A storm churning off Mexico's Pacific coast has shuffled the plans of thousands of cruisers this week. Hurricane Polo, tracking along the west coast of Mexico, forced Princess Cruises to redraw the route of the Grand Princess mid-voyage, dropping several beloved Mexican ports from a ten-night sailing.
The ship left Los Angeles on Friday, September 25, 2026, for a round trip covering the Baja Peninsula and the Sea of Cortez, with stops planned at La Paz, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta and Guaymas. With the hurricane in the way, three of those calls — La Paz, Guaymas and Puerto Vallarta — were scrapped entirely. Cabo San Lucas stayed on the map but was trimmed: instead of the original two days there, guests now get a single day with a late-night departure.
In their place, the 1998-built ship added an unexpected treat: an overnight call in San Diego on September 26, plus a stop in Mazatlán. Princess told guests it was monitoring the storm closely and rerouting to stay well clear of it, putting passenger and crew safety first.
The line also gave travellers a genuine choice rather than a fait accompli. Anyone who didn't like the new route could cancel before sailing and receive a Future Cruise Credit worth 100 percent of their base fare. Those who stuck with it got a $100 onboard credit to soften the blow — a sensible bit of goodwill for a trip that lost three ports.
Polo hasn't just been a Princess problem. The storm has been disrupting cruise operations up and down the West Coast and the Mexican Riviera for several days, and two other big ships — Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas and Carnival's Panorama — have also had to adjust their itineraries.
For anyone booked on a Mexico or Baja cruise during Pacific hurricane season, this is a useful reality check. Storm reroutes are a normal part of sailing this region between roughly June and October, and lines rarely cancel whole voyages for them — they swap ports instead. The practical lesson: read pre-cruise emails carefully, since lines like Princess typically offer a cancellation window or credit when an itinerary changes significantly. Flexibility on where you sail matters more than the specific port list, and an unplanned overnight in San Diego or a late night in Cabo can end up being a highlight rather than a downgrade.
