Carnival Cruises Is So Over That Swine Flu Thing
Pack up your maracas, Carnival is returning to Mexico! The cruise line wasn't happy with putzing off the California coast, and the CDC says that swine flu isn't deadly enough to keep us out of Mexico forever. By the end of the month, souvenir-seeking Americans will again be able to down margaritas and scoop up trinkets in Cabo, Cozumel, and Puerto Vallarta.
Late last month, in the wake of an outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus, five of the world's largest cruise lines suspended all stops in Mexico, docking instead at Santa Catalina Island, San Diego, Santa Barbara and San Francisco.
Many frustrated passengers complained bitterly, saying the alternative stops and on-board compensation were woefully inadequate. The cruise lines tried to appease passengers by offering full or partial credit toward a future cruise.
Some passengers were also given $20 in on-board credit for every port that was missed and not replaced with an alternative stop.
No word yet on when the other cruise lines will man up and start docking in Mexico again.
Carnival Cruise Lines to resume visits to Mexico this month [The Los Angeles Times]
(Photo: Charles Jeffrey Danoff)
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When I think of maracas, I think more of Caribbean nations like Puerto Rico than Mexico.
Somehow a lot of people (i.e. gringo) seem to equate anything from different latino culture as Mexican like Salsa dancing. /end rant
@PHRoG: One great example of how the swine flu is this year's media-induced panic. I'm still waiting for bird flu, anthrax, and mad cow disease, and am frankly starting to feel cheated after buying all that plastic sheeting for my house. Unfortunately I don't know how long I've been mad since I threw all my watches away in preparation for Y2K.
How many more of these before we start to get ticked?
Fine.
If swine flu can't keep you out, then perhaps the threat of decapitation by drug cartels will.
Cozumel is the last leg of our Caribbean cruise (Grand Cayman, Isla Roatan, Belize, Cozumel) and we were actually planning on staying on board anyway - but I hate being told I can't do something if I've paid for it.
BTW: I'm disputing a charge from Carnival right now with AMEX; they gave me a veteran's discount, then charged me anyway. I guess they figure most people won't go through the hassle.
Try being unemployed where every vacation dollar counts.
I just got back a couple of days ago from a cruise that was supposed to stop in Cozumel but was sent for an extra day to Grand Cayman instead (GC sucks, incidentally - the reefs are all dead and there's no culture to see).
The day after I got back, I saw Carnival post to twitter that they're going back to Mexico. Dammit.
@tankertodd: mad cow disease is still a viable threat. And with everything we know about H1N1, things can get very nasty in the future, even though it has not posed a huge threat currently.
I took my family on a dream cruise to the west coast of Mexico with Carnival. My daughter got Noro vivus and we were told she was the only one on board though we spoke to many people with similar symtoms. I contacted a bad skin problem at the gym on board but the ship Doctor was uninterested. My arm is scared in two places. Worst experiece we have ever had.
I don't see how there was any logic in diverting a cruise from a city like Puerto Vallarta (with zero cases of H1N1 so far) to San Diego (with dozens of confirmed cases), citing H1N1 as the only excuse.