Cruise Lines Rerouting from Mexico

A number of cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean Cruises and Princess Cruises are rerouting cruises from Mexican ports to other ports. The new plan replaces stops in Mazatlan, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta with U.S. ports such as San Diego, Santa Catalina, Santa Barbara and San Francisco.

This is the latest case of how H1N1 virus (aka swine flu virus) is pummeling tourist in Mexico.

“Cancun, one of the Mexican Riviera’s top beach destinations, has lost an estimated $2.4 million in the last week as hotel occupancy dropped 40% below usual levels for this time of year, said Rodrigo de la Pena, president of the Cancun Hotel Assn.”

Cancun restaurants are offering 2-for-1 dinners and bars are offering 2-for-1 drinks.

The change of itinerary will greatly hurt Cozumel, one of the top cruise line stops (one of the nicest places).

Princess Cruises says it will avoid Mexican ports through May 24. Carnival, the world’s largest cruise line, is avoiding Mexico through May 11, while Royal Caribbean is steering clear through June 14.

Cruise lines avoiding Mexican ports