Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - During the 21st Annual Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) Conference and Trade Show, which was held October 6th on the island of Saint Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles, representatives of Norwegian and Carnival cruise lines expressed a growing interest in bringing more ships to ports on the Mexican Riviera.
As tourists demand more cruises to Los Cabos, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta, the number of ships visiting these ports will increase, but that number will be determined over the course of 2015 for cruises in the second half of that year and in 2016.
For now, they are making final adjustments to what will be the timing of 2015 cruise arrivals to Puerto Vallarta, following the participation of a local delegation at the 2014 FCCA Conference and Trade Show.
The municipal tourism director, Carlos Gerard Guzman, who participated in the convention, reported that cruise line representatives give the Mexican Riviera good references. They are familiar with the efforts that have been made in this region to generate satisfactory experiences for cruisers and to ensure their safety and enjoyment, and they have given all three ports their seal of approval.
"The meeting served to confirm that Carnival Cruises will be returning to Puerto Vallarta in 2015 with at least one cruise ship every week, so there will be no more months with zero arrivals of larger vessels as has occurred in the last two consecutive years," he said.
"Carnival will be here all year, which is very good news and it is very likely that in the short term Norwegian will decide to do something similar, because they see the interest of a route that has so much to offer," he added.
However, at this time the cruise companies are waiting to see how the current Mexican Riviera promotion impacts the end users, to see if it reflects a growing interest for more cruise ships on this route, as is the case in the Caribbean, where there is a greater variety of ports.
The municipal tourism director, who has extensive experience in the cruise industry, said that Puerto Vallarta is fully meeting the criteria that corresponds with security, cleanliness and offering a variety of activities for tourists arriving on cruise ships. This adds to the efforts Mazatlan has made to regain its safety and Los Cabos working overtime to return to normal after Hurricane Odile.
Original article translated and edited by Lorena Sonrisas for BanderasNews.com.
