Costa Maya update---Just know what I'm reading in the newspaper .... - Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers

LuLu · 09-16-2007, 07:31 PM

Today, in our Sunday newspaper there was a small article on Costa Maya.

Basically, it said that resorts there would not reopen until next spring at the earliest and a brief note saying that cruise ships would not be returning until 2009.

Hate to say anything bad about our local paper ... but, sometimes, they make mistakes.

Is this correct: No cruise ships in Costa Maya until 2009?

reggierail · 09-16-2007, 07:52 PM

I heard that one Carnival ship would not be returning till 2009.

zydecocruiser · 09-16-2007, 08:06 PM

Costa Maya pier is supposed to be able to handle 2 ships in about a year and a third ship by early 2009. Carnival says they aren't returning until May, 2009.

The pier is privately owned, so who knows what their resources or plans really are? I seem to recall the pier owner saying they coud be open in 4 months - Mexican time!

I have little doubt that they could open sooner than a year, but suspect politics are in play, now.

MCcruiser · 09-18-2007, 03:55 PM

Lulu, I just saw the same thing. I was reported by the AP just a week ago.
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Port Damage Affects Cruise Lines
Tuesday September 11, 6:26 pm ET Damage at Puerto Costa Maya Keeping Major Cruise Lines Away

MIAMI (AP) -- Carnival Corp. has no plans to return to the Mexican cruise port at Majahual until at least the spring of 2009 due to extensive damage from Hurricane Dean, the company said Tuesday. Carnival, the world's largest cruise operator, is modifying itineraries away from the port at Majahual, known as Puerto Costa Maya, through its reservation period, which is open until spring 2009, company spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz said.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. said Tuesday it is adjusting its itineraries to avoid Costa Maya through April. Royal Caribbean, second to Carnival in the cruise industry, is rerouting six ships that normally would stop at Costa Maya, company spokesman Raul Duany said.

Puerto Costa Maya suffered extensive damage when Dean swept over the Yucatan as a top-scale Category 5 hurricane on Aug. 21, demolishing houses, crumpling steel girders and washing away parts of concrete dock at the port.

Both Miami-based companies said they hoped to return to Costa Maya, but it would be up to port authorities there to determine when ships can return.

Costa Maya has (sic) become a popular destination since it began operating in 2001 to provide tourist access to historic Mayan sites. But it is not considered as critical to the industry as other Caribbean ports such as Cozumel or Grand Cayman.

Costa Maya can (sic) accommodate up to three cruise ships at once and is one of only six ports in the western Caribbean to receive over 1 million passengers per year, according to the port's Web site.

canarymoon · 09-18-2007, 04:15 PM

Sure hope, for the sake of the folks there, that it is sooner rather than later.

LuLu · 09-18-2007, 04:23 PM

Thanks EVERYONE! .... just can't alway trust our local paper ....

So horrid about all of the massive hurricane damage in CostaMaya/Majahaul! Only hope things get back to normal for the locals as soon as possible. With everything destroyed it has to be awful for them.

canarymoon · 09-18-2007, 06:49 PM

It's a WHOLE LOT WORSE that most people imagine, I think.

Have you seen this thread? http://www.cruiselinefans.com/costa-...ated-dean.html (Helping MAJAHUAL (devistated by DEAN))

Char · 09-18-2007, 07:56 PM

Thanks for posting that link CM

MD11F · 09-18-2007, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuLu

Today, in our Sunday newspaper there was a small article on Costa Maya.

Basically, it said that resorts there would not reopen until next spring at the earliest and a brief note saying that cruise ships would not be returning until 2009.

Hate to say anything bad about our local paper ... but, sometimes, they make mistakes.

Is this correct: No cruise ships in Costa Maya until 2009?

I've read that cruise ships will not be returning to Costa Maya until September, 2009.

canarymoon · 09-19-2007, 08:32 AM

Text of a Sept 11 entry in USA Today's "The Cruise Log"
( The Cruise Log - USATODAY.com )

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

No quick rebound for storm-wrecked Costa Maya

It'll take a full year to rebuild the docks at Costa Maya -- twice as long as initially estimated.

Officials at the popular port along the Yucatan Peninsula, which received a direct hit from Hurricane Dean last month, now say it won't reopen until September, 2008. And even then only two of the three berths for cruise ships will be back. Work on the third berth will drag into 2009.

Reconstruction begins next Monday.

Cruise lines are replacing port calls at Costa Maya for the next year with stops in Progreso, Mexico; Roatan, Honduras; Cozumel and even Ocho Rios, Jamaica.