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Is Cancun Safe for Travel in 2018?

In my experience, the timeshare sharks are generally penned in so they are pretty easy to avoid.

Dealing with Street hustlers in Europe is another story:eek:

Cheers
 
DannyTS said:
We have to make a distinction between safety and aggressive selling. I have been to many parts of the world were aggressive selling is part of the culture but that is not related to safety.

My experience at Westin Lagunamar Cancun was quite the opposite actually. In March we went to the TS presentation (we got $175 resort credit). Of course my wife and I discussed before that we were not going to buy anything. To my shock, towards the end of the presentation my wife said that she really wanted to buy unless i veto-ed. Part shock and confusion, part that i did not want to offend my wife in front of other people, i did not show much verbal opposition and we signed the papers.

We went back to the room, discussed it extensively over the next couple of days, did more research (thanks TUG!) and decided to rescind. We went back to their office (third or fourth day after the presentation) prepared for the whole singing and dancing and ready for a terrible experience. We actually made sure we ate before, just to show you what we were prepared for. The sales people looked disappointed when we told them what we were there for but to our surprise they acted cordially. They gave us a sheet of paper to sign, they signed, made a copy for us and that was it, we got out in less then 5 minutes! The salesperson there (Richie) even mentioned few times "do not worry, this is Westin". I was actually really impressed.


I am not going to speculate on your motives but I see that you are suggesting that those that do not agree with you on this matter are less than honest. Thank you.
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It is Westin. I have not had trouble with the American branded timeshares and hotels in Mexico.
 
x3 skier said:
In my experience, the timeshare sharks are generally penned in so they are pretty easy to avoid.

Dealing with Street hustlers in Europe is another story:eek:

Cheers
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What street hustlers have you dealt with in Europe, other than the Turkish rug salesmen?
 
I have found that when exiting an Airport in Cancun or Cabo do not make eye contact and do not stop. These are not dangerous or scary people. In the large grocery stores the timeshare folks usually think I am Resident and leave me alone. For those that don't I ask for 20,000 Pesos. Then usually leads to a fun conversation.
 
PigsDad said:
"Feeling safe" is relative and subjective, so I think comparisons to other parts of the world is extremely relevant and shouldn't be swept under the rug, as you suggest. Comparisons give someone who hasn't experienced Mexico or certain parts of Mexico a reference level to help them evaluate the perceived safety compared to places that they may be familiar with. I don't see anything wrong with that, and I find it quite useful. JMHO.

Kurt
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People are not making fair comparisons. That is the only reason I mentioned this. A lot of anecdotal talk and bad data. I would recommend that anyone traveling in Mexico subscribe to Mexico News Daily. They report the good and the bad. Today there was a story of three college students who were mistakenly tortured, murdered and burned in acid. Over 70 mayors have been murdered in Mexico. Just read through all the stories. Like I said earlier, I have not personally had safety issues in Cancun or elsewhere in Mexico but I am also getting scared off by the increase in violence and that it is starting to happen in tourist areas. But there are many places that are no longer safe for travel. Places changes. Safety comes and goes. This is an exceptionally bad year for Mexico. Hopefully it gets cleaned up because it is one of my favorite places to visit. https://mexiconewsdaily.com/
 
TravelTime said:
It is Westin. I have not had trouble with the American branded timeshares and hotels in Mexico.
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Excellent, you can still go to Westin then. What was the hotel/resort that you cancelled?
 
TravelTime said:
People are not making fair comparisons. .... Over 70 mayors have been murdered in Mexico. Just read through all the stories. Like I said earlier, I have not personally had safety issues in Cancun or elsewhere in Mexico but I am also getting scared off by the increase in violence and that it is starting to happen....
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Thank goodness I’m not a mayor!
 
