Hurricane Polo Forces Royal Caribbean to Rework Navigator of the Seas Mexican Riviera Route

Hurricane Polo has prompted Royal Caribbean to reshuffle the itinerary of Navigator of the Seas just days before its next sailing out of Los Angeles.

The Voyager-class ship, which has been based year-round on the West Coast, is set to depart on a seven-night Mexican Riviera cruise on September 25, 2026. With the storm tracking near western Mexico, the line has dropped two planned port calls entirely and reshuffled the rest.

Ensenada is off the schedule altogether, replaced by a sea day. The stop at Cabo San Lucas has been swapped for a full day in Puerto Vallarta instead — the ship arrives at 8:00 AM and stays until 6:00 PM, so guests still get a long day ashore. The call at Mazatlán shifts to Monday, September 28, 2026. Everything else on the itinerary, including three sea days, runs as planned.

Royal Caribbean's message to guests struck a reassuring tone: the change was caused by weather, safety comes first, and a ship at sea can simply steer clear of a storm. Pre-paid shore excursions booked through the line for the cancelled Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada visits will be refunded — as onboard credits, usable anywhere on the ship, with anything unspent returned at the end of the cruise.

There's a bigger story in the background, too. This is one of the final sailings for Navigator of the Seas in its five-year West Coast deployment. In early October the 2003-built ship begins a repositioning voyage to Singapore, ahead of a winter season in Southeast Asia. For anyone who's gotten used to booking short Mexican Riviera cruises out of LA, this marks the end of an era — and it's a reminder that ships routinely switch homeports between seasons, so it pays to check a vessel's future schedule before assuming next year's itineraries will look the same.

For travellers booked on the sailing, the practical takeaways are simple: watch for updated onboard schedules, expect those excursion refunds as credits rather than cash up front, and make the most of the extended Puerto Vallarta day — a full ten-hour call is more time than these ports usually get.