Saturday, May 16, 2009

Carnival Cruise Lines to Return to Mexico Ports of Call

Carnival Cruise Lines has announced its ships will resume visits to Mexican ports of call based on the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which is no longer recommending against non-essential travel to Mexico. Once all voyages with previously modified itineraries are completed, those vessels will revert to their original routes featuring stops in Mexico. Most itineraries were modified through mid-June with the exception of the Holiday which was modified through late May. A ship-by-ship listing including dates for when each vessel will resume its original itinerary is available at Carnival.com.

"We are very pleased to resume our previous itineraries to Mexico, one of the cruise industry's most popular destinations, and we thank those guests who were impacted by the modified schedules in recent weeks for their understanding and patience. The health and well being of our guests and crew is our highest priority and we are returning to Mexico after careful evaluation and consultation with the CDC," said Gerry Cahill, president and CEO of Carnival Cruise Lines. "It is important to note that the concentration of H1N1 flu cases in Mexico has been inland rather than in the coastal resort areas where our ships visit. Mexico has so many wonderful sites and attractions and feedback from our customers suggests that the majority support a resumption of port calls in Mexico. We know that they and our port destination partners are very much looking forward to our return," Cahill added.

Cahill also noted that the cruise industry works closely with U.S. public health officials in the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program in developing and complying with extensive policies and procedures that are effective in mitigating illness aboard cruise ships. Carnival will continue to follow CDC guidelines for cruise ships which include pre-boarding health questionnaires for all guests and crew, along with secondary screening by shipboard medical professionals as necessary. Additionally, all Carnival ships stock influenza test kits and anti-viral medications for treating type A influenzas.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, there are those of us affected by the modified itinerary that are not going to resume what we originally booked. I was booked on a 4 port cruising that changed to 3 port with only 2 days to decide if we wanted to postphone... no refunds offered! The least they can do is offer an alternate port or resume to Mexico now considering that there are still several weeks of revised itineraries.

Anonymous said...

We are in the same position. Carnival offered us a $20 credit to our onboard account for the inconvenience, we later found out that it was nothing more than the port charge for one of the stops. We picked this cruise specifically for the number of ports and the ports themselves, now we are SOL. Unfortunately it takes months of planning for me to coordinate a vacation of this length in which i will be completely out of reach so i am unable to just postpone it for another date.