Havana, January 8 (RHC) -– The recent announcement by Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro to work towards the re-establishment of diplomatic relations has sparked expectations among major international and U.S. cruise ship companies.

An article on the UK-based Telegraph.com reads that “the U.S. government’s historic agreement to end more than 50 years of diplomatic freeze between the two countries has put Cuba firmly on the travel bucket list.”

The article explains that the U.S. Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald is already planning to change Caribbean itineraries to include Havana, as soon as U.S. cruise ships are permitted to sail into Cuban waters.

The article adds that a handful of UK cruise lines already sail to Cuba, including Star Clippers (starclippers.co.uk) and Thomson (thomson.co.uk/cruise), as does Canadian-based Cuba Cruise (yourcubacruise.com) which has just started its second winter season of voyages circum-navigating the island.

At present, there is also a 12-day Cuban Explorer Cruise that twins a seven-night cruise on board the three-diamond rated Louis Cristal cruise ship with a three-day stay in Havana, reads the Telegraph article.

And other cruise companies heading to Havana this year include Noble Caledonia, from the UK, Fred Olsen and Voyages of Discovery, also from Britain, which will be in Havana for two days in January 2016.

Carnival Corporation is a global cruise company and one of the largest vacation companies in the world. Its portfolio of leading cruise brands includes Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Seabourn in North America; P&O Cruises (UK), and Cunard in the United Kingdom; AIDA Cruises in Germany; Costa Cruises in Southern Europe; and P&O Cruises (Australia) in Australia.