Miami (CNN) When Carnival Corp. announced plans for a cruise ship from its Fathom line to sail from Miami to Havana in May, Francisco Marty jumped at the opportunity to surprise his kids with a trip back to their native land. But Marty, who's cruised so many times that he's a Platinum VIP in the company's rewards program, was shocked when a representative told him he couldn't go on the inaugural trip because of where he was born: Cuba. Now, as travelers get their bags ready for the first cruise to Cuba in more than 50 years, Marty is part of a new class-action lawsuit claiming that Carnival is discriminating against Cuban-Americans looking to travel to their homeland.Carnival now says it will accept bookings on its May 1 cruise to Cuba regardless of passengers' country of originA lawsuit claims the cruise line had discriminated against Cubans who previously weren't allowed to book ticketsCarnival says the policy is a result of a Cuban law that prohibits Cuban citizens to travel by boat
Tickets start at $1,800 per person excluding other costs, such as _ visas. "They said, 'Sorry, you can't go because you're _,' " Rodriguez said. "In our motion and in our case, we're looking only for an order from a judge saying Carnival is mandated and shall not discriminate against _-born people in its bookings," Ronzetti said.