Almost a year and a half after having suspended arrivals – due to Covid-19 and at 70 percent of its capacity – the cruise ship Carnival Panorama arrived in Puerto Vallarta on Tuesday morning after having set sail from Long Beach, California.
The ship arrived with just over 3,200 passengers and crew on board, after 17 months of suspended service, and will remain for 12 hours, which signals the beginning of cruises in Puerto Vallarta again.
Authorities estimated that between 2,700 and 2,800 passengers would get off and tour the city of Puerto Vallarta during their stay.
The members of the cruise were received by the mayor Jorge Antonio Quintero and local tourism authorities, who welcomed the travelers under the health measures of social distancing, for which there were no exchanges of plates or reception of the cruise passengers.
The director of Beach Tourism, from La Setujal, Susana Rodríguez Mejía, said that she seeks to encourage this industry so severely hit by the effects of the pandemic, while the interim mayor Jorge Antonio Quintero asked service providers to continue taking care of themselves, and “we cannot throw caution to the wind”, through radio Universidad de Guadalajara, and reiterated that the use of face masks “is mandatory” in Puerto Vallarta.
Both tourists and crew members, according to authorities, are vaccinated, with the exception of children, and at least 10 percent of the occupants of the cruise ship will be subjected to random testing.
