Storm-Ravaged Costa Maya to Reopen by Summer

Looks like the popular port of Costa Maya will be back on cruise itineraries a lot faster than anyone expected.

Officials at the Mexican stopover say reconstruction of two of the destination's berthing spaces already are more than half finished (58%, to be exact), and they expect the port to reopen by summer.

Hurricane Dean pummeled the fast-growing cruise hideaway last August, causing extensive damage to its pier and facilities, and the destination wasn't expected to reopen until September.

There's no word yet on which cruise lines and ships will return to the port this summer once it reopens, but a Costa Maya spokeswoman says they're in talks with several lines and expect quite a few to put it on their schedule. Before the storm, the fast-growing port -- carved out of the jungle less than a decade ago -- had become a mainstay on the schedules of Carnival and Royal Caribbean, among other lines.