Cruises along the Pacific have had some major itinerary adjustments lately. With back-to-back hurricanes and weather systems popping up along the West Coast and Mexican Riviera, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind, literally.
Hurricane Simon is the latest system slowly trudging along Mexico’s Pacific coast. While it was a Category 4 and is now a Category 2, it’s still packing wind speeds of 105 mph and bringing a ton of rain with it.
It’s already caused at least two cruise ships to cancel port visits in Puerto Vallarta and other ports have missed their scheduled visits as well.
Port authorities in Puerto Vallarta have now confirmed another cancellation, this time for Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas.
While one of the great things about a cruise vacation is that the ship can sail out of the way of major storm system, those port visits can definitely be impacted.
Here’s the lates with port changes because of Hurricane Simon and what ships are currently on watch.
Port Closures
According to local news reports from the Mexican cruise port, Puerto Vallarta’s harbor authority officially closed the port to commercial and cruise traffic as Simon moved through.
Local officials are continuing to monitor conditions closely while the storm brings some choppy seas and heavy downpours to the coast.
Confirmed Canceled Port Calls
Voyager of the Seas
The ship was scheduled to visit Puerto Vallarta on Tuesday, October 13. However, harbor authorities confirmed the call is canceled due to the port closure. Passenger reports also state that the ship will be going to Cabo instead of Puerto Vallarta, meaning guests will have a second chance to visit the same port.
One guest stated in a Facebook group for the cruise, “Wow. Eight day cruise and we get Cabo twice, then back to LA. Safety first! Thanks Simon.”
Today, the ship was supposed to call on Mazatlán, but that port was also canceled a few days ago.
Passengers on board were sent a letter at the time explaining the initial port cancellations:
“We’ll now enjoy a Sea Day in place of our visits to Catalina Island, California and Mazatlán, Mexico, and swap a Sea Day to call on Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on Saturday.”
Voyager of the Seas is currently on an eight-night Mexican Riviera sailing that departed Los Angeles on October 8.
The 3,602-passenger vessel is scheduled to arrive back in Los Angeles on October 16.
Royal Caribbean has already stated they would refund any pre-paid shore excursions made through the cruise line for the canceled ports and provide passengers with onboard credit.
Brilliant Lady
This ship took an even bigger detour. Its October 10–17 sailing out of Los Angeles originally included stops in Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán, and Puerto Vallarta (planned for October 14).
All three Mexican ports were dropped from the itinerary. Instead of tropical beaches, “Sailors” are getting a sunny California coastline trip with port visits in Santa Barbara on October 12, San Diego on October 13, and Ensenada on October 14 before heading back to L.A. on schedule.
Ships With Adjusted Schedules or Still on Watch
Several other vessels operating along the coast are keeping an eye on the storm and taking tactical routes to avoid heavy seas. Some have had to cancel ports as well:
- Discovery Princess: This Princess Cruises ship is currently sailing its scheduled Mexican Riviera route visiting Cabo San Lucas today. The captain informed passengers that the bridge is actively monitoring Hurricane Simon off Puerto Vallarta. While planned calls to Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta remain on the schedule for now, the captain said that itinerary adjustments could be announced if weather conditions change.
- Zaandam: Originally scheduled for Mazatlán today, that port has been skipped. The Holland America Line ship is set to arrive back in San Diego on October 15, before taking the next group of passengers on a 35-night sailing to Hawaii and French Polynesia.
- Carnival Panorama: Tracking data shows this Carnival ship just 50 miles outside of Cabo San Lucas. But the ship isn’t scheduled to visit Cabo until October 16. This could mean the ship is looking to visit its ports in reverse order, giving the storm time to move on. We don’t have any definitive answers on it yet but will update readers as we hear more.
What Cruisers Should Know
If you or someone you know is currently on one of these sailings, keeping an eye on your cruise line’s mobile app or email inbox is the best way to catch real-time updates.
When a port call is canceled, pre-booked shore excursions booked directly through the cruise line are almost always refunded automatically to your onboard account.
On top of that, cruise lines dealing with major route changes sometimes throw in perks like onboard credit or future cruise credits to help make up for the change of scenery.
Slow-moving hurricanes can make it tougher to predict, really. And if they hammer a port for too long it can cause damage that makes the port off-limits for a while.
As I always say though, cruise ships have the advantage of being able to go around storms or changing itineraries while still giving guests a great experience. So, a hurricane doesn’t mean your vacation is over, it just might look a little different. And that is not always a bad thing.
Passengers on Voyager of the Seas who reported getting to visit Cabo twice seemed pretty thrilled with the idea.
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