First Cruises Back?

[JMG1973]

Hey everyone! Quick Question - I know Carnival's first cruise back to the Mexican Riviera is Aug 21-28 Panorama(which I am booked on). Are any other lines going prior to that? I understand things change on a daily basis, but just curious on the masking/opening/restrictions/etc. in Cabo, Mazatlán, and PV from the cruise perspective or are we the guinea pig sailing? LOL Trying to decide if I want to get off the boat or not 🙂

 

Thanks all and happy sailings!

[travelplus]

Let me give you my honest opinion. I am waiting until February 26th ,2022 as I wanted to wait for Carnival to work out the kinks. First I was booked for October 2021 and I decided to move it as I was not sure how they would be dealing with Shore Excursions.  

If you are going please don't miss Local Traditions at Private Villa and  Rhythms Of The Night in Puerto Vallarta,  Luxury Sail and Snorkel Cruise in Cabo. In Mazatlan The Shore Excursion Group booked me on Highlights of Mazatlan with Lunch in a small group!. But I am not sure how third party bookings are going to be when you sail.

 

I spent hours looking over the different Shore Excursions and looked at the map.  Then I narrowed it down to the ones I picked.  I was hard pressed for the Temescal Spa in Mazatlan but will keep it for a land tour as I don't want to do it Solo.    I always take  a few hours before I book to consider what I want.  If you call the Steakhouse onboard an excursion too book that as well early! If you do it on the first night and perhaps even second night they will give you a complimentary bottle of wine or 50 percent off a better quality wine.

 

 

Let me let you in on a little secrete if you are the first cruise expect the unexpected and if you are not happy you can always  plan to book another cruise in 2022 where you can do the Shore Excursions. Why not book 2 cruises?

 

Me personally I would NOT be getting off the ship vaccinated or not on the first sailing unless I  felt confident that everything would go as planned. Remember the vendors can be extra pushy as they lost money too. If I stayed onboard in every port and took it as a resort vacation and then booked another same  itinerary in 2022 with Shore Excursions at least I could rest easy that my 2nd cruise with Excursions went well.

 

You may also decide to just wing it and get off the ship and have a local tour take you around for 2 hours plus lunch. 

 

Its really up to you what you feel comfortable with. 

Edited July 20, 2021 by travelplus

[JMG1973]

I have done this itinerary gads of times, so I am fine not getting off the boat if there are restrictions, outbreaks, or any other fun surprises 🙂 Just wondering if there was any specific info for first sailings to these ports since COVID. Guess I should have been more clear on that LOL 

Thanks for the write up!

[jas283a]

The only thing I've heard so far is Carnival.  Other lines (like Princess) have bookings at the end of the year and way in the future, but that's the only one I know of in the "cruise restart".  I expect we'll hear some announcements in the next month.  

[CruiserBruce]

HAL is starting in October. Two ships.

[Hlitner]

Perhaps I can give the OP some basic guidance.  This week we received word from Puerto Vallarta (our winter home) that there has been an uptick (surge) in new COVID cases (over 1000 new cases a day in Jalisco) which has caused some concern.  At the current time the Governor is said to be closely watching the situation and constantly reevaluating the current protocols/restrictions.  For cruisers I think it would be wise to always carry a mask when going ashore and be prepared to wear it inside shops if you notice that is the normal practice.  At the moment everything is operating normally which in Mexico seems to mean that you will see some folks wearing masks and others not. There are currently no government imposed restrictions on cruise passengers other then to adhere to the local rules which, at the moment, are few.    Even at the height of the COVID pandemic (last winter) the restrictions we had in Jalisco (Puerto Vallarta) would not have had a major impact on cruise visitors except for a ban that existed in Jan-Feb on Seniors going into large stores (such as Costco and Walmart).   At one time the Governor also ordered beaches closed at 4pm but these kind of restrictions were discontinued by late February.

 

Hank

[JMG1973]

Perfect! Thanks Hank, That is what I was trying to decipher. Certainly want to follow local rules etc. But also want to protect myself. I had heard vaccinations were hard to get in Mexico early on. I wasn't sure what that looked like now. 🙂 Thanks for the info!

 

--Janie

[klfhngr]

On 7/20/2021 at 10:19 AM, JMG1973 said:

Hey everyone! Quick Question - I know Carnival's first cruise back to the Mexican Riviera is Aug 21-28 Panorama(which I am booked on). Are any other lines going prior to that? I understand things change on a daily basis, but just curious on the masking/opening/restrictions/etc. in Cabo, Mazatlán, and PV from the cruise perspective or are we the guinea pig sailing? LOL Trying to decide if I want to get off the boat or not 🙂

 

Thanks all and happy sailings!

I just got back from Cabo and it was awesome! Not sure why you don't want to get off, but we felt safe the entire time! Covid safety is being practiced all over the place! And in actuality, Cabo is in a high tier for Covid, but we still felt safe. You might want to monitor this: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/mexico-s-covid-19-traffic-light-monitoring-system-news-june-21-2021-july-4-2021

[SelectSys]

On 7/21/2021 at 10:15 AM, JMG1973 said:

I had heard vaccinations were hard to get in Mexico early on. I wasn't sure what that looked like now.

Vaccinations are still not that easy to get in Mexico - especially if you want a non-Chinese vaccine.  Some reports of fake vaccines and black market vaccinations as well.  Vaccine availability is nothing like it is in the US.

 

I agree with @klfhngr that COVID safety is more practiced there than were I live in San Diego County.

