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Mexico has been a major travel destination for decades. And, like many other countries, they charge a tax for visitors. This “non-resident fee” costs 687 Mexican pesos, or roughly $33 USD. The fee has several different rules and if visitors plan to leave and then re-enter the country one or more times, or if they participate in a variety of paid activities while in Mexico, the fee can vary.

However, if visitors stay for less than 7 days, they don’t have to pay the fee. Because of that loophole, passengers visiting Mexico via cruise ships have never had to pay the tax because they would never be in the country for 7 days even with visits to multiple cities.

All of that could soon change, thanks to Mexico’s plans to implement a new $42 per person “Non-Resident Fee” that’s slated to begin in 2025…and cruise lines are balking.

The Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) is a not-for-profit trade organization that represents 23 cruise lines operating nearly 200 vessels in Floridian, Caribbean and Latin American waters (they include AIDA, Carnival, Celebrity, Costa, Cunard, Disney, Explora, Hapag-Lloyd, Holland America, MSC, Margaritaville, Norwegian, Oceania, P&O, Princess, Regent Seven, Royal Caribbean, Seabourne, SeaDream, Silversea, TUI, Virgin Voyages and Windstar). According to Reportur, FCCA has reached out to Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, requesting that the new fee imposed on cruise passengers be eliminated. They claim the tax would make cruise tourism in Mexico 213% more expensive than the average Caribbean port, effectively pricing Mexico “out of the cruise market,” according to FCCA CEO Michele Paige.

They’ve also added some “meat” to the request, by threatening to no longer sail into Mexican ports if the fee isn’t eliminated. They claim that the $42 per person, “is a cost that cannot be easily absorbed by most cruise guests.”

“The cruise lines are already actively considering significantly altering their itineraries, which would reduce the more than 10 million cruise ship passengers expected to arrive in Mexico in 2025” Paige said in the letter.

Paige said the tax would be “particularly damaging” to Quintana Roo, the Mexican state that’s home to the Cozumel and Costa Maya ports. According to FCCA, cruise tourism represents 40% of GDP in Quintana Roo.

The letter also notes that cruise ships might not only slow down or stop visiting Mexico but that the fee could jeopardize some cruise lines’ investments in Mexico as a top destination.

“This proposed tax could also jeopardize cruise industry investments in the country — including billions in planned development and other projects — meant to help rebuild Acapulco, cultivate new Mexican tourist destinations, employ more Mexican seafarers, and provide social programs to help underserved communities in Mexico,” Paige said in the letter. “Cruise lines will inevitably reevaluate the viability of these investments considering the potential loss of consumer demand for Mexico cruises driven by the unprecedented tax increase on cruise tourism.”

Paige also expressed disappointment over Mexico’s lack of consultation with cruise lines about this new tax, suggesting there has been a “longstanding mutually beneficial relationship between Mexico and the cruise industry.”

“We were completely caught off guard with last week’s unilateral decision to eliminate the longstanding exemption and efforts to fast-track this policy change without any dialogue with the industry,” Paige said. “We are also concerned with the last-minute notification and implementation of this new policy expected to take effect in approximately one month. This gives us and our partners virtually no time to prepare and creates confusion and uncertainty for our guests because the majority of our cruises have already been sold for 2025.”

Can they change an itinerary, just like that?

They sure can.

Every cruise line’s terms and conditions state that they can change itineraries for any reason. That includes going to X port on a different day, going to a different port entirely, or making it a “day at sea.”

Obviously, the cruise lines are playing hardball. The ball is now in President Sheinbaum’s court. How do you think this will play out?

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary