Cruise Lines To Avoid Mexican Ports

The H1N1 Flu Epidemic is now officially at a stage 5 and therefore is considered a pandemic; however, even though there are more and more infected people the severity of the flu, so far has been much less than what  was feared.

The outbreak is dominating the news. The headlines are changing hourly but at the time of this writing it has been confirmed that this new strain of swine flu originated in Mexico and that Americans traveling in Mexico have returned to the U.S. infected with swine flu.

The U.S. Department of State has issued the following Travel Alert:

“The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens of the health risks of travel to Mexico at this time due to an outbreak of H1N1 “swine flu.” The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an April 27 notice recommending that American citizens avoid all nonessential travel to Mexico at this time. CDC’s notice also suggests precautions that travelers and U.S. citizen residents in Mexico can take to reduce their risk of infection while in Mexico. CDC provides recommendations for those who must travel to an area that has reported cases of swine flu, and recommends measures to take following return from an area that has reported cases of swine flu. The complete CDC notice can be found at the following link: http://www.cdc.gov/travel/. Please check this site frequently for updates…”

As a result of this advisory and in an abundance of caution, (our italics) most major cruise lines  have stopped calling on ports in Mexico and have developed–or are developing–positions with regard to future calls at ports in Mexico, while the outbreak lasts.

Vacations To Go has current newsletters for their customers who are booked on Mexican cruises at http://www.vacationstogo.com/swine_flu.cfm. If you are booked on a cruise that is scheduled to visit Mexico, you may want to check these statements on a regular basis. Alan Fox, CEO of Vacations to Go says that they will update this page every weekday with any new policies or changes. If you have additional questions or concerns, please feel free to contact your Vacations To Go cruise counselor.

These itinerary changes disrupt the vacation plans of guests, cost the cruise lines money and deal a harsh blow to anyone in Mexico who relies on tourists for their livelihood. Indeed, there are no winners in the H1N1 flu outbreak, but canceling port calls in Mexico was absolutely necessary to ensure the safety of every passenger and crewmember and to combat the spread of the influenza.