Miami, July 27 (RHC) – The US-based Victory Cruise Lines will start cruises to Cuba next year circumnavigating the island with port of departure Miami.

The company said the inaugural Cuba cruise is scheduled to depart Miami on February 8, 2018. The 14-night itinerary will feature five Cuban ports and overnight calls at the island's capital of Havana, historic Santiago de Cuba and Trinidad, with day calls at Cienfuegos and Maria la Gorda.

"We may not be the first cruise line to serve Cuba from the U.S., but we believe — and travel agents have told us — that we have created the best itinerary with multiday port experiences allowing guests to explore the country and meet its people in a more relaxed and well-paced way," said Bruce Nierenberg, president and CEO of Victory Cruise Lines. Nierenberg said that most cruise ships are too big to call anywhere except Havana, and that no cruise product has as many multiday stops in Cuba as the Victory circumnavigation cruises.