Maybe like almost everything else, these things are cyclical…but cruising the Mexican Riviera is becoming popular again. At least with cruise lines, it is. The test will be if the passengers buy into it.
After cruise ships abandoned Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas and points south in huge numbers, they are now trickling back.
Last year, Celebrity sent its Century (next year it will be a Croisieres de France ship) on eight round-trip cruises from San Pedro, near Los Angeles. Holland America despatched a ship to the Mexican Riviera, and so did Norwegian. This year, it was Azamara. Next year, Princess returns.
All of that pales by comparison to what's happening now.
Carnival is going back full-time. The Carnival Miracle, starting in October, will be a Mexican Riviera regular. Cruises from Long Beach (Los Angeles) of six or seven days in duration…every week. It is being reported the Miracle will go up and down the coast of 
Mexico "year-round" but there are no Miracle cruises on the Carnival website from May to October 2015. In fact, there are no Carnival cruises to the Mexican Riviera during that period, so either it's seasonal or it's a test.
What's happened to bring back cruise ships?
The economy is better, and Mexico has gone to work on its image. At Cruise Shipping Miami, the industry's biggest annual conference, Frank Cordova — the secretary of tourism for the Mexican state (Sinaloa) that includes Mazatlan — told reporters:
"It's like when you take your wife for granted. We didn't take care of [cruise tourists]. We didn't take action until it was too late."
The three Mexican Riviera ports banded together, instead of remaining independent. They poured money into cutting the crime with a stronger police presence, and into marketing. They lobbied cruise lines, telling them why the Mexican Riviera was changing for the better. They made the ports friendlier for tourists — in Mazatlan that includes the Blue Shirts, volunteers who speak English and who are there to help tourists.
Will it work?
Nobody knows, but it's a good start to complementing what Mexico has long had: great food, a rich history and warm people.
Today at Phil Reimer's portsandbows.com: Hurricane season around the corner
Celebrity Millennium
15 nights
September 12, 2014
Vancouver, Petropavlovsk, Otaru, Hakodate, Tokyp
Inside: $1,009
Cost per day: $67
www.celebritycruises.com