Edited August 9, 2021 by SelectSys

[CruiserBruce]

The big problem in most of Mexico, as I understand it, is lack of transparency is case numbers and other issues. They say things are great...but are they?

[Ine]

For your information:

Copy:

Vallarta will demand vaccines and PCR from cruise passengers

Aug 9, 2021, 9:26

Vallarta will demand vaccines and PCR from cruise passengers

The Governor of the State, Enrique Alfaro Ramírez , reported that cruise passengers arriving in Puerto Vallarta will not be able to get off the ship, if they do not demonstrate that they are vaccinated, as well as their negative COVID test .

In the weekly press conference, the state president indicated that communication has already been established between the state government, the port authorities of Puerto Vallarta , as well as the shipping lines before the return of cruise ships to this city; however, adjustments will be made to health protocols:

“For Puerto Vallarta it is very important that the cruise ships return but they must be with absolute security mechanisms. So, if a ship arrives, for someone to get off the ship they should have already gotten on with the vaccine and got off the cruise with the negative test ”.

he state president acknowledged that Puerto Vallarta badly needs to receive cruises for its economic reactivation; However, he said, it is necessary to have health protocols to receive passengers:

"We just made an assessment with the entire hotel service sector of Vallarta and it seems to us that with the appropriate measures this type of tourism will be made viable for the port, which is badly needed for economic reactivation."

 

As for the airports, he commented that starting this week they will be fine-tuning with the Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico the strengthening of health protocols and will be announced in a few more days.

It should be remembered that the Integral Port Administration of this city, informed that next August 25 the Carnival Panorama cruise ship will arrive in Puerto Vallarta, with an estimated 70% of its passenger capacity, all adults and crew members, who will already be vaccinated.

It may interest you: The Carnival Panorama cruise will arrive in Puerto Vallarta!

Likewise, for this month of August the arrival of the cruise ships Noordam and Westerdam, of the Holland American Line; These ships will arrive without tourist passengers on board, and they will only be in the Port to shelter and provide them with the main port services.

[JMG1973]

Thanks for the info Ine! Do you have the link for your source? Would like to share in my roll call 🙂 

[JMG1973]

2 hours ago, Ine said:

For your information:

Copy:

Vallarta will demand vaccines and PCR from cruise passengers

Aug 9, 2021, 9:26

 

 Found the link to share with my group. Thanks! Will be interesting to see how Carnival reacts because it is a <5% cruise not 100% like the article says. Doesn't affect me, I am vaccinated as are my friends on the sailing. However wonder if we will have a revision on ports of call. 🙂

[SelectSys]

On 8/9/2021 at 7:07 PM, CruiserBruce said:

The big problem in most of Mexico, as I understand it, is lack of transparency is case numbers and other issues. They say things are great...but are they?

 

Who are "they?"  The Mexican Tourist Board?  Your neighbor?  What might be great or OK for tourists doesn't reflect what is truly going on for the public at large?  Things were going better, but now things are getting cranked up again with the Delta variant and people are nervous.  Unfortunately vaccines still aren't universally available in Mexico and most of those used are Chinese-based which have limited/poor efficacy. 

 

Below is the reported data - you will see that deaths and cases are rising again.  The trend is correct, but it's impossible to know the real number...  The disconnect between cases rates and death rates relative to the US is especially concerning.

 

Cases in Mexico and the US:

 

Death rates are especially striking:

Edited August 12, 2021 by SelectSys

[Ashland]

RCI starts sailing this November...We're booked for Jan 2022.

[Hlitner]

On 8/9/2021 at 10:07 PM, CruiserBruce said:

The big problem in most of Mexico, as I understand it, is lack of transparency is case numbers and other issues. They say things are great...but are they?

Bruce, I think it is more of "lack of good data" rather then lack of transparency.  Mexico essentially has a two tiered health system with one part being the government system (most Mexicans and some tourists use this system) and another private system with private hospitals, physicians, etc.  The Mexican government apparently has a pretty good handle on the numbers vis-a-vis their public system (hospital admissions, positive tests, etc) but will often not incorporate data from the private providers (assuming they can even get that data).   In some places like Puerto Vallarta (where we live part of the year) this is an informal network that will routinely post information on what is happening in the private hospitals (I think we have 5 in the PV area).     So what is happening is that much of the COVID data is undercounting cases.

 

Things are far from "great" in Mexico because its vaccination program has been slow to effectively penetrate much of the population.  And just like here in the USA there are plenty of folks who are "vaccine resistant" or who simply do not want to go through the hassle (often long lines) to get vaccinated when it is available.  The governors of the individual States have tried to control COVID by implementing the usual procedures (capacity control, closures, restrictions, mask mandates, etc) but this is only partially successful (just like in the USA).  

 

We spent last winter in Mexico and things were pretty bad given that nobody was vaccinated (until vaccines appeared in February).  This coming season (for arguments sake lets say it begins around late November) things should be somewhat better (because of vaccinations and natural immunity) but will likely be far from normal.  The good news for those who want to visit Mexico on cruises or land is that its' President (AMLO) seems to have a strong belief that Mexico should remain open to tourism.  I do think we will see lots of cruises to Mexico (this winter) and visitors will be free to go ashore on their own (unless restricted by their cruise line).  

 

Hank

[Banditswife]

Interesting read, thanks.  Visiting Cabo, Vallarta & Manzanilla in Oct.  While we usually go out on our own, we are only taking ship sponsored tours this time due to all the unknowns.