No cruise ships embarking at the Port of Los Angeles this summer

[Host Mike]

"For the first time in about 15 years, the usually vibrant, year-round cruise season will lie dormant this summer at the Port of Los Angeles.

Problems first appeared two years ago with the arrival of the H1N1 flu virus, prompting cruise companies to cancel voyages or reroute ships bound for Mexico.

Now, the local cruise industry is sinking because of a relatively weak economy, coupled with the ongoing drug-related violence in Mexico, said Chris Chase, business development manager at the Port of Los Angeles.

"We're really at the mercy of how people perceive Mexico as a whole, even if the port cities aren't reporting any problems," Chase said. "We're hoping the market will quickly turn around and show a new interest in Mexico."

http://www.dailybreeze.com/latestnews/ci_18111483

[RichC]

All the signs were pointing to this happening since the problems started in Mexico & it doesn't surprise me one bit. Since time is not a factor when I cruise and seeing that I would have to fly to the west coast for any cruise why would I want to take a chance going to Mexico when I could go add a few more days to the trip and go to Hawaii?
I feel sorry for the people who live on the coast of California as they only have two choices remaining to cruise without flying- Alaska & Hawaii and after a number of trips anything can get repetitious.  

[NSWP]

Thanks Mike, but what about Coral due to arrive in LA on 22/11 from FL, with me on board. Will the itinerary change?  We only have one port in Mexico - Cabo San Lucas.

[Host Mike]

The port will only lie dormant in the summer.  We will both be sailing out of the port in November and our schedule hasn't changed.

[Two Tumbleweeds]

I'm wondering why Princess start cruises to Central America. Yes, they would have to be longer than 7 days, but it would attract many of us who like longer cruises, and also the West coast crowd who are looking for something newer than the old 7 day cruises to the Mexican Riviera. On the east coast Princess has 10 day cruises to the Caribbean so why not 10 day cruises on the west coast?