Holland America Line is advising passengers that port calls in Mazatlan and Acapulco have been canceled for sailings through March. This affects both Mexican Riviera cruises as well as Panama Canal itineraries.
Virtually all US-based lines suspended calls at the ports due to the potential for violence last winter and extended the revised itineraries through the summer and fall seasons. Most have tentatively left the calls scheduled for this winter season after the first of the year.
Mazatlan, especially, has been on a public relations campaign to convince the industry it is safe to visit the city, even bringing in journalists a few weeks ago to visit, with most saying from their experience in the city it seems very safe. (Most probed no more deeply than asking tourism officials if it was safe to visit Mazatlan, however.) Obviously there is more beneath the surface to prompt Holland America to cancel another series of calls over three months.
Updated 4pm.
The complete appeared in the December 15, 2011, edition of Cruise News Daily.
