World's largest cruise lines suspended all routes to Mexico ports on Tuesday as recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention. Cruise lines now send their ships to other ports such as Santa Catalina Island or San Diego, or stay afloat for a longer time to avoid docking in the country where the swine flu outbreak originated. This would mean more cruise ship business for the ports in Southern California.
A spokeswoman for the San Diego Convention and Visitor Bureau welcomes the cruise ships and the passengers and tells them "It's a great place for cruisers to visit."
Donna Harris, marketing director for the visitors bureau on Catalina, where cruise ships ferry passengers to shore in small boats says "We hate to benefit from some else's misery, but it's great if we get cruise ships every day for seven days straight".
A refund is unlikely to those passengers who are already on on board cruise ships because of the changes on the cruise activities or plans but travelers who are scheduled for a cruise to Mexico ports are offered a few options like switching to a ship with different route.
?We understand there will be some disappointment,? expresses Karen Candy, a spokeswoman for Princess Cruises and adds ?We hope people will understand that this is beyond our control.?
Here is the list of all the cruise lines who stopped all travel to Mexico Ports
Carnival Corporation
Royal Caribbean Cruises
Princess Cruises (owned by Carnival Corporation)
Holland America Line
and Norwegian Cruise Line
Cruise Lines International Association says that Mexico is one of the world's top 10 destination for a cruise, having an almost 6.5 million passengers in 2008. And with the decision to stop cruises to Mexico, this would be a hit to Mexico's economy as it will decrease business for local hotels, bars, tourist destinations and establishments that provides services to cruise ships and their passengers.
So far, there are no cases of swine flu that have been reported on any cruise ships that have docked in Mexico.
