The new law will change the way American Dollars (cash) are used to make purchases in Mexico.  Other methods of payments such as all types of credit cards issued by banks, Travelers Checks, Mexican Pesos, and other non-American foreign currencies are not affected by the new law.

The most noticable changes are:

1) Hotels, Exchange booths, and Local Banks will only be able to change a maximum of $1,500 USD cash per person per month into Mexican Pesos.

2) Businesses (including restaurants and shops, and DMC’s) will only be able to accept a maximum of $100 USD cash per transaction.  The number of transactions per customer isn’t restricted.

3) Some businesses may not be able to, or may choose not to accept US Dollars for any purchase at all.  This could mean shops, restaurants, etc.

4) An example of how customers may be affected is:  If you desire to purchase an excursion that cost $150 US Dollars per person, you will only be able to pay $100 in USD cash, and the remainder would need to be paid in another form such as credit card or Mexican Pesos.

5) Those doing land vacations in Mexico should be advised airlines within Mexico will only accept Mexican Pesos and credit cards for any fees, including baggage fees.

It is always advisable not to carry large amounts of cash when traveling.  Instead, consider using a credit/debit card which can be used in an ATM machine.  Always check with the issuing bank on any fees and notify them you will be traveling and using your credit/debit card abroad.

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Carnival Cruise Lines will resume visits to Mexican ports of call once all voyages with previously modified itineraries are completed in mid-June with the exception of the Holiday (out of Mobile) which was modified through late May

Gerry Cahill, president and CEO of Carnival Cruise Line, said “The health and well being of our guests and crew is our highest priority and we are returning to Mexico after careful evaluation and consultation with the CDC. It is important to note that the concentration of H1N1 flu cases in Mexico has been inland rather than in the coastal resort areas where our ships visit.”

The cruise industry works closely with U.S. public health officials in the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program to develop extensive policies and procedures to mitigate illness aboard cruise ships. Along those lines, expect all the cruise lines to follow CDC guidelines for cruise ships, including pre-boarding health questionnaires for all guests and crew, along with secondary screening by shipboard medical professionals when necessary. Cruise ships will stock influenza test kits and anti-viral medications.

Naturally, Mexico is an important destination for the cruise lines, and for many U.S. citizens, and to lose it for an extended period of time would be a shame, financially and in other ways.

I think it is safe to say that when the cruise lines return to Mexico they will be very serious about screening passengers, as they should be. Although H1N1 did not turn out to be the “eminent pandemic” some of the news channels promoted it to be, there is still a significant amount of concern about the virus in the public psyche.

We all want ships to return to Mexico soon. In fact most of the outbreaks that have occurred in Mexico have been less severe than we were initially led to believe, and few of them occurred on the West Coast where the most port-intensive Mexico cruising occurs.

So it is highly unlikely, under current conditions, that a significant outbreak could somehow occur on a cruise ship. But if it did happen it would be a setback for Mexico tourism, including cruising, that would be hard to recover from.

Therefore, when ships start returning to Mexico we hope and expect that they will be careful and generous in screening pasasengers traveling there. If you are on a ship and you come down with flu symptoms while you are in Mexico, please report it to the ship and do not complain if you are quarantined.

We also hope that of a cruise line has to quarantine a passenger that they will be generous in making up the cruise to the passenger as long as they agree to cooperate with the health staff on the ship.

The cruise industry and the travel industry in general needs Mexico, especially with current laws that require cruise ships to make a stop in a foreign port before they proceed on any cruise transporting U.S. citizens. Let’s all tread carefully to get Mexico cruising back to a normal state.

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The CDC has a duty to protect us from diseases, especially deadly ones, and they do their job very well. Were they to mistakenly underestimate the H1N1 flu virus they alone would bear the responsibility, so they have nothing to lose by erring on the side of caution. Furthermore, as a government agency don’t expect anyone in government, especially the President, to contradict them.

Unfortunately, that leads to a very one-sided point of view. Doesn’t someone need to be the voice of moderation, or even contradiction to the CDC? In the past that would have been the media, but not this time around. Okay, so being in the travel industry maybe I need to say a few things. You can take my words with a grain of salt if you prefer.

We just got the latest H1N1 updates from the CDC, the new head of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sibilius, and Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security.

