Swine flu is windfall

JoeyandDavid · May 9, 2009

The cruise Zenaiva Cervantes booked was to stop in sun-drenched beach cities on the Mexican Riviera. The cruise she took? That landed her in Seattle, where she pulled her arms tightly to her chest as she debarked on a damp, 50-degree morning. "We wanted to relax in the warmth," the 61-year-old Tijuana, Mexico, resident said in Spanish Thursday. "If someone had told me I'd be in Seattle eight days ago, I wouldn't have believed them."

At the peak of the swine flu outbreak, major cruise operators Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. -- desperate to avoid passenger illness and lost revenue -- decided to reroute Mexico voyages until mid-June. So even though fear has receded, once-sun-seeking passengers like Cervantes are finding themselves in San Francisco, Seattle and Victoria, British Columbia, in Canada. Cruise companies are compensating passengers for the switch with onboard credit plus vouchers for a future cruise. Passengers also had the choice to stay home and get a full refund, but most passengers are choosing to travel when they planned, the cruise lines said. What they're losing in sunshine and tan lines, their new destinations are gaining in millions of dollars of business.

In San Francisco, the 16 additional swine flu-related landings will boost the year's port traffic 31 percent and bring 49,000 new visitors, said Michael Nerney, San Francisco's maritime marketing manager. Each call could mean $1 million in sales for city businesses and together they'll produce $500,000 in revenue for the port. "This is highly unusual -- shocking, really -- as the cruise lines set their sailing schedules 12 to 18 months in advance, and even minor changes are rare," Nerney said. The great number of alternative ports in the Caribbean makes it far easier to swap stops there. Instead of Cozumel in Mexico, companies are opting for Ocho Rios or Montego Bay in Jamaica, Nassau or Freeport in the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands' St. Thomas, St. Maarten or Key West, Fla., or points across the Caymans and Turks and Caicos.The Bahamas is happily awaiting diverted ships. Customs receives $15 for each passenger, and island clothing and jewelry shops, bars and cafes depend on tourist dollars, said tourism minister Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace said.

Analysts think the benefits may be fleeting for these ports because the outbreak hasn't been severe. "I think it's a short-term bump that may already be dissipating," said Michael McCall, a hospitality research fellow and lecturer at Cornell University. Jan Freitag, vice president of global development at Smith Travel Research, noted that, in addition to swine flu, Mexico travel has been affected by fear of heightened drug violence in border states. He sees business travel to Mexico remaining steady and swine flu having minimal impact on leisure traffic unless the virus worsens. Hotel operators are seeing travelers postpone plans.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts said virtually all guests booked at two of their Mexico resorts in late April and early May will come a few months later instead. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Inc. expected the flu to cost it $4 million to $5 million in revenue but said it could recover much of it from guests rebooked at its U.S. or Caribbean resorts.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says only 10 percent of infected Americans picked up the virus in Mexico, not one-third as previously estimated. But it maintains its warning against nonessential travel to Mexico. Michael Crye, vice president of technology and regulatory affairs for the Cruise Lines International Association, called that restriction damaging and unnecessary, because areas hit hardest by the flu's spread are inland and the flu season is almost over. Crye pointed to lessons learned from several rounds of bad publicity after gastrointestinal illnesses like the "Norwalk" virus broke out and said new passenger screenings ensure ships don't help spread the H1N1 virus, which causes swine flu. "We believe ... we've got a good story to tell, and that you're probably at less risk going ahead with your destination than you would be in virtually any other public place," Crye said.

Eric Brey, head of the Center for Resort and Hospitality Business at the University of Memphis, predicted tourists would have no problem returning quickly to Mexico. "Outside of this summer, I don't see it being that big a deal," Brey said.

In Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas, a place hit hard as tourism has fallen amid the recession, it is usually quiet this time of year. But taxies zipped abundantly by the docks last week. "(The swine flu) is a good problem for us," said Edward Thomas, CEO of the West Indian Company Dock.

Despite the lack of sunshine, Cervantes, her husband and the thousands of other passengers who ended up in the Pacific Northwest with them enjoyed Seattle's blocks of boutiques and Pike Place Market, where vendors famously sling fish. "We thought we'd be in our bikinis and bathing suits," said Philipe Tabet, a 53-year-old restaurateur from Albuquerque, N.M., traveling with his wife. "We just had to pack a little bit different, that's all. Unpack, and pack again."

zebra · May 9, 2009

That's all we heard on the cruise - "We wanted to relax in the warmth"! We got so tired of hearing complaining people...... even though it rained all day in San Francisco we still love the Pacific Northwest..... just had to buy warm clothing onboard to be able to step outside.. brrrrrr.

JoeyandDavid · May 9, 2009

do you think anything would have made them happy?

Peddler · May 9, 2009

Nah ...

hazelson · May 9, 2009

I think the cruiselines should just drop the complainers off in Mexico LOL

Would they rather go and risk illness or death????

A cruise is a cruise no matter where it goes - you still get treated like royalty, no beds to make, no dishes to wash VBG

TheSkipper · May 10, 2009

A cruise is a cruise no matter where it goes - you still get treated like royalty, no beds to make, no dishes to wash VBG

Jenn that covers Hugh's cruising benefits, but what about you?? :tongue:

Never mind. I remember . . .

And these are just your Cabin Stewart's!!

Longboysfan · May 11, 2009

Any news on when the lines plan to go back to Mexico?

