Cruise passengers touring to Mexico must pay a brand new payment this summer time, nevertheless it’s a lot decrease than it might have been, due to strain from cruise trade leaders.
In 2024, over 9 million cruise passengers visited Mexico. In 2025, that quantity is anticipated to leap to greater than 10 million.
However a $42 passenger payment from Mexico was threatening to decrease the variety of visits because the cruise trade warned of the menace to the nation’s tourism sector.
This payment was supposed to start out early in 2025 and could be handed on to cruise passengers who had beforehand been exempt as a result of they had been thought-about “in transit”.
The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Affiliation (FCCA), voiced sturdy opposition and led the cost towards the excessive charges. They warned that the $42 payment added to present prices and will result in ships bypassing Mexican ports altogether.
Fortuitously, the cruise trade didn’t simply settle for this. By energetic discussions with Mexican officers, they labored to discover a higher answer
And the excellent news for anybody planning a Mexican cruise is that these efforts paid off dramatically.
Mexico has agreed to a considerably decrease beginning price for the brand new payment. Starting July 1, 2025, the Non-Resident Obligation for cruise passengers can be simply $5 USD per particular person, an 88% lower from the unique $42 payment.
This payment will usually be added to your cruise fare by the cruise line, and it’s vital to notice it’s charged simply as soon as per itinerary, no matter what number of stops you make in Mexico on that crusing.
However this payment is just not going to stay at $5, no less than as issues are setup proper now.
The $5 price is the place to begin, and the payment is scheduled to extend regularly within the coming years as a part of the settlement reached.
Right here is the deliberate schedule for the phased will increase:
$10 per passenger from August 1, 2026, to June 2027
$15 per passenger from July 1, 2027, to July 2028
$21 per passenger beginning August 1, 2028
Whereas the payment will rise over time, the important thing takeaway is that even the ultimate scheduled price of $21 continues to be half of the unique $42 proposal. And maybe throughout this time there can be extra negotiations to maintain the charges decrease than the present scheduled charges.
