Acapulco Cruise Comeback: Ships Returning in 2026–2027

If you grew up watching The Love Boat, you probably knew about Acapulco long before you knew what a cruise actually cost. Captain Stubing was on the bridge, Isaac was mixing drinks, and the Pacific Princess was heading to Mexico with a fresh batch of celebrity guests who could find love, save a marriage, and squeeze in a shore excursion before the closing credits.

Acapulco was part of that cruise fantasy. Just hearing the name brought to mind the kind of vacation where you packed actual dinner clothes and nobody was asking whether the ship had a roller coaster.

Princess Cruises was taking passengers to Acapulco back in 1965, years before The Love Boat brought the Mexican Riviera into our living rooms. The show gave millions of viewers a taste of cruising, and Acapulco became one of those places you wanted to see for yourself, preferably with Isaac making your drinks along the way.

Then the relationship between Acapulco and much of the cruise industry went sour. Ships that once helped define the destination began sailing elsewhere, leaving a port with plenty of name recognition in the dust.

Now Acapulco is getting another chance with Carnival and Norwegian adding visits and a port redevelopment project underway aimed at bringing even more ships back.

Why did cruise lines fall out of love with Acapulco?

By the early 2010s, drug-related violence and security concerns were damaging Acapulco’s reputation and prompting cruise lines to remove it from itineraries. The destination that once sold itself on Hollywood glamour was increasingly making headlines for reasons no tourism department wants to put in a brochure.

This wasn’t simply a case of passengers getting bored with the destination like all of us have done with Nassau, Bahamas. In March 2017, Holland America cited security concerns when it canceled eight scheduled Acapulco calls across its 2017 and 2018 itineraries, replacing them with other Mexican ports. Other major brands had already pulled back, although some cruise lines continued visiting.

Then, on October 25, 2023, Hurricane Otis struck near Acapulco as a Category 5 hurricane. Hotels, homes, utilities, and other infrastructure suffered catastrophic damage. Otis dealt Acapulco another blow, but it wasn’t what the reason that many say caused cruise lines to pull out,  The retreat happened years before Otis.

How long has it been since cruise ships visited?

There isn’t one number that applies to every cruise line, because Acapulco never disappeared from the entire industry’s map. Norwegian, Regent, Oceania, and other operators continued to feature the port at various points while several bigger mainstream lines stayed away.

For Carnival, the last visit was in 2010. Carnival Legend broke that gap with an unscheduled, weather-related call on October 11, 2025, roughly 15 years later. Carnival had already announced a planned return for Legend in 2027, but that itinerary change brought the ship back ahead of schedule, but completely unplanned.

Eurodam’s October 12th arrival marked another milestone, it was the ship’s first Acapulco visit in 17 years. Carnival Firenze is scheduled to follow in just a few days on October 26th.

A New Look and a Bigger Pier

Acapulco’s comeback involves more than welcoming ships back. Global Ports Holding, which operates dozens of popular ports around the world including Nassau, San Juan, signed a 24-year concession in April 2026 to operate and develop the cruise port, its first cruise port concession in Mexico.

Planned improvements include modernizing the terminal, improving passenger movement, upgrading shops and food offerings, and developing new experiences ashore.

Separately, the port authority is building a new cruise pier, with completion targeted for the first quarter of 2027, that can accommodate larger ships and support more cruise business.

Which cruise ships are scheduled to visit Acapulco through 2027?

As of today, the following are scheduled port visits thru 2027, with Carnival and Norwegian (and Norwegian sister brands) making a limited return:

Acapulco has ships on the schedule, but that doesn’t mean every seven-night Mexican Riviera sailing is suddenly heading there, so be sure to check itineraries before booking a cruise thinking its automatically included.

Is Acapulco safe for cruise passengers?

This is where the nostalgia needs to make room for the present. As of October 15, 2026, the U.S. State Department lists Guerrero, the state containing Acapulco, at Level 4: Do Not Travel, citing terrorism, crime, and kidnapping.

The advisory explicitly includes Acapulco’s tourist areas in the restrictions on U.S. government employee travel. There is no Acapulco exception in that guidance, and a cruise ship calling there does not mean the advisory has been lifted.

That distinction deserves more than a passing mention. A cruise line’s decision to operate a call and the State Department’s advice are separate assessments. A new terminal, additional investment, or an organized excursion does not eliminate the risks described in the advisory.

Before your sailing, read the current Mexico travel advisory, review any guidance from your cruise line, and decide whether you’re comfortable going ashore. Staying onboard is a perfectly reasonable choice if you aren’t.

If You Choose to Go Ashore…

My preference here would be to stick with the excursions offered by the cruise line and ask specific questions about transportation, the route, stops, and current arrangements ashore. That gives you a plan and a point of contact onboard, but it is not a guarantee of personal safety.

The shore excursion most closely associated with Acapulco is La Quebrada, where the cliff divers put on the show that has been around since The Love Boat. If that’s what you want to see, check whether or not your cruise line offers an excursion and book it thru the ship rather than thru an independent operator.

Fort San Diego is another classic Acapulco attraction, with a history reaching back to the 17th century. Holland America, for example, offers excursions to both the fort and the cliff divers, but you’ll still want to confirm what is actually being offered on your sailing.

The same goes for beach breaks. Do research on the property, transportation, food, drinks, and facilities included in the excursion. A resort that may have good reviews back in 2017 is not an indication of what it’s like today, and just because an excursion is offered by a cruise line doesn’t make the travel advisory disappear.

I’d love to see Acapulco rebuild a lasting place on cruise itineraries. For those of us who remember Captain Stubing taking a ship full of familiar television faces down the Mexican coast, there’s something nostalgic about seeing that name back on the schedule.