Cruises to Mexico are getting more expensive – but you won’t notice

Starting in 2025, cruises to Mexico will cost passengers $42 more per person if they book a cruise that includes calls at any of the country’s ports.

The Mexican Senate on 3 Dec. voted to include cruise passengers in the existing tourist tax if their cruise stops at even one port of the country, as reported by the Associated Press. Those ports include Caribbean Coast and Gulf Coast destinations such as Cozumel, Costa Maya and Progreso, which are often found on Caribbean cruises; and Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada along the West Coast, which are often part of the Mexican Riviera and California coastal cruises.

This standard tourist tax – which will rise from $35 to $42 per person, starting in 2025 – has been in place for some travelers for years. Until now, passengers are not allowed because they stay on board instead of ashore, and not all passengers choose to disembark when their ship calls at a port.

In addition to lower fares, passengers already pay government taxes and port fees when sailing. Since the new Mexican currency will be baked into that amount, passengers are unlikely to see the additional $42 fee, which will be charged only once per passenger, regardless of the number of Mexican ports on the itinerary.

The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association says more than 10 million people arrive at Mexico’s top five ports on cruise ships each year. At $42 per person, they would be paying Mexico $420 million a year, two-thirds of which would go to support the country’s military, according to the AP.

This is not the first time that ferry passengers have been charged per person to travel to Mexico. In 2007, the Mexican Senate voted to impose a $5 head tax per passenger on cruise ships, as reported by Travel Weekly. And it’s not the first or only state to charge cruisers for visiting; Alaska has had individual funds in place at both the state and port levels for years.

Although there are additional fees charged to cruise passengers, it is unlikely that cruise lines will stop visiting Mexico. Cozumel, one of the busiest ports in the world, is a popular stop on Caribbean cruises where some ports are already overcrowded, making it difficult for the line to find alternatives.

On the West Coast, lines hoping to continue operating California cruises must call at Ensenada to comply with the United States government’s Passenger Ship Services Act, which requires foreign-flagged ships to call at at least one foreign port during a voyage. ends at US ports.

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