A Link re: Cruise Pax on Ship's Tour in Mexico

[sail7seas]

I feel badly for the good people of Mexico who will be hard hit by the big drop in tourism but if a tourist doesn't feel safe, they aren't going to enjoy their visit.

 

I'm happy we were in Cozumel in November as we won't be back anytime soon that I can imagine. We were fine there and enjoyed ourselves but things are getting worse, not better.

 

[Katie333]

This is indeed a cautionary tale, I think it can be easy to get into the 'vacation bubble' and think that nothing bad can happen because you're a tourist in tourist areas, and that should make you immune.

 

Yes, violence happens everywhere but it seems like issues in Mexico are on the rise and tourists are being deliberately targeted. That doesn't give me a lot of confidence or desire to go there.

 

The sad thing is that even if every person on that bus exercised caution by wearing conservative clothes, miniumal jewelry and had only minimal cash it would not have prevented this from occuring.

[teachermandoug]

This is why we love Hawaii so much. It IS more expensive but we speak the language,

We can drink the water, the currency is USD, and IT IS SAFE.

And we have been to both east and west Mexico several times. Never again.

[sansterre]

Love Hawaii, but Hawaii doesn't have the marvelous Mayan ruins.

Also, as I read this thread, I've been bothered by the fact that my rings don't come off easily. (In fact on our recent trip, I could only get one of the two over my knuckles and that was using Windex at DI for a cleaning.) So I'm wondering what the robbers would do in a case like that. I'd rather give up a ring than a finger or hand....and I may have to stop wearing my wedding ring completely :-(

[Seavoyage]

Carnival is calling this an "unfortunate and disturbing event....The company has suspended the nature trail tour from its list of activities."

 

Perhaps Carnival and others should think about removing Puerto Vallarta from its itineraries until the mexican authorities find and properly prosecute these thugs. Maybe if they (PV) took a substantial hit in tourism dollars they would find a way to ensure cruise passenger safety.

 

Given Mexico's track record it will be surprising if the bus driver is not in some way involved....

[Sea-travelers]

Like I've said before, we do not need to go to these unsafe ports anymore, just send the Rotterdam, Veendam and Maasdam over there because they will have the passengers on board that will appreciate these ports looking at it from their 'beautiful' Lanai cabins.

 

Your comment really doesn't make any sense or I am missing your point. No ship should go to unsafe ports.

[kgraham56]

It can happen anywhere. And unless it is a very large group or gets a lot of publicity, you will never hear of it.

 

Case in point, in 2003, we were returning to the ship via tender from Belize City. The group of 4 next to us on the tender were shaking. So I asked what was wrong. Only one of the ladies would talk and she blurted out that they had been robbed. So I asked for details. Apparently, they walked across the street to one of the little shops right across from the entrance to the port. When they were walking back along the fence to get back into the port area, two guys walking the other way pulled a gun on them. They were about 10 feet from the guarded gate to the port. They lost about $60 or $70 dollars as the thieves just wanted cash. When they got it, they ran away. As the 4 of them went through the gate, one of the gentleman asked the armed guards if they saw what happened. The reply shocked them. "Of course we saw you getting robbed, but we have no authority beyond the fence". Then the other one asked if they would like to make a police report, but it might take half an hour or more to get the police to the port area. Of course everybody involved knew that last tender was in 15 minutes. So the four of them just sucked it up and went to the tender.

 

ken