Carnival Breeze Kept Its Progreso Call, but Closures Left a Thin Day Ashore

Only one restaurant along Progreso’s seaside promenade opened Thursday. Carnival Breeze docked on schedule, but I’d give that restaurant count more weight than the arrival time when judging what passengers actually got from the stop.

The ship reached Progreso’s deepwater pier without difficulty as Hurricane Isaias churned offshore. Much of the malecon was closed, and the fishing fleet remained on the beach. The ship could make the call. The town could offer only a limited version of a normal port day.

The regional harbor master’s office had barred small boats from coastal waters beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Large ships were excluded from that restriction, so Carnival Breeze’s arrival did not breach the closure.

Just over 200 passengers visited town and walked along the malecon. An unusually low tide exposed a broad stretch of sand, but choppy conditions kept visitors out of the water. Beach vendors reported weak sales, with few passengers renting palapas or umbrellas.

That is a thin offering for anyone hoping to spend the call on the beach.

Progreso had more pressing concerns than a cruise call

Mexico’s National Weather Service classified Isaias as a Category 2 hurricane Thursday afternoon. At 3 p.m., its center was approximately 345 kilometers, or 214 miles, north of Progreso. Forecasters expected the storm to remain offshore from Yucatan while bringing wind and rain to the peninsula.

Yucatan suspended classes in 27 municipalities and ordered nonessential businesses closed in nine coastal communities. There were still places to buy food and necessities. Market lunch counters continued operating in Progreso, Chicxulub and Chelem, along with supermarkets, convenience stores, bakeries, tortillerias and pharmacies. There was no panic buying of food or fuel.

Drizzle began in Progreso around 5 a.m. Wind and surf intensified at about 8:30 a.m., then eased roughly two hours later. Elsewhere in the region, rainfall ranged from light showers to thunderstorms. Power outages affected coastal communities and Merida.

Local fishermen Mario Escamilla and Arturo Azueta expected residual swells and undertow to keep their boats ashore through the rest of the week. They hoped to resume fishing Monday, weather permitting.

Municipal police used ropes and patrol vehicles to help pull small boats out of the surf. Officers also remained near the Muelle de Chocolate, which was closed to visitors for safety.

Yucatan’s civil protection agency, Procivy, reported no injuries or serious damage after inspections concentrated in Celestun, Hunucma and Progreso. Director Hernan Hernandez Rodriguez said the agency had conducted patrols with the armed forces to identify damage from rain and waves. The state had supplied temporary shelters and kept buses available for possible evacuations.

The absence of serious damage is welcome. It does not make the waterfront closures inconsequential to a visitor, or the interruption to fishing inconsequential to the people who work there.

Twelve Carnival sailings remained under watch

Carnival Cruise Line was monitoring 12 current and upcoming sailings across six ships. Those involved Carnival Breeze, Carnival Dream and Carnival Jubilee from Galveston, Carnival Liberty and Carnival Valor from New Orleans, and Carnival Paradise from Tampa.

The line sent letters to passengers already aboard and text messages to guests booked on upcoming departures. It had not announced itinerary changes, cancellations or delays.

Captain Zvonko Anic wrote to Carnival Dream passengers in an October 7 letter. “In partnership with our Fleet Operations Center in Miami, we are actively monitoring Tropical Storm Isaias,” he said.

The storm’s projected route crossed major cruise corridors connecting Galveston and New Orleans with the Caribbean. Tropical storm warnings covered the coast from New Orleans to Florida’s Apalachee Bay. Hurricane warnings extended from Biloxi, Mississippi, to Panama City, Florida.

State officials expected scattered rain to continue across Yucatan on Friday as the storm moved away. The U.S. National Hurricane Center forecast landfall on the northern U.S. Gulf Coast between Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle late Friday or early Saturday.

I’d want updates about these calls to give shore conditions as much attention as the sailing schedule. Whether the beach is usable and whether businesses are open are practical details, not footnotes. Keeping Progreso on the itinerary preserved the stop. It did not preserve the beach day.