ADIOS ADONIA; CARNIVAL PLANS FOR LARGER SHIP TO MAKE CUBA SAILINGS

In something of a surprise move, Carnival Corporation has confirmed that the Adonia- the one off ship running Cuba cruises for subsidiary brand, Fathom Cruises, will be returning to the UK based P&O Cruises fleet, effective as of summer 2017. The 30,000 ton ship's new itineraries are yet to be revealed as we go to press.

However, although the fate of the Fathom brand itself must now be in question, Carnival itself has no intentions of abandoning it's tiny foothold on Cuba. The company is already in active negotitations with the Cuban government to replace Adonia with one of it's eight, much larger Fantasy Class ships on the Cuba run, perhaps beginning as early as June of 2017.

This new ship will not attempt to perpetuate the eco-tourism ethic of Fathom Cruises in the Dominican Republic, though other Carnival brand ships will do so at the island. Instead, it is expected that the as yet un-named Fantasy class vessel will sail from Miami on week long circuits, perhaps spending up to three full nights actually docked in Cuba itself, most likely in old Havana. Calls to the Dominican Republic will not feature on the new agenda.

The deployment of this much larger ship- 70,000 tons as against 30,000- will allow Carnival to offer a far more amenity laden ship on the Cuba run. And, with a capacity in excess of 2,000 passengers, the new ship will allow for a far wider range of cabins and, hopefully, some considerable economies of scale compared to the smaller Adonia.

Cuba is hotting up as a destination for cruising, with a year round presence from Celestyal Cruises (and a possible second ship on the way for 2018), and other vessels from MSC and Star Clippers also sail the region. But the arrival of one of the first Carnival mega ships in Cuban waters will truly be a milestone for the long isolated Caribbean island, which has endured virtual pariah status since the missile crisis of 1962.

But the return of Adonia to P&O will also benefit the UK home market, too. If, as expected, the ship is based in Europe, then it will mean the much needed addition of a more intimate, highly styled ship to the P&O roster, and it will also allow the line to offer more intimate, port intensive itineraries to British passengers on a much more homely style of vessel, as opposed to the mega ships currently on offer across the cruising spectrum.