Western Caribbean Itinerary

[wardwhitty]

We are trying to decide on a graduation cruise for our daughter.  We have been doing the eastern but are thinking of switching to the western.  How have the cruises to Mexico been?   Has anyone been uncomfortable.  We love Mexico and look forward to going there but are a little concerned with all the warnings.

[staceyglow]

I have been to Mexico many times since the restart.  I have had no safety issues whatsoever and have not heard of any other cruiser (or other type of tourist, for that matter) having safety issues.

 

[hapytobehr]

5 minutes ago, wardwhitty said:

We are trying to decide on a graduation cruise for our daughter.  We have been doing the eastern but are thinking of switching to the western.  How have the cruises to Mexico been?   Has anyone been uncomfortable.  We love Mexico and look forward to going there but are a little concerned with all the warnings.

We have done the western Caribbean more times than I can count and have never encountered any issues. 

 

We do, however, only book excursions through Carnival.

[staceyglow]

2 minutes ago, hapytobehr said:

We have done the western Caribbean more times than I can count and have never encountered any issues. 

 

We do, however, only book excursions through Carnival.

We have booked a number of third-party excursions.  Again no issues.

 

[BrotherCraig]

Love Western Caribbean a lot.  Roatan is our favorite port and island.  Has one of the most beautiful and best beaches in the world.  Always enjoyed Cozumel and always felt safe there.  The only warnings in Mexico are the mainland and close the US border and some outer territories.  No problems at the ports of Costa Maya and the island of Cozumel.  We always go off on our own there.

Edited April 5, 2023 by BrotherCraig

[hapytobehr]

19 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

We have booked a number of third-party excursions.  Again no issues.

 

I understand. We book through Carnival, because we always worry about getting back to the ship on time which actually happened this last cruise.  We got back late from an excursion in St Thomas.  There were about 40 of us that got back to the ship about 20 minutes late.

[BrotherCraig]

24 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

We have booked a number of third-party excursions.  Again no issues.

 

 

 

Yep.  You just have to be responsible getting back on time.  

[staceyglow]

46 minutes ago, BrotherCraig said:

 

 

Yep.  You just have to be responsible getting back on time.  

Right.  But I believe the OP was concerned about safety, and I wanted to clarify that third party excursions are no less safe as Carnival excursions.

[asalligo]

Been on cruises to Mexico twice this year and back again in four days. Have not had an issue, but the ports are not the areas that crazy things are happening in lately. 

[Lee Cruiser]

We love Cozumel and have been there probably 15 times.  We've done some excursions in the past, but now we always take a taxi to Paradise Beach.  Never felt unsafe at all there.  We are not huge fans of Progreso.  We stay on the ship there.  We've only been to Costa Maya a couple of times.  If we were doing an excursion there, we would probably stick to a Carnival one.

[jsglow]

I also like Costa Maya better than Progreso but both are 'fine' as a secondary port on a 5 nighter.  It's been awhile since I've done a 7 day Western.  I really like Roatan a great deal and have only been there once since the restart. 

[Host Carolyn]

3 hours ago, wardwhitty said:

We are trying to decide on a graduation cruise for our daughter.  We have been doing the eastern but are thinking of switching to the western.  How have the cruises to Mexico been?   Has anyone been uncomfortable.  We love Mexico and look forward to going there but are a little concerned with all the warnings.

 

Are you looking for information on western  Caribbean like the title says or Mexico, which you asked about...or both?.

 

[carrieluvsgreg]

We have cruised to Western Caribbean ports many times without issue as well as taken week long vacation to Cancun.  We have never felt unsafe anywhere in that region.  Cozumel is an island, and a relatively small island at that.  If you're doing an excursion that remains on the island- you'd actually have to work at being back late... I would only recommend booking with the ship for that reason if going to the mainland to see the ruins or cenote... The people of Cozumel really rely on tourism and they know that.  For that reason it is very friendly, safe and great place to visit. 

[ninjacat123]

If you are porting at Costa Maya, check out The Krazy Lobster.  Take a cab ($4 per person) and you will be at a very relaxing beach restaurant with delicious food and tasty margaritas!  $20 hour long massages on the beach is icing on the cake.  I felt very safe both times I have been there.

