A lot of people are psyched that trips to Cuba from the United States are starting to become a possibility again. So many people want to visit the island that it may well run out of beer this year. But you can mark down some Cuban-born Americans as decidedly un-psyched. Thanks to Cuban laws, they won’t be allowed to take cruises to their country of birth when Carnival Cruises launches service to the island later this year.
Laws on the books in Cuba prohibit people born in Cuba to travel to or around the country by boat. Protestors who gathered at Carnival’s Miami headquarters said that when they attempted to purchase tickets, they were asked if they were born in Cuba. Those who answered “yes” were turned away.
“Who is the Cuban government to tell Carnival who it can take it Cuba and who it can’t?” protestor Norys Aguila told the Miami Herald. “And for Carnival to accept such a baseness, it is completely disrespectful against all Cuban Americans, against the laws of this country.”
The protestors are also planning a flotilla to follow Carnival’s first ship to the island, so that the Cuban government can turn them away personally.
Carnival, for their part, says they are working to have the laws overturned.
“This is not a decision by our Fathom brand, but rather a Cuba decision,” Carnival Communications Officer Roger Frizzell told the New York Times. “Cuba allows Cuban-born individuals to enter the country by airplanes, but not by ships yet.”
