First Cruise Ship Again in Puerto Vallarta After Cartel Unrest Subsides

Somewhat over per week in the past, all cruise strains canceled visits to the favored Mexican resort city and cruise port of Puerto Vallarta.   Now, at the least one cruise ship is again.

Chaos and unrest gripped town after it was reported that drug cartel chief “El Mencho” was killed.  Social media movies out of Puerto Vallarta confirmed a number of fires throughout town as studies of gunshots and automotive jackings flooded on-line platforms.

There have been no cruise ships in port on the time of the peek of unrest, however Holland America’s Zuiderdam shortly pulled their scheduled go to that was deliberate for the next day.

Now that issues have calmed down and the Mexican army moved in to place a cease to the violence and chaos, NCL’s Norwegian Bliss is again in port.  It’s the primary ship to name on Puerto Vallarta for the reason that violent upheaval of February 22, 2026

Norwegian Bliss Arrives

Norwegian Bliss arrived on the Puerto Vallarta cruise terminal round 5:45 AM native time right this moment.

Whereas different cruise strains have been hesitant to return to Puerto Vallarta, Norwegian Cruise Line made the impartial resolution to renew its schedule after its safety groups decided town was steady and secure sufficient for passengers to disembark.

The ship introduced over 4,000 passengers into the port, an space that closely depends on tourism for its financial survival. 

Bliss is on a 7-day crusing out of San Pedro, California and is scheduled to make stops in Mazatlán and Cabo San Lucas earlier than heading again to homeport.

Not All Ships Coming Again But

Royal Princess was additionally initially scheduled to go to Puerto Vallarta right this moment, however cruise ship monitoring knowledge with CruiseMapper exhibits the ship in Mazatlán.

Carnival Company & plc (which owns Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, and Carnival Cruise Line) has issued a broader suspension, indicating that almost all of its manufacturers will skip Puerto Vallarta by way of at the least mid-March as an additional precaution.

Mazatlán has turn into a standard “secure haven” for ships throughout this era, because it remained unaffected by the precise violence that broke out within the state of Jalisco.

Backside Line

Regardless that this isn’t the busiest time of yr for cruise ships in Puerto Vallarta, the dearth of any ship visits during the last ten days has needed to have made an influence.

Some business journey specialists estimate that the string of 5 main canceled calls resulted in a lack of between $9 million and $14 million in native financial exercise.  This represents nicely over 15,000 passengers and consists of crew spending, port charges, shore excursions, and different associated income generated by cruise site visitors.

For now, Norwegian Bliss even pulling into port means that the worst of the chaos could also be behind us.  Puerto Vallarta has lengthy been considered one of many most secure and most tourist-friendly cities in Mexico.

The subsequent scheduled port of name will not be till March 10 for Island Princess, and the subsequent day Norwegian Bliss and Royal Princess are scheduled to make a cease. We’ve reached out to Princess to see if the cruise line plans to keep away from the port and can replace this text after we hear again.