Havana, chosen as the best destination for cruises in the Western Caribbean

Havana was designated as the best destination in the Western Caribbean to visit in cruises in 2018, according to the annual ranking of the specialized site Cruise Critic subsidiary of the online publisher of forums and from travel sites Independent Traveler

Cuba's capital city tops the top 5 of the best destinations in the Caribbean and Riviera Maya, but it's not the only city on the island. The port of Cienfuegos took second place, followed by the Mexican island Cozumel, the Honduran Roatan and Grand Cayman.

According to the American chain CNBC the ranking of Cruise Critics is based solely on the opinions of customers sent to the site during the past year. This website accumulates more than 350,000 cruise reviews and covers the activity of 500 cruises and more than 300 ports around the world.

According to the users of Cruise Critic collector cars and old buildings are some of the main attractions of the city. In Cienfuegos, on the other hand, they value more the meeting with the art, the architecture and the culture.

During the first half of 2018, some 387,496 tourists arrived in Cuba by sea, which resulted in an increase of more than 20% over the same period of 2017. From this total, 30.5% were American. and the Europeans 31.3%.

They operated in those months about 17 cruise lines with more than twenty ships, and four of them with US routes. (Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Carnival and Pearl Seas)

Visiting Cuba aboard cruise ships allows visitors who, in a short time, to explore the main port cities of the island (Havana, Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba) by the excursions included in the tourist package and without the need to stay in any hotel.

In fact, tourism industry badysts have indicated that the government would lose revenue because of the tourists' preference for this way to arrive in the country because they do not require the services of the hotel branch (in its entirety managed by the State).