First American cruise ship arrives in Cuba.

On the morning of May 2nd, the American cruise ship Adonia departed from the port in Miami, Florida, beginning its voyage to Cuba.

This is the first American cruise ship to visit Cuba in nearly 40 years, marking a new milestone in the process of restoring relations between the United States and Cuba.

The Adonia, carrying 700 passengers, departed Miami at 4 PM on May 1st and is expected to arrive in Havana, its first stop in Cuba, on May 2nd.

A Cuban woman waves as the Adonia ship passes by. (AP Photo)

Carnival, the company that owns the Adonia cruise ship, hopes to conduct such cruises regularly, at a frequency of twice a month, thereby contributing to promoting cultural exchange between the two countries.

Carnival cruise line's plan to launch a cruise to Cuba came to fruition last week, after the Cuban government lifted its ban on Cuban citizens and Cuban Americans traveling to and from the Caribbean island nation by cruise ship.

This has received a positive response from people in both countries: “I am very happy and I have been waiting for this for many years. Thank you to the agreements between the US and Cuba for helping to implement many things that benefit the people in practice.”

"In my opinion, this is a positive sign for Cuba's economy. More tourists will come to Cuba, and there will be more opportunities for Cubans to work on cruise ships."

Given the enormous potential of Cuba-US tourism relations, many leading US cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean, Pearl Seas Cruises, and Princess Cruises have also applied for permission to open direct passenger cruise routes between the two countries.

Similarly, many major airlines such as American Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and Delta have also applied for permission to open direct flights between several cities in the two countries, with the goal of carrying approximately 50,000 passengers per week on these routes.

This will contribute to bringing more American tourists to this "island of freedom." It is estimated that the number of American tourists to Cuba in the first quarter of this year increased by 94.2% compared to the same period last year.

On December 17, 2014, more than half a century after the United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba, Cuban President Raul Castro and U.S. President Barack Obama simultaneously announced the decision to re-establish diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Since then, numerous cooperation agreements have been established between the two countries, bringing Cuba and the United States closer together. Most recently, in March, US President Obama made a historic three-day official visit to Cuba. Prior to that, the two countries had also re-established diplomatic relations and reopened embassies in each other's capitals.

According to VOV