Carnival's Weinstein: Mexico cruise fee 'not a done deal'Carnival's Weinstein: Mexico cruise fee 'not a done deal'

Mexico's $42 per cruise passenger immigration fee is 'not a done deal,' in the view of Carnival Corp. & plc CEO Josh Weinstein.

'We were not consulted. No one was consulted when this was passed,' he said during today's earnings call.

Ramifications not thought through

'I have a lot of respect for the president and what she's doing,' he said of Mexico's Claudia Sheinbaum, 'but she was misinformed or not informed, and no one was thinking through the ramifications of what they were suggesting.'

Cruisers, historically, have been considered in-transit since they're in port just for a stretch of hours, versus travelers who arrive by plane and stay.

Though the fee's implementation has been put off six months, to July 1, 'We're not satisfied with that,' Weinstein said.

'We want to have good dialogue with the government and explain all the benefits we bring to Mexico, which are significant, and it doesn't take much to tweak itineraries to effectively erase' revenues anticipated from the fee hike, he added.

Weinstein hopes for high-level discussions in the new year.

Just 5% of capacity deployment

In 2025, if the fee hike does go into effect and Carnival made no itinerary changes, Mexico would represent less than 5% of capacity deployment.