First Cruise Ship Back in Puerto Vallarta After Cartel Unrest Subsides

A little over a week ago, all cruise lines canceled visits to the popular Mexican resort town and cruise port of Puerto Vallarta.   Now, at least one cruise ship is back.

Chaos and unrest gripped the city after it was reported that drug cartel leader “El Mencho” was killed.  Social media videos out of Puerto Vallarta showed multiple fires across the city as reports of gunshots and car jackings flooded online platforms.

There were no cruise ships in port at the time of the peek of unrest, but Holland America’s Zuiderdam quickly pulled their scheduled visit that was planned for the following day.

Now that things have calmed down and the Mexican military moved in to put a stop to the violence and chaos, NCL’s Norwegian Bliss is back in port.  It’s the first ship to call on Puerto Vallarta since the violent upheaval of February 22, 2026

Norwegian Bliss Arrives

Norwegian Bliss arrived at the Puerto Vallarta cruise terminal around 5:45 AM local time today.

While other cruise lines have been hesitant to return to Puerto Vallarta, Norwegian Cruise Line made the independent decision to resume its schedule after its security teams determined the city was stable and safe enough for passengers to disembark.

The ship brought over 4,000 passengers into the port, an area that heavily relies on tourism for its economic survival. 

Bliss is on a 7-day sailing out of San Pedro, California and is scheduled to make stops in Mazatlán and Cabo San Lucas before heading back to homeport.

Not All Ships Coming Back Yet

Royal Princess was also originally scheduled to visit Puerto Vallarta today, but cruise ship tracking data with CruiseMapper shows the ship in Mazatlán.

Carnival Corporation & plc (which owns Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, and Carnival Cruise Line) has issued a broader suspension, indicating that most of its brands will skip Puerto Vallarta through at least mid-March as an extra precaution.

Mazatlán has become a common “safe haven” for ships during this period, as it remained unaffected by the specific violence that broke out in the state of Jalisco.

Bottom Line

Even though this is not the busiest time of year for cruise ships in Puerto Vallarta, the lack of any ship visits over the last ten days has had to have made an impact.

Some industry travel experts estimate that the string of five major canceled calls resulted in a loss of between $9 million and $14 million in local economic activity.  This represents well over 15,000 passengers and includes crew spending, port fees, shore excursions, and other related revenue generated by cruise traffic.

For now, Norwegian Bliss even pulling into port suggests that the worst of the chaos may be behind us.  Puerto Vallarta has long been regarded as one of the safest and most tourist-friendly cities in Mexico.

The next scheduled port of call is not until March 10 for Island Princess, and the next day Norwegian Bliss and Royal Princess are scheduled to make a stop. We have reached out to Princess to see if the cruise line plans to avoid the port and will update this article when we hear back.