Carnival CEO Says First Major Ship Will Dock In Cuba May 2016; Commits To Infrastructure Investment

ST. THOMAS -- As the territory's leaders continue to grapple with ways to improve upon the islands' tourism product in the face of inevitable competition from Cuba's nascent and reemerging tourism market, the CEO of one of the world's most respected and largest cruise ship brands, Carnival Corporation, said in a recent interview that they were on track to set sail in earnest in Spring, 2016. In mid-September, President Barack Obama moved to further normalize relations between Cuba and the United States by announcing wide-ranging new rules to further ease trade, travel and investment restrictions with the communist nation. The move represented the latest effort to chip away at the longstanding U.S. economic embargo birthed when relations strained during the Cold War years. According to Reuters, the changes will allow certain U.S. companies to establish offices in Cuba for the first time in decades, expand banking and Internet activities and eliminate limits on the am...