Mexico Safety & City Guides for Puerto Vallarta, Cabo, Playa del Carmen, Acapulco, Mazatlan, Cancun, Zihuatenejo/Ixtapa

[Joe M.]

Cruise tour passengers robbed at gunpoint in PV

This will not help tourism. Our favorite vacations have been in PV and we plan to return someday but this makes us a bit more wary.

http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_n...-at-gunpoint-on-ship-sponsored-tour-in-mexico

 

[maja651]

That is scary! Yikes! I just wish this would stop happening in our favorite country to vacation in! Arghhhhhhh

Michelle

 

[presley]

I guess it isn't too surprising.

Disney cut out some of their already scheduled/booked Mexican cruises towards the end of this year. I believe that they kept some, but I wonder if they will end up cancelling those, too.

 

[AnnaS]

That is sooooo scary - if I ever had an incident like this, I would be done with any excursions, etc.

 

[nazclk]

Not all Mexico is Bad

We have been going to Cabo for years and have had nothing but a pleasant experience. In fact they are holding the G-20 conference there this year and Hillary was just there last week.

 

[MommaBear]

Crime is everywhere. I am not sure that tourist areas of Mexico are worse than other places. This has actually happened twice in Nassau in the last year, as well as in St Kitts and Antigua. Here is an interesting link: http://www.cruiselawnews.com/tags/robbery/

I looked for a link to see if I could figure out what percentage of people on cruises were being robbed vs every day citizens in a US major city. I didn't find comparison statistics. However, in 2005 there were 25,000 robberies reported in NY city, down from 100,000 in 1990. Tamap had 1,600 and greater Miami had 5,800. I am not sure that this is an apples to apples comparison but many of us still go to US cities where crime is prevelant. I still love Boston and there were 2,600 robberies in 2005.

 

[PStreet1]

I have a friend who took this tour (not with Carnival) years ago and her reaction was "Carnival was very foolish to have offered this tour. It's high in the mountains, very isolated--a bunch of gringos all by themselves with no help for miles.....just waiting to be robbed. It's not a trip I would ever take today." She and her husband spend a couple of weeks a year in Puerto Vallarta, and are headed there soon on a cruise--not on Carnival.

That, of course, doesn't excuse the crime's having been committed, but it does say something about Carnival's exploration of the excursions they offer.

We're headed to Egypt on a cruise in the fall. At this point, I have no real faith that the cruise will actually go to Egypt, and if it does, some excursions may be cancelled or altered. I will be monitoring the situation there and evaluating for myself before I make a decision about which excursions to take. I'm hoping that our cruise line is doing an adequate job of screening the situation there because, frankly, I know no more about safety in Egypt than those poor travelers knew about safety in Mexico.

 

[tselios]

crime is everywhere but

you are correct crime is everywhere, but when was the last time a whole tour bus got robbed in the U.S.? If it did, do you think the culprits would still be on the lose? Have there been Whole bus Robberies of the Carnival tour buses in the U.S.?

There is a big difference between Mexico and America. Do you think America would allow themselves to be held hostage by huge drug cartels?

I think we would not stand for it and we would demand a huge police and even a military intervention! I know there is a problem with gangs in America but not on the scale of Drug Cartels in Mexico. Our police presence is much better and I think we have less corruption in the police departments and hopefully less in our Government.
If people decide to spend there vacation time in Mexico and alot of there hard earned money, I think they should expect to be safe. That is an individual decision that each person or family has to make on there own.

Just my thoughts.........

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

I think we would not stand for it and we would demand a huge police and even a military intervention! I know there is a problem with gangs in America but not on the scale of Drug Cartels in Mexico. Our police presence is much better and I think we have less corruption in the police departments and hopefully less in our Government.

Au contraire. There are significant areas within US cities that are controlled and dominated by local gangs, where the police presence is almost entirely ineffectual and local gangs control the turf. And we are not sending in police and military units en masse to reestablish control of those areas.

Of course, cruise ships don't send tour buses into those locales within the US.

 

[snsfriel]

We were in PV 2/2/12 for 2 weeks -saw police present everywhere and they were patroling the beach. Today 4 kids were shot in a school in Ohio.

 

[tselios]

killing police

I guess I like to think we have a little more law and order in the U.S.
In mexico they are killing police officers...one a day

http://www.policeone.com/border-pat...ug-cartel-threatens-to-kill-an-officer-a-day/

I think if the gangs were doing that in the U.S. we would not stand for it!
Maybe I'm wrong.

