Back-to-Back Hurricanes Force Cruise Ships to Juggle Itineraries in Pacific

While the Atlantic has stayed fairly quiet this hurricane season, the Pacific has been a different story.

Cruise ships sailing the Mexican Riviera and Baja California have spent the past week juggling plans as two storms moved through the region, one after another.

Hurricane Polo hit first as a powerful system and forced several last-minute changes. Now Hurricane Rachel is following close behind as a Category 1 storm with winds around 85 mph.

Rachel is tracking northwest along Mexico’s Pacific coast and is currently about 350 miles southeast of Cabo San Lucas.

The back-to-back storms have kept cruise lines busy changing itineraries to keep ships clear of rough seas (for the most part) and closed ports (like Cabo).

Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth

A passenger onboard Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth reported that the captain announced the October 1 call in Cabo San Lucas would be canceled. The ship will spend several days at sea instead before reaching its next scheduled stop in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala.

Virgin Voyages’ Brilliant Lady

Virgin Voyages is watching Rachel closely for Brilliant Lady’s October 3 sailing from Los Angeles.

That cruise was originally set for Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán, and Puerto Vallarta. Virgin already has a backup plan and told guests to pack a few extra layers just in case the route shifts to cooler ports to the north. No final change has been announced yet.

Brilliant Lady’s previous sailing a few days earlier was completely changed because of Polo. Cabo, Mazatlán, and Puerto Vallarta were dropped and replaced with San Francisco, San Diego, Catalina Island, and Ensenada.

Tracking data from CruiseMapper shows the locations of cruise ships in the region as of September 30 at 3:00 PM EST.

Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas

Royal Caribbean made changes to Navigator of the Seas on its September 25 sailing from Los Angeles.

Both Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada were removed. Guests received a letter that included this line:

“Due to inclement weather from Hurricane Polo near Western Mexico, we’ll now enjoy a relaxing Sea Day instead of our scheduled visit to Ensenada, Mexico.”

The ship moved its Mazatlán stop earlier and added a full day in Puerto Vallarta.

Carnival Panorama

Carnival Panorama canceled Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlán on its September 26 sailing. Ensenada and sea days took their place. Now, according to recent passenger reports, it looks like the current sailing will have the same basic schedule.  Visits to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, La Paz, and Cabo have been called off, and according to a Reddit user the ship is “doing circles off Baja Ca, and going back to Ensenada tomorrow“.

Carnival Miracle

Carnival Cruise Line has also placed Carnival Miracle on alert for potential itinerary changes along its Mexican Riviera route as storm conditions evolve across Baja California. A current passenger on Carnival Miracle stated that Cabo will be skipped on its current itinerary.

Coral Princess

Princess Cruises also adjusted its plans for Coral Princess due to safety concerns and severe weather conditions generated by Hurricane Rachel. The ship was forced to cancel its scheduled port stop at Puerto Vallarta.

Princess Cruises’ Grand Princess

Princess Cruises made changes to Grand Princess for its September 25 sailing out of Los Angeles. In addition to shortening or canceling several scheduled stops due to rough seas around Cabo, Princess added an overnight call in San Diego and moved its visit to Mazatlán. To make up for the change in plans, the cruise line offered guests the option to cancel for a full refund or stay onboard with a $100 onboard credit.

Port Status in Cabo

Cabo San Lucas is a tender port. This means that ships can’t dock at a pier and must use small tender boats to move passengers to shore. But because of rough weather conditions, Cabo’s port was closed during Hurricane Polo.

It has since reopened, but local officials have warned that Hurricane Rachel could lead to another temporary closure depending on the storm’s track and the size of the swells it creates.