Well, those of you who have had your cruise itineraries change because of the Center for disease control’s travel advisory may be in luck. This weekend the CDC has lifted their warning which advised against all nonessential travel to Mexico, due to the swine flu outbreak. While the CDC still recommends those who are at a high risk for complications arising from influenza to seriously consider whether or not travel to Mexico is right for you, this new advisory opens the door for cruise lines to resume calls on Mexican ports.
Nearly 40 cruise ships made itinerary changes because of the swine flu outbreak last month. Soon, many of these cruise ships will resume their originally scheduled itineraries. I had an aunt schedule to take a Carnival cruise in about two weeks. She was pretty upset when she found out that she would not be able to visit Cozumel on the trip. The bad news is, she still will not be seeing Cozumel the good news is those of you sailing later on in June may. You see, even though the advisory against nonessential travelers has been lifted in most cases cruising to Mexico will not be resumed immediately.
What does this mean for me?
Many of the ships which were originally scheduled to call on Mexican port either do not have updated information as of yet so those of you with questions on which itinerary your ship will be sailing should get in touch with the cruise line for any needed clarification. However, here is what we do know about the itinerary changes. Carnival Cruise line ships which were affected by the itinerary change were given revised itineraries through mid-June. These ships will not be including calls to Mexico until after the modified sailings have been completed. On the flipside, Royal Caribbean ships that were given revised itineraries will resume port calls to Cozumel beginning with sailings that depart on or after May 24. The exception being, Mariner of the Seas which will continue to sail it’s modified Pacific Northwest itinerary through June 14.
Why can’t I sail my original itinerary?
Now, I know many of you will wonder why the cruise lines are waiting to resume sailing to Mexican ports of call, the truth is it would cost too much. When Mexico was essentially closed the cruise lines had to scramble to find alternative ports for their guests to visit. In many cases they were able to find a new port, but in some cases passengers had to settle for an additional day at sea. When the cruise lines changed ports those agreements became set in stone, at least enough that adjusting back to the original itinerary would not be worth the effort from a financial standpoint. Those of you who were given an additional day at sea can make the argument that they should be given their port of call back, but even that is not likely to happen.
When the changes were made many cruise lines were flooded with complaints from passengers which resulted in numerous cancellations, issuance of onboard credit and many other headaches. Changing the itineraries once again would likely have the same result, not because everyone would be genuinely upset but because the world is full of greedy people. There are those among us who relish every opportunity to get something for nothing, especially in this economy. When taking into account all the hoops that it have been jumped through it is impossible to undo what has been done, readjusting the cruise itinerary would result in another loss for the cruise industry at a time where many lines are barely keeping afloat.
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