We have serial killers but not like this

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...n-drug-cartel-leader-admits-killing-1500.html

 

[Passepartout]

Not that it's an either/or comparison, but if there was no market for drugs in the USA, there would be be no supply network to get the drugs north or the weapons south. If there was no drug gang activity, the thugs could be selling timeshares. Then instead of simply holding up the occasional tourist bus, they could extort MF payments annually and an SA every 5 years or so from thousands of American citizens.

Sorry if I seem to be making light of a very serious situation. It isn't meant that way. I'm sure it was traumatic those who were the victims, and I hope the criminals are caught and dealt with harshly- though I haven't read of any progress on that...

Now I have to go pack for my trip to Mexico this week.

Jim

 

[Loggie]

We talked to one of the vendors on the beach and he said that it seems more like tht it was staged. He said that there is such a big competition between companies that if they make one look bad they will will then go and book reservations with the other company.

We just returned from a trip to Rancho Capomo. We did 15 minutes of horseback riding ..... this was to get to the zip lines. Then 13 zip lines and 2 hours of ATV through the back roads, rivers and Las Palmas. There was lunch waiting for us when got back.

It was really fun and I am scared of horses. The horses just plain follow the leader and you really do not have to do anything, but just sit there.

The lunch was terrific!

 

[mikenk]

This morning on the Today show, the intro was "Should you allow your kids to go to Mexico for Spring Break?" Matt Lauer then did the story - no statistical evidence at all on safety of students. The story was on one student who was beaten while unconscious (passed out) in a pool area in Cancun a couple of years back. It has never been solved - absolutely no evidence at all as to what actually happened. AND YET, this one episode should make all parents refrain from allowing kids to go to Mexico. They also mentioned the PV incident at the end of their incompetent anecdotal story.

And this was the same day four students were shot in a high school in Ohio. If that had happened in Mexico, the entire country would have been condemned. Here in the USA, it was just an unfortunate incident in Ohio.

We all know there is drug conflicts in parts of Mexico that need to be solved; I would certainly not vacation in Juarez; however, the sensationalism by our national media to continually capitalize on every incident in Mexico is completely irresponsible - all about ratings.

JMHO
Mike

 

[ocean401]

We talked to one of the vendors on the beach and he said that it seems more like tht it was staged. He said that there is such a big competition between companies that if they make one look bad they will will then go and book reservations with the other company.

While I am not buying into the hysterical overreaction to this story, I also am not buying into that argument. I simply can't believe in this climate that anyone would be so stupid as to stage this. The cruises aren't going to book another company, they're simply not going to come back.

I'm still planning on going in June to PV, but this explanation doesn't make much sense to me.

 

[Carol C]

I wonder how many people canceled trips to Aruba...or vowed never to vacation there...after the still-unsolved disappearance of Natalie Holloway. I have no interest in Aruba anyway...but the lack of closure and poor justice system there would make me hesitate to give the island my tourist business. Just my two pesos.

 

[Passepartout]

I read with some interest that Princess made their scheduled PV stop this week and Carnival's other Mexican Riviera cruiser did, too. The tour that was robbed was not offered by Princess, and Carnival cancelled it. The PV Tourist bureau issued a press release that security personnel will insure the safety of visitors.

Jim

 

[siesta]

I wonder how many people canceled trips to Aruba...or vowed never to vacation there...after the still-unsolved disappearance of Natalie Holloway. I have no interest in Aruba anyway...but the lack of closure and poor justice system there would make me hesitate to give the island my tourist business. Just my two pesos.

This is not the first time Ive heard this, but I still think of it as completely asinine, and ironically both of my sisters share your sentiment, to their husbands' dismay. Using that logic about lack of closure and a poor justice system, noone would go to the state of California, or the entire south and southeast, among many many other places in the US. Did people stop skiing in Colorado because what happened in the Jean Benet Ramsey case? Mishandled by police, accused the parents for years until they were finally dismissed as suspects by DNA. Or countless black inmates in prison or on death row in the south due to racism, false confessions under duress, planting of evidence, etc.

Also to generalize security and the criminal justice sytem of Aruba based on one incident and the media frenzy that ensued seems to me as a pre-mature, and borderline ignorant, comment.