Interviewer Chris Wallace asked CDC spokesman Dr. Richard Besser if he would characterize the media’s response to flu reports as overreaction. Besser replied “if the virus had shown other factors that made it more serious, then the reaction would be warranted.” Perfect syntax, Richard, “If, then, would be…”

Then the CDC warned us once again that the virus could come roaring back next fall, as the 1918 Swine Flu pandemic did. This is the CDC’s trump card to keep us all on our feet. They have no way to give us the odds that will happen, however, but they have one case where a swine flu did that, and so we have to assume it is a possibility. Even though the CDC said the current H1N1 does not have the same genetic markers for “sustainability” as the 1918 flu did.

So, what are the chances a flu that currently does not have a certain genetic marker could develop one? Isn’t it a tenet of evolution that mutations are random, and survival is more or less a fortunate accident of nature? In other words, lets not put it in people’s minds that the virus has a will of its own to become more “sustainable.” It might happen, but its a roll of the dice, like growing spots.

Even if it does mutate for sustainability. What is different between 1918 and 2009? Today we have antibiotics, flu vaccines and robust quantities of anti-viral medicines such as Tamiflu which have proven to be very effective to H1N1. Put them all together and what do you have? Well, so far we know this virus has responded pretty well to many medicines they didn’t have back then, enough to make a difference…

Still, all we currently have to study is the existing flu. Besser says H1N1 in its current U.S. form has all the characteristics of a regular seasonal flu. That was a huge statement, in hugely understated terms.

Still pursuing the “are we overreacting theme” Besser was asked whether Fort Worth was right to close 147 Texas schools, leaving 80,000 kids with no place to go for two weeks, due to just one confirmed case of our flu. Besser replied, “If that one case had proven to be more virulent and the flu had spread to more students then it certainly was not an overreaction.”

“If that case had proven (which it didn’t) and it spread (which it didn’t) …

They sent 80,000 kids home instead of one student that never showed symptoms worse than an average flu. And where did he go? Not to the hospital as far as I know. The media has not been given one hospitalization to follow, to show the progression and severity of the disease. How many cases in the U.S. have been hospitalized out of some 230 confirmed cases? Only about 30.

Besser said on Sunday that schools should close if they have a “confirmed” case of H1N1 — But it was just last Tuesday that President Obama said a “suspected” case is enough to close a school.

In this country, after a week of full attention, we now have just 227 confirmed cases of H1N1. We have only 19 deaths in two months from this virus worldwide, all of them contracting the disease in Mexico, and we still have no answer as to why these people died. The CDC has suggested the Mexican form of the virus was much more virulent and there were likely mitigating circumstances such as no access to health care, other weaknesses, etc.

In Mexico, the virus affected mostly older children and young adults. The CDC suspects that older U.S. citizens are already immune to the virus. There have been strains of human, avian and swine flu in this country before, such as in 1976. Why don’t we have a better break down of the ages of people it has affected in the U.S.? Out of 227 confirmed cases, why have only 30 of them been hospitalized? What are the exact criteria for hospitalizing an H1N1 flu victim in this country, or for closing a school? That has not been defined for us by the CDC. In fact, almost nothing about this disease, as it exists in its current form, has been defined for us by the CDC – except the very scary possibility that it will lurk in the shadows until next autumn and return with a murderous vengence. Tuck in your kids and let your imagination run wild, mom!

To me it seems the CDC doesn’t want us to know much of anything. How many specifics do we really have about this disease? Has the CDC really been working on this, are did they go straight to the road show? Every tidbit of scientific evidence I have heard comes out in in convoluted and disjointed dribs and drabs between stern warnings about what might happen next year. Is this science, or the prelude to a horror movie?

We also heard this from the CDC; the health departments in individual states have now received test kits to verifying the flu independently. This explains the big increase in reported cases the last few days, but it will level off quickly at the end of the week because in fact the disease is not spreading much at all any more. There are more confirmed cases, but they are coming from the backlog. Oh, the CDC didn’t actually spell that out? Read between the lines, America.

The CDC further said that from now on they are less concerned about certifying the exact virus in every case(!) They are now only concerned about verifying the virus in serious cases where it is vital to the treatment. In other words, even the CDC is no longer officially verifying and counting cases of H1N1 anymore. Interesting.

