Detours announced for cruises to Mexico

Three major cruise lines that halted visits to Mexico because of the swine flu outbreak released new itineraries Wednesday that reroute the ships to alternative ports or give them more time at sea.

The itinerary changes came a day after five of the world’s largest cruise lines announced plans to suspend all stops to Mexico, based on recommendations by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to avoid nonessential travel to the country.

Carnival Cruise Lines, the world’s largest, released an itinerary update for eight ships that were previously scheduled to stop in Mexican ports between Wednesday and Friday. The ships that were scheduled to stop in Progresso, Cozumel and Ensenada either will stop at Key West, Fla., or Nassau, Bahamas, or will spend a “fun day at sea,� according to the itinerary on the company website. Ships scheduled to stop at Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas will instead go to San Francisco or stay at sea.

Princess Cruises, which is owned by Carnival Corp., released an itinerary for two ships, the Star Princess and the Sapphire Princess, scheduled to make stops in Mexico through May 7. Instead, those ships will stop at Santa Barbara, San Diego, Santa Catalina Island or San Francisco or will spend the day at sea.

For Holland America Line, the ms Veendam, which is scheduled to launch Friday, cruising from Florida to British Columbia, will skip stops at Huatulco, Acapulco and Cabo San Lucas. Instead it will cruise Golfo Dulce, an inlet in Costa Rica, and stop at Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica; Corinto, Nicaragua; and Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala.

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