 

[nazclk]

Going to Mexico

Just something I wanted to throw out there for discussion. There have been many and I mean many discussions on this forum as well as other websites about the safety in Mexico. Don't people realize that this is just another place in the world, it's not Heaven folks. Show me one place on God's earth that does not have problems. Last week I was in Cabo and had a fantastic time, no shootings, no looting's, just a nice time. Get back home, 4 shootings between gang members in the last week and more this week. So I guess we live in a safe place in America. Compare the statistics according to population and I am sure
we pretty much lead the pack. Thanks for listening and I love Mexico as a vacation spot.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Just something I wanted to throw out there for discussion. There have been many and I mean many discussions on this forum as well as other websites about the safety in Mexico. Don't people realize that this is just another place in the world, it's not Heaven folks. Show me one place on God's earth that does not have problems. Last week I was in Cabo and had a fantastic time, no shootings, no looting's, just a nice time. Get back home, 4 shootings between gang members in the last week and more this week. So I guess we live in a safe place in America. Compare the statistics according to population and I am sure
we pretty much lead the pack. Thanks for listening and I love Mexico as a vacation spot.

I totally agree.

I remember one time when one of my boys was about eight years old. I was at home shortly after noon one Saturday when one of my son's friends called me in terror. He was at his grandparent's house a couple of blocks away, where he and his infant sister were being babysat by his uncle while his parents were gone for a few hours.

I quickly realized that his uncle had just been shot and was in the front yard. he was cowering in the house, and I happened to be the nearest adult he felt he could safely call.

I jumped in the car and drove over. When I pulled up I saw the uncle and a friend of the uncle's laying on the ground alongside the street and next to a car they had been working on - drive-by shooting. As the car stopped my son's friend came running out of the house with his sister in his arms wrapped in a blanket. I opened the door, he hopped in and we slunk down for a moment while I did a double check to be sure that there wasn't something more happening.

As I was getting ready to leave the police and cordoned off the street ahead of me and behind me. So we just stayed put until the police had finished with us and let us depart.

----

Yep -there's crime in America too, folks. Even in nice neighborhoods.

We just got back from Puerto Vallarta last week - staying in the tourist locales remains safer than most tourist areas in any major urban area in the US - Union Square, Times Square, Miami Beach, ....

 

[laura1957]

This is not the first time Ive heard this, but I still think of it as completely asinine, and ironically both of my sisters share your sentiment, to their husbands' dismay. Using that logic about lack of closure and a poor justice system, noone would go to the state of California, or the entire south and southeast, among many many other places in the US. Did people stop skiing in Colorado because what happened in the Jean Benet Ramsey case? Mishandled by police, accused the parents for years until they were finally dismissed as suspects by DNA. Or countless black inmates in prison or on death row in the south due to racism, false confessions under duress, planting of evidence, etc.

Also to generalize security and the criminal justice sytem of Aruba based on one incident and the media frenzy that ensued seems to me as a pre-mature, and borderline ignorant, comment.

Agree!! and the Holloway case is a perfect example of NOT using common sense/good judgement. I am not blaming the victim, but I do hope that at least some young girls learned from her mistakes.

 

[siesta]

We have been travelling to MX for years and also love it there. For me it is not just the beautiful beaches, delicious food, and rich culture that keep us going back, but the incredible hospitality that the people display. I feel good about spending my tourist dollars in local mexican businesses because they are hard working people that genuinely appreciate you, and I am happy to support them.

There have been many places in the Caribbean ive been to where the staff "does not go the extra mile", and the level of hospitality just doesnt equate. A common expression is "it's island time", but that often just means be prepared for slow service and potential lackluster or indifferent attitudes. Of course this is a gneralization, and I love travelling to the Caribbean .. i just go with different expectations in regards to service.

 

[PStreet1]

I agree. One case that should be added is that Jamaica is really, really unsafe for tourists, yet they blithly head for Jamaica while saying they would never, never go to Mexico.

 

[Maple_Leaf]

CBC Special on Mexico Security Situation

The CBC is currently doing a week long series of reports on the security situation in Mexico. I just saw the first episode. The basic message was that the security situation has deteriorated enough throughout the country to consider it an insurgency, however, things still appear to be safe at the beach for tourists.

 

[siesta]

The story came out about the PV robbery, it wasnt a group of gunmen, it was one common petty thief that robbed them. Not a cartel targetting tourists.