The CDC has now confirmed yet another step to actually give us less information about the virus. I am not implying there is any harm in this, just the opposite. It tells me the concern by the CDC about the H1N1 virus has slipped yet another notch towards being just another flu virus. Even the CDC is getting bored.

Is the CDC warning the general public not to travel? No. Both Sebelius and Napolitano said today, “we are not asking people not to travel. People should go on with their normal daily lives.” Then they couched it as “If you are ill or if you are exposed to someone who is ill we ask you not to go into confined public places.”

I’m surprised they didn’t work longer on getting a better double negative for that last piece of advice.

And finally, after being pressed a third time, Dr. Besser said, “we are seeing encouraging signs that H1N1 is no more severe than any regular seasonal flu.” And that may be as close as we get to the CDC saying this is not be the crisis we were being led to believe.

So, what have we learned? We have learned the CDC is very unlikely to characterize ANY reaction to this flu as an overreaction, except one. And we finally heard the CDC say it acts pretty much like any other virus.

The absence of another reaction, that makes complete sense but is of no concern to the CDC, is an even larger unspoken confirmation that the CDC is not all that worried. What about closing the borders with Mexico? The argument that it is like closing the barn door after the horse has escaped is ridiculous. This is a herd of horses.

If they had any real concern about the obviously more virulent form of the virus continuing to escape from Mexico they would at least be monitoring and quarantining a few people at the border. But, have you heard of one person being denied entry to the United States due to exhibiting flu symptoms at any border crossing? I know I haven’t. The Administration won’t even step up illegal border crossing surveillance. Even though a sick person would probably not try to enter the United States through a monitored border crossing.

But, we did hear about an airliner landing in Boston because a woman onboard was sniffling. The CDC did not characterize that as an overreaction either.

All indications are that we should be hearing the CDC say that they are no longer obsessed with H1N1. We should hear them say it’s time to return to normal life. But they haven’t said it and they probably never will.

Yes, the CDC and other public health officials are doing their jobs very, very well.

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The “H1N1 nee: swine flu” situation is overblown and the worst offenders are television media, especially cable news channel CNN using the phrase “eminent pandemic” at every opportunity. This is not a pandemic. In fact, this work week brought news of only two additional deaths from this disease, both of them from people who contracted the virus in Mexico.

Mexico, lagging in reporting because the government health agencies are not very robust reported the number of has gone up, but mostly because they are reviewing old, suspected case to see if they were H1N1. There are now more cases reported in Mexico than previously, but the Mexican Health Minister actually said new reported cases of the disease are slowing down. In fact, out of all deaths in Mexico only 12 have been confirmed as H1N1 deaths. Has the media told you that?

Obama just admitted there is no proof that this virus is any more lethal than any other flu virus, especially in its non ground-zero Mexican form. In fact, we still have not seen more than one death outside of Mexico.

There is a company called Veratect near Seattle that claims they discovered the virus long before the CDC did. Following their updates it is easy to see the panic in action. Many cases first believed to be H1N1 are later confirmed not to be. They also show that even in Europe and Asia, many suspected and confirmed cases are largely people who traveled to Mexico before they were warned to watch out for this virus. They caught something close to the original form and still noneof them have died.

Mexico is now largely shut down and tourism is dead. I doubt we will be hearing about many more cases of people going to Mexico and coming back with H1N1 within two weeks. That means the number of reported cases worldwide is going to drop very soon. And the touted European prediction “we haven’t seen any deaths, BUT WE WILL” could very well continue to be unfulfilled.

I have been getting email, and so far it is running five to one that people agree that H1N1 is overhyped by the media, for their own benefit and the administration in power. It is the perfect diversion from news of Chrysler going bankrupt.

It is an opportunity for our President to come out and sounding wise and concerned when he tells us “wipe your nose, you have a little something right there.”

Lets face it, the media loves to cover Obama, but the economy is a very dry subject. But Obama talking about something as common as the flu, that’s great TV, almost like adopting a puppy.

Joe Biden, aka “the gaffe machine” – said on the Today Show he wouldn’t take any subways or planes. The President’s spokesperson, Robert Gibbs, had to explain to the press what he “meant” to say. Did the administration forget to tell Joe how to couch his comments? Or did Joe uses his “oops” trick to say what no one else can say? When Joe makes a “gaffe” haven’t we all been conditioned to give the President a pass on it?