DebbieandJerry · May 11, 2009

I read something that said they would stick with the changed itineraries through May, possibly June. The article also said that the "new" ports were very happy with the additional revenue. As for the folks that complain, let's just hope that none of us are seated at their dinner table. That would certainly get old.

LOVERCL · May 13, 2009

The cruise Zenaiva Cervantes booked was to stop in sun-drenched beach cities on the Mexican Riviera. The cruise she took? That landed her in Seattle, where she pulled her arms tightly to her chest as she debarked on a damp, 50-degree morning. "We wanted to relax in the warmth," the 61-year-old Tijuana, Mexico, resident said in Spanish Thursday. "If someone had told me I'd be in Seattle eight days ago, I wouldn't have believed them."
At the peak of the swine flu outbreak, major cruise operators Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. -- desperate to avoid passenger illness and lost revenue -- decided to reroute Mexico voyages until mid-June. So even though fear has receded, once-sun-seeking passengers like Cervantes are finding themselves in San Francisco, Seattle and Victoria, British Columbia, in Canada. Cruise companies are compensating passengers for the switch with onboard credit plus vouchers for a future cruise. Passengers also had the choice to stay home and get a full refund, but most passengers are choosing to travel when they planned, the cruise lines said. What they're losing in sunshine and tan lines, their new destinations are gaining in millions of dollars of business.

In San Francisco, the 16 additional swine flu-related landings will boost the year's port traffic 31 percent and bring 49,000 new visitors, said Michael Nerney, San Francisco's maritime marketing manager. Each call could mean $1 million in sales for city businesses and together they'll produce $500,000 in revenue for the port. "This is highly unusual -- shocking, really -- as the cruise lines set their sailing schedules 12 to 18 months in advance, and even minor changes are rare," Nerney said. The great number of alternative ports in the Caribbean makes it far easier to swap stops there. Instead of Cozumel in Mexico, companies are opting for Ocho Rios or Montego Bay in Jamaica, Nassau or Freeport in the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands' St. Thomas, St. Maarten or Key West, Fla., or points across the Caymans and Turks and Caicos.The Bahamas is happily awaiting diverted ships. Customs receives $15 for each passenger, and island clothing and jewelry shops, bars and cafes depend on tourist dollars, said tourism minister Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace said.

Analysts think the benefits may be fleeting for these ports because the outbreak hasn't been severe. "I think it's a short-term bump that may already be dissipating," said Michael McCall, a hospitality research fellow and lecturer at Cornell University. Jan Freitag, vice president of global development at Smith Travel Research, noted that, in addition to swine flu, Mexico travel has been affected by fear of heightened drug violence in border states. He sees business travel to Mexico remaining steady and swine flu having minimal impact on leisure traffic unless the virus worsens. Hotel operators are seeing travelers postpone plans.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts said virtually all guests booked at two of their Mexico resorts in late April and early May will come a few months later instead. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Inc. expected the flu to cost it $4 million to $5 million in revenue but said it could recover much of it from guests rebooked at its U.S. or Caribbean resorts.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says only 10 percent of infected Americans picked up the virus in Mexico, not one-third as previously estimated. But it maintains its warning against nonessential travel to Mexico. Michael Crye, vice president of technology and regulatory affairs for the Cruise Lines International Association, called that restriction damaging and unnecessary, because areas hit hardest by the flu's spread are inland and the flu season is almost over. Crye pointed to lessons learned from several rounds of bad publicity after gastrointestinal illnesses like the "Norwalk" virus broke out and said new passenger screenings ensure ships don't help spread the H1N1 virus, which causes swine flu. "We believe ... we've got a good story to tell, and that you're probably at less risk going ahead with your destination than you would be in virtually any other public place," Crye said.

Eric Brey, head of the Center for Resort and Hospitality Business at the University of Memphis, predicted tourists would have no problem returning quickly to Mexico. "Outside of this summer, I don't see it being that big a deal," Brey said.

In Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas, a place hit hard as tourism has fallen amid the recession, it is usually quiet this time of year. But taxies zipped abundantly by the docks last week. "(The swine flu) is a good problem for us," said Edward Thomas, CEO of the West Indian Company Dock.

Despite the lack of sunshine, Cervantes, her husband and the thousands of other passengers who ended up in the Pacific Northwest with them enjoyed Seattle's blocks of boutiques and Pike Place Market, where vendors famously sling fish. "We thought we'd be in our bikinis and bathing suits," said Philipe Tabet, a 53-year-old restaurateur from Albuquerque, N.M., traveling with his wife. "We just had to pack a little bit different, that's all. Unpack, and pack again."

JohnG · May 13, 2009

I had one family from Finland, who had been in the US since August but was scheduled to return to Finland June 3 They were booked on Carnival Splendor May 24. When they rerouted it to the Pacific Northwest, they were devasted. She said I can go out with an umbrella in my own country. I wanted to swim an snorkel. They weren't going to be here to use a future cruise credit, so I contacted the C/L and sent them copies of Finnish passports and airline e-tickets and Carnival refunded 100%, which they were not otherwise offering.

On the other hand, I had a past client call and book three balconies for the Mariner of the Seas which was rerouted up there. They were happy with the prices and the itinerary.

They have rescheduled away from Mexico so far through the June 15 sailings. I think the following weekend sailings are still set for Mexico, as they are figuring the CDC warning to avoid Mexico will be lifted by then.

Costa Maya has been particularly affected, as they had just reopened in the second half of last year from the hurricane damage, and now no cruise ship stops, which they are totally dependent on. There is really very little other tourism in the area, and the local nearby town depends on the cruise business.