The first Cuba-born cruise ship to call Port Tampa Bay home set sail Sunday night.
Royal Caribbean's ship, Empress of the Seas, embarked around 9 p.m. on Sunday night from Tampa's channelside district. Throughout the 7-night cruise, the ship is scheduled to make stops in Cozumel, Belize, and finally Havana, Cuba.
- Empress of the Seas set sail at 9 p.m. Sunday
- First Cuba cruise to call Port Tampa Bay home
- More than 40,000 people are expected to travel to Cuba via cruises
The new endeavor, not only a plus for the travelers who secured tickets, but the surrounding businesses and hotels.
"Because it's including on the cruise itinerary a stop in Cuba, we will get people flying in from all over the country and even internationally to take a cruise and visit Tampa," said Port Tampa Bay CEO Paul Anderson.
Two of the people making the trip, Mauro Gusman and Sebastian Defreitas, flew in from Salt Lake City to explore the city before boarding the ship.
"I've always wanted to go to Cuba but obviously the restrictions are there, and then I saw that Royal Caribbean was going to go, and as soon as I saw it, we booked it," Gusman said.
The two say they're intrigued by Cuban culture, and how things such as the cars they drive and the type of music they listen to, hasn't changed much over time.
"We want to see if some of the things we've heard are actually true. We want to experience some of the amazing things we maybe haven't heard before, and experience the stereotypes about their lives... somethings that are great and that are not so great," Defreitas explained.
Over the next two years, officials say there are about 40,000 travelers are expected to make the trip to Cuba on a total of 22 cruises from the port.
The next trip is scheduled for the end of May.
This is the ship's second time taking passengers to Cuba. The inaugural trip was held last week in Miami, but now the Empress of the Seas will be calling Port Tampa Bay home.
Carnival's Paradise ship will also start offering trips to Cuba beginning in June.