What does any of this have to do with cruising? All the cruise lines have been pressured by public opinion to cancel port stops in Mexico when they initially decided there was very, very limited danger of exposure. This is due to a flu virus that has killed nine people worldwide when 36,000 people die from flu in the U.S. alone every year.

There is another disease that the WHO already says is epidemic to the Caribbean, South America and other tropical areas called Dengue Fever. The WHO says some 2.5 billion people, two fifths of the world’s population, are now at risk from Dengue and estimates that there may be 50 million cases of dengue infection worldwide every year. It is spread by mosquitos. Dengue is now epidemic in more than 100 countries. Where is the 15-minute news update cycle on that disease?

What we are NOT being told is the message here.

Why do we keep hearing the words, “eminent Pandemic?” Why are other world health officials saying, “we haven’t seen any deaths yet, but we will,” but we haven’t? Why do we not hear about all the cases that have been proven NOT to be H1N1, when in fact it is ruled out in several cases every hour after tests. Why have all the things we are hearing will happen have not yet happened?

At some point the cruise lines are going to return to Mexico ports. There is a very good chance they could go back soon and not have a significant exposure to this virus as long as prudence is used when passengers go ashore. But that has always been the case in Mexico. Everyone already knows not to touch things and not to drink the water there.

The most likely thing to stop the cruise lines from going back to Mexico is panic on the part of the general public, not cruisers. We have heard from cruisers, they are NOT overly alarmed by this virus, and they want their cruise to Mexico. But if the media keeps boosting the H1N1 profile to boost their ratings, then we will hear an outcry from the general public not to let cruise ships go there. This will come from panicked moms, the same moms who stuff a kleenex and hand sanitizer in their kids’ pockets every morning.

All it will take is one comment from Obama or Joe Biden about cruise ships and this industry will take a multi-million dollar haircut. Hundreds of scheduled cruises to Mexico will have to be relocated to places that are already suffering from overcapacity.

And so it is up to you, dear cruisers, to tell the world that you want your Mexico cruises. Tell us you are willing to take responsibility for your own health. With your encouragement the cruise lines will be able to formulate a reasonable plan to continue cruising to Mexico.

By the way, where did I get the title “stand up for your right to cruise?” A Judith *** wrote this to me when I told her, “you have the right not to cruise to Mexico, but don’t infringe on my right to go there.” Here is her reply…

——————————————-

“Infringe on your right?” Please tell me you’re joking. (You know Colbert is joking, don’t you?) I have read the U.S. Constitution and doesn’t say anything about a “right” to cruise to Mexico. Maybe it’s
in the Arizona constitution? Second, the government is not suspending Mexican cruises–the companies are…

Seriously, if you believe that other peoples’ needs, interests, and perspectives amount to an infringement on your personal rights, then you’ve misunderstood the nature of a democratic society. I’m sorry I bothered you and I hope you can find someplace on this earth where everyone leaves you alone. No reply necessary or desired, you’re in my junk filter now.
——————————————

So, here is my reply, Judith. It seems to me it used to be acceptable to criticize the party in power in this country without being insulted. It was called free speech and as I learned in public school, “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Judith, I happened to have a copy of the Constitution on my desk when you wrote that so I looked it up. The 14th amendment says every U.S. citizen has the right to leave the state and come back with full rights and liberties intact. No one can deny my rights for any reason just because I left. It is generally known as the “right to travel” amendment.

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Article 9 says that just because a right is not stated in the Consitution it does mean I do not have the right. It is called “the silent amendment.”

“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

So Judith, I will never tell you to shut up or insult your intelligence for your opinion. I respect your opinion, although I disagree with it. Too bad as a ‘democratic society” American you don’t see it the same way. And for the record, I am NOT right wing as you obviously assume. In fact I am equally skeptical and critical of the conservatives. The thing I abhor the most is the newly accepted practice in this country of insulting people instead of disputing their ideas if you disagree with their political opinion.

Stand up for your rights, including the first amendment which allows the right to a free press and freedom of speech. And please don’t let anyone intimidate you with name calling.

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