DannyTS said:
Excellent, you can still go to Westin then. What was the hotel/resort that you cancelled?
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First we canceled GL because they got rid of the amenities for exchangers (i.e. Beach Club and pool). Then we rebooked and canceled the Ritz Carlton and Intercontinental after hearing about all the violence in April. I was ready to go in spite of the violence but one of my friends who has been going to Mexico several times a year for the past 30 years told me she canceled her trip to Cancun due to the violence in April. Some other friends also canceled Their Cancun trip, one of whom is a Mexican national, for this summer. I figured if my friends with more experience than me don’t want to go to Cancun right now, then I may as well go elsewhere for now.
 
TravelTime said:
First we canceled GL because they got rid of the amenities for exchangers (i.e. Beach Club and pool). Then we rebooked and canceled the Ritz Carlton and Intercontinental after hearing about all the violence in April. I was ready to go in spite of the violence but one of my friends who has been going to Mexico several times a year for the past 30 years told me she canceled her trip to Cancun due to the violence in April. Some other friends also canceled Their Cancun trip, one of whom is a Mexican national, for this summer. I figured if my friends with more experience than me don’t want to go to Cancun right now, then I may as well go elsewhere for now.
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You mentioned that you were not happy with the prospects of being harassed at the hotel by the TS salespeople. I am not sure that that was going to happen at Intercontinental and Ritz, again that was not our experience at Westin. It is interesting that you and your family were going to stay at 2 hotels that are not exactly in the same area, there is a 15 minute drive between them.
 
DannyTS said:
You mentioned that you were not happy with the prospects of being harassed at the hotel by the TS salespeople. I am not sure that that was going to happen at Intercontinental and Ritz, again that was not our experience at Westin. It is interesting that you and your family were going to stay at 2 hotels that are not exactly in the same area, there is a 15 minute drive between them.
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Yes, I know there is a 15 minute drive. That did not bother me. We have points for each and would have gotten a great deal by splitting our vacation. Intercontinental has the best beach in Cancun, in my opinion, no waves, ocean is like glass, although it is an older hotel. We were reserved On high floor oceanfront suites for both. Believe me, it was painful to cancel esp the 1 bedroom oceanfront suite at the Ritz! But then we started having images of falling asleep on the beach and imagining narcos running around shooting at us from their boats. (I am exaggerating here...I know it is highly unlikely to happen but my mind goes wild sometimes.) More seriously, I was just in Cancun and I did not feel the hotel beaches had much security. It is not like the Mexican resort compounds where I felt physically safe from violence, but at risk from TS salespeople. It is a tradeoff. LOL
 
TravelTime said:
Yes, I know there is a 15 minute drive. That did not bother me. We have points for each and would have gotten a great deal by splitting our vacation. Intercontinental has the best beach in Cancun, in my opinion, no waves, ocean is like glass, although it is an older hotel. We were reserved On high floor oceanfront suites for both. Believe me, it was painful to cancel esp the 1 bedroom oceanfront suite at the Ritz! But then we started having images of falling asleep on the beach and imagining narcos running around shooting at us from their boats. (I am exaggerating here...I know it is highly unlikely to happen but my mind goes wild sometimes.) More seriously, I was just in Cancun and I did not feel the hotel beaches had much security. It is not like the Mexican resort compounds where I felt physically safe from violence, but at risk from TS salespeople. It is a tradeoff. LOL
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Just to play along with your joke, I agree: you should not fall asleep on the beach with narcos running around and shooting at you.
 
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TravelTime said:
I would suggest the moderators move this last post by DannyTS to the the Hawaii forum and start a thread about crime in Hawaii.
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TravelTime said:
In North Shore of Hawaii article posted by DannyTS: “We've had three major crimes in the last six to eight months and it's leaving people feeling unsafe," Kathleen Pahinui, North Shore Neighborhood Board said.” So what is DannyTS’s point? Moderators, please move this thread to a North Shore Hawaii crime thread. It does not belong in this thread.
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My point is that you can always find information to emphasize a certain point of view and that your persistence with this topic is unusual.
 
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Visit www.travelmarketreport.com to learn of a new phone app called Guest Assist to help with safety issues in Mexico. If i were booked to Mexico and couldn't cancel...I would load this app for some peace of mind.
 