[Tapi]

Keep in mind that the more serious travel warnings for Mexico don’t affect destinations visited by the cruise lines. States under a level 4 advisory (don’t travel) aren’t near these ports of call. 
 

Some states have a level 3 warning (reconsider travel), but if you look at the details found on the US Dept. of State website, specific tourist areas and cities within those states are still considered safe.

 

We did the Mexican Riviera a few months ago. Even though the state of Jalisco was under a level 3 travel advisory, the city of Puerto Vallarta specifically was considered safe for travel. Cabo San Lucas was under a level 2 warning which is considered very normal for international travel.

 

The only port of call in our itinerary anywhere near any significant crime areas was Mazatlán (located in Sinaloa, currently under a level 4 travel advisory), but even though the actual city of Mazatlán was considered safe as long as you stayed in designated areas, the cruise line still replaced this port of call with Ensenada.

 

On the east coast of Mexico, Quintana Rio (Cozumel and Costa Maya) is currently under a level 2 travel advisory and Yucatán (Progreso) is under a level 1; one of the safest, probably safer than traveling around the US. 

 

For perspective, there are other countries that appear frequently on Caribbean cruise itineraries which are under a level 3 advisory (like Jamaica, Honduras and Trinidad and Tobago) but the cruise lines continue sailing to these destinations because the specific ports of call visited are considered safe for travel.

 

No matter where you go, use common sense, educate yourself, be a smart and alert traveler, don’t make yourself a target, and you should be fine.  

Edited April 6, 2023 by Tapi

[jsglow]

2 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

If you are porting at Costa Maya, check out The Krazy Lobster.  Take a cab ($4 per person) and you will be at a very relaxing beach restaurant with delicious food and tasty margaritas!  $20 hour long massages on the beach is icing on the cake.  I felt very safe both times I have been there.

That looks outstanding.

[Sabalon]

16 hours ago, Lee Cruiser said:

We love Cozumel and have been there probably 15 times.  We've done some excursions in the past, but now we always take a taxi to Paradise Beach.  Never felt unsafe at all there.  We are not huge fans of Progreso.  We stay on the ship there.  We've only been to Costa Maya a couple of times.  If we were doing an excursion there, we would probably stick to a Carnival one.

 

As others have said, the port areas know they need the tourism.  I'm sure even the crime groups know better than to mess with that - directly or like the sad case in Cancun - indirectly.   Most of these areas are at the same level as The Bahama ports as well.  

 

Will second Paradise Beach.  We did Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize and had excursions at each so we decided at Cozumel to just take it easy.  Somehow with the social wifi onboard, I found out about Paradise Beach.

We did not take it easy.  We had sooo much fun.  Great food too.

Only issue we had is when we got there, we couldn't go in the water due to "un pequeño cocodrilo".   Watched the staff spend about 15 minutes chasing down and cornering a 4ft croc.  

[havanadaydreaming]

never had an issue in mexico but have mainly been to the touristy spots like Mazatlan, Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, Costa Maya, Cancun, Puerto Morelos and Cozumel.  

 

my only "concern" is that the port at Costa Maya can be skipped, on occasion, due to rough seas.  We have made it there 2x but our adult son has missed it both cruises.  a very, very minor heads up.  

 

if you have Roatan and Cozumel on itinerary you will have my two favorite W Caribbean ports (google little french key).  have fun! 

 

 

 

[Langoustine]

On 4/5/2023 at 1:44 PM, staceyglow said:

I have been to Mexico many times since the restart.  I have had no safety issues whatsoever and have not heard of any other cruiser (or other type of tourist, for that matter) having safety issues.

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/4-bodies-found-hotel-area-mexicos-cancun-beach-resort-rcna78154

[staceyglow]

1 hour ago, Langoustine said:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/4-bodies-found-hotel-area-mexicos-cancun-beach-resort-rcna78154

What's your point?  To frighten the OP?  I didn't say that I was absolutely certain there was zero crime in Mexico.

 

That article say that they apprehended the suspects, so there are two fewer criminals on the streets - streets that are nowhere near where Carnival cruises.

Edited April 6, 2023 by staceyglow