HAVANA, Cuba.- From one side of the boat, several people hold a sign: “I love you Cuba,” the legend says, written in red ink.

Gradually passengers of British cruiser MS Braemar descend ashore in the Port of Mariel, after a week of wandering the Caribbean without anyone giving them docking leave.

Cuban health personnel, protected from head to toe, accompany passengers and crew. Just over a thousand people remained trapped on the ship without a clear future until the governments of Cuba and Great Britain joined forces.

The new arrivals board a caravan of tourist buses that lead them escorted to the international Havana airport. The British Ambassador, Anthony Stokes, appreciates the Cuban gesture, from the very Port of Mariel.

Direct to London

On the runway at Terminal 5 of the Havana International Airport, four planes are ready to pick up passengers from the British cruiser MS Braemar this afternoon. There’s a hustle and bustle because the planes are loading fuel and everything they need to get straight to London.

Flights should depart in a staggered manner from 6:00 p.m., Cuba time, to land on Thursday at 6:30 a.m. British time. The last arrival should be about 10:30 in the morning, also London time.

In the UK capital, all passengers will be quarantined for 14 days, a period in which they will receive medical assistance.

But there is no doubt that in those two weeks, as in the rest of their lives, they will remember Cuba’s altruistic gesture.