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TravelTime said:
The name of this thread is Cancun and Crime. People are interested in this topic. I am posting articles related to the thread topic. I am not posting articles about crime in Hawaii. Why do you feel a need to defend Cancun? Yes, we can always find negative articles about any city but start a new thread on crime in Hawaii. It is irrelevant here. If the thread topic is relevant, I am entitled to post any news I find here without your critical and abusive criticism. I am sure in May, I will have 50-60 new murder articles to post about Cancun since that is the average murder rate right now. I am trying to tell Tuggers what is happening to keep them aware. You are welcome to start threads in the appropriate sections of TUG about crime rates around the USA. That is irrelevant in this thread.
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On several occasions, you asked many other people not to make comparisons to other places and cities. You were told that they were relevant because people could relate to places they are familiar to and make a more informed analysis based on personal experience.
 
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TravelTime said:
I actually said the opposite. I said it was irrelevant and I would stop making comparisons. The only reason I ever made any comparisons at first was to refute others but then I realized the fact that we have crime in Detroit and Baltimore is irrelevant. It does not make Mexico safer. Plus I do not go to Detroit and Baltimore and other places to relax on vacation. The fact that there were 3 crimes in the North Shore of Hawaii in 8 months is nothing compared to 57 murders in one month in Cancun. Not that anyone is comparing....
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The crimes in Hawaii actually involved tourists so it is really relevant since the incidents involving Cancun hotel zone tourists that are cautious are statistically nil.
 
So, we've been in Cozumel since Saturday (at the Explorean - great property, btw). I realize that it's not Cancun but close enough for my dad to fear for our lives. We are having the best time. I'm glad that we came. I have to admit, the ferry bomb made me pause, but in the end we decided to roll the dice and travel as planned.

I'm not sure of the value of the back and forth arguing about this topic. It's ok to be comfortable *or* uncomfortable with travel to Mexico. Everyone has their reasons and no one has to justify their travel plans to anyone else. We were nervous after the bombing, but I joined a facebook group for Cozumel to get information from folks who live here. That helped me to get the local feel and they were all reporting that everything was back to normal. If the local expats had been reporting something different then our plans would have changed.
 
I agree. The arguing on this thread is becoming a waste of time. Hence I have deleted as many of my response posts as I could because no response was warranted in most cases. However, the purpose of this thread was to discuss crime in Cancun and all I did was express my opinion and posts some links. There is no reason to get defensive about it. If anyone reads my posts from earlier on this thread, I am pro-Mexico. Personally, I am so sad that the service people in the luxury resorts we stay at are living in fear in their neighborhoods. It’s great tourists are safe while almost 30,000 Mexicans were murdered by the cartels in 2017 and 57 in April alone in Cancun. It is sad that visitors to Mexico say as long as it doesn’t affect tourists, it’s okay. To me, the problems in Mexico are human rights issues. And if folks are posting about murder and crime in other cities, I have the same opinion. We have problems in the USA too. We are no model for the world.

P.S. I absolutely love Puerto Vallarta esp as you go south along Banderas Bay. That area looks a lot like Costa Rica to me. I love the lush mountains in Puerto Vallarta that run directly into the ocean. I also love the Caribbean ocean in Cancun, Cozumel and Riviera Maya for swimming, snorkeling and scuba diving. It is among the best in the world and very close and accessible for North Americans. Those are my 2 favorite places in Mexico. I have been to many cities in various parts of Mexico more times than I can count for fun, for school and for business. I have traveled alone as a single woman many times too. The worst thing that has happened to me was an attempted sexual assault by a taxi driver. I speak Spanish. I was lucky that I was firm and assertive with him and put him in his place so he stopped. But he did not get a tip.
 
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TravelTime said:
The arguing on this thread is becoming a waste of time. Hence I have deleted as many of my response posts as I could ...
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Ah, the old "I'm taking my toys and going home" technique. There was a member here several years ago who was famous for doing that, and that is why there is now a time limit on editing one's posts. I've never understood that -- if you have something to say, say it. As I said earlier in this post, I appreciate all of the comments, not just one that I happen to agree with or that some may feel are off topic. Oh well...

Kurt
 
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