Cuba Journal 
By Dana Niland Cuba Journal Contributor Carnival Cruise Line will offer 17 new sailings to Cuba aboard Carnival Sensation in 2019. The five-day Cuba voyages will be the line’s first to operate round-trip from Miami, and will feature a day-long call in Havana as well as stops at ports including Grand Turk, Grand Cayman, Nassau, … Read more
By Alexander Britell The mere act of opening it is a ceremony. It comes in a wooden box, its name inscribed on the side. You slide out the wooden cover, peel away the wax paper and retrieve one of the most legendary cigars in the pantheon of Habanos: the Montecristo A. This isn’t a cigar … Read more
By Dana Niland Cuba Journal Contributor Regent Seven Seas Cruises is adding Cuba calls to six itineraries in the line’s 2018-19 Caribbean season. Travelers can visit Havana on select itineraries aboard Seven Seas Mariner, Seven Seas Voyager and Seven Seas Navigator, which depart Miami from October 2018 through March 2019. Guests on these voyages can … Read more
Launching a Cuba travel business in 2016 was not a unique concept, but the idea behind Jessi Calzado-Esponda’s dream to expose Americans to Cuba’s culture led to a growing business and a list of celebrity clients. The idea for a Cuba travel business, Cuba Inspires, came after then-president Barack Obama announced an easing of relations … Read more
According to Xinhua, China National Tobacco Corporation and Cuba’s cigar maker Habanos S.A. signed a letter of intent at the end of July to increase Cuba’s cigar exports to China. China National Tobacco Corporation General Manager Ling Chengxing and co-presidents of Habanos S.A., Inocente Nunez and Luis Sanchez-Harguindey, signed the document in Havana. According to … Read more
Cuba’s increasingly crucial tourism sector grew by 23.2 percent in the first half of 2017, according to new data from Cuba Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero. That represented a total of 2.7 million tourists compared to the first six months of 2016, driven unsurprisingly by a surge in U.S. tourism. Indeed, the U.S. market grew by … Read more
It isn’t easy to roll a salomon. Crafting this storied cigar vitola is a task often relegated to the most experienced and capable torcedores, or rollers, thanks to its unique shape that tapers at both ends of the stick. Indeed, even Habanos says these figurados are “at the peak of the roller’s cigar-making art.” Even more difficult? … Read more
The food scene in Havana has exploded in recent years as the mixture of American tourist dollars and a new Cuban government emphasis on allowing small, private restaurants drives demand for fresh, creative dining options. Under President Trump’s new Cuba policy, U.S. travelers will be restricted from doing any business with Cuban entities that are … Read more
It’s not always easy to find an Hoyo de Monterrey double corona, like many of the most legendary Cuban cigars. But when you find one of these massive smokes you must savor it. Not that it’s particularly difficult – a 194mm by 49 ring gauge cigar is a serious pledging of time. In the small … Read more
Cuba purchased more than $5.2 billion in U.S. products from 2001 to 2015, largely agricultural products. For many of those years, the U.S. was Cuba’s largest supplier of agricultural products. U.S. exports to Cuba rose from about $7 million in 2001 to a high of $712 million in 2008, far higher than in previous years. … Read more
