
From 2012 however, they will be using a new homeport – none other than Barbados! There will be several itineraries on offer, all 7 nights but with the option of combining two to make a 14 night holiday.
The company has commented on their recent decision to stop visiting Cuba, and claim that despite the popularity of the destination, they have decided to go elsewhere because Cuba can only be incorporated into 14 night cruises. The cruise line will only have one ship in the Caribbean in 2012 and they feel that it is important to have a full range of 7 night cruises available to guests (something they could not achieve with Havana in their itinerary).
The cruise ship which will be based in the caribbean in 2012 is the much talked about Thomson Dream. This means that the Thomson Destiny, which usually sails around the Dominican Republic in the winter will be heading for a new home port. We can only guess where that will be because Thomson are keeping it all under wraps until December. Now there is a christmas present we can’t wait to open!
