22 Carnival Cruise passengers robbed at gunpoint on ship-sponsored tour in Mexico

[extechie rbd/wdt]

If your going into the central part, this thread is good advice for tourists:

"Mexico may not be the fashion mecca of the New World, but there are standards. Dress for success if you want to blend, if you want respect, or if you merely want to avoid pickpockets and thugs. Don’t use the weather as an excuse for dressing like a tennis pro or someone on safari. Chinos (for the men) and---ladies take note---flowing skirts are every bit as cool as shorts. And you’ll avoid sunburn and prematurely wrinkled legs."

So this is appropriate!

Ex Techie

 

[mickey2000]

If your going into the central part, this thread is good advice for tourists:

"Mexico may not be the fashion mecca of the New World, but there are standards. Dress for success if you want to blend, if you want respect, or if you merely want to avoid pickpockets and thugs. Don’t use the weather as an excuse for dressing like a tennis pro or someone on safari. Chinos (for the men) and---ladies take note---flowing skirts are every bit as cool as shorts. And you’ll avoid sunburn and prematurely wrinkled legs."

So this is appropriate!

Ex Techie

What !!! No shorts ??? I'm shocked ! I'll wear my tux ....

 

[sayhello]

Not good. We are booked on the 3/18 Mexican Riveria. We are sticking to Disney excursions (Paradise Beach in Puerto Vallarta), but it concerns me that these robbers where able to stop and rob an entire tour bus. Does anyone know how far inland the area mentioned in the article is?

This was a ship-sponsored excursion. Obviously that didn't help.

I couldn't find the specific El Nogalito mentioned in the article, but when I looked at Carnival's website, there's a 3 hour excursion that includes a city tour of Puerto Vallarta, 25 minutes of shopping, visit to a church, time on your own to explore the downtown plaza and a trip to the Jungle of El Nogalito. If all that is happening in 3 hours, it can't be that far away from Puerto Vallarta.

Sayhello

 

[sayhello]

Purely speculation but.... Very possible for the tour companies to have employees that "set this type of thing up". I believe that's what happened a few years ago in Nassau on a Disney excursion that people were held at gunpoint on. These excursion tours are not Disney employees, but rather people from the island.

No, that wasn't the way it happened in Nassau. It was a former employee of the tour company, who knew enough about how they operated their tours to be able to set it up.

Sayhello

 

[hgon76]

No, that wasn't the way it happened in Nassau. It was a former employee of the tour company, who knew enough about how they operated their tours to be able to set it up.

Sayhello

That's what I meant. Wasn't sure of the specifics, but knew that there was some "inside" stuff that happened. The person did work for the tour company @ one time & knew where & when to carry out this robbery. Had more inside knowledge then just some random person would.

 

[develizweb]

We leave Sunday for MR cruise...am wondering if we should just stay on ship. Our plan was to walk to the Crown Paradise Resort.

 

[Feisty Fairy]

Is the problems only in the Mexican Rivera are they on the Western Caribbean sailings too. Costa Maya and Cozumel? How safe are these two ports should I switch my cruise for next year

 

[gichicdoc]

When "events" started happening with increased frequency in Mazatlan, DCL pulled out of those stops. I wonder if they will stop calls into Puerto Vallarta now???

 

[EnchantedTikiGal]

yikes! My husband and son were JUST on a 30 min busride inland for their 4x4 mini jeep excursion last week.

If I were just now leaving for MR, I would still get off and do the close to ship touristy stuff, but I would cancel the inland excursion they did for sure.

 

[pearljammer]

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


I realize Disney may not stop here but people do cruise other cruise lines on these boards. Merely FYI.

As someone who's cruised to and done all inclusives to Mexico in the past, because of what's going on there we have made the personal decision not to return. It may not be the resort so much but getting there and back is what I don't have a whole lot of faith in. I understand the Mexican Riviera isn't as bad but there's just so many other choices of travel which is a shame because that area is beautiful.

Anyway. I'm not saying "don't go" just that this is our decision when traveling with our 4 yo. That's all.

 

[mdsoccermom]

Here is a map of Mexico travel warnings. There is not a single warning in the Cancun, Cozumel, Mayan Riviera locations. I send clients to that area all the time and would not hesitate to get off the ship. To cancel your plans in that area because of crime in Puerto Vallarta is like cancelling plans in Florida because of crime in California.

http://www.travelweekly.com/uploadedFiles/MEXICOMAP4.pdf

 

[erionm]

Already a discussion going on here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2883609

 

[mdsoccermom]

Is the problems only in the Mexican Rivera are they on the Western Caribbean sailings too. Costa Maya and Cozumel? How safe are these two ports should I switch my cruise for next year

There are absolutely no warnings for those areas.

Here is a map of the travel warnings in Mexico.


http://www.travelweekly.com/uploadedFiles/MEXICOMAP4.pdf

 

[Dislaney4n6]

Unfortunately, these incidents are not isolated to Mexican towns...

Bahamas
http://www.time.com/time/travel/article/0,31542,1992105,00.html

Jamaica
http://www.cruisebruise.com/Carnvial_Conquest_Passengers_robbed_June_13_2007.html



Care needs to be taken no matter the location of port. The arrival of a large cruise ship signals the misfits.

 

[TammyAlphabet]

I would avoid Mexico like the plague. This successful robbery will no doubt make other like-minded individuals optimistic about their chances of equal success. Reminds me of the train and covered wagon robberies of the old west.

 

[britfish]

I would avoid Mexico like the plague. This successful robbery will no doubt make other like-minded individuals optimistic about their chances of equal success. Reminds me of the train and covered wagon robberies of the old west.

I completely agree. A few years ago my husband said no more Mexico, since then the violence has been increasing so much, he definitely gets the told you so on this one.

 

[M4travels]

I would avoid Mexico like the plague. This successful robbery will no doubt make other like-minded individuals optimistic about their chances of equal success. Reminds me of the train and covered wagon robberies of the old west.

And some of us would avoid Tennessee.

Once again silliness abounds.

 

[TitanBrett]

saying you would avoid mexico really does a disservice to a lot of the areas that are quite safe, cruisers on this board should know the problems are on the west side of the country. All the western Caribbean itineraries visit eastern mexico.

 

[DisneyMommy1022]

We are leaving next sunday on the Wonder and this has me a little worried! Do you think that Disney will cancel this stop based on the information and do you think that we will be safe?

 

[Alexander]

I wonder how much longer DCL will stick out the MR cruises. I know they cancelled December, but at this point, it is getting ridiculous. If they have to keep cancelling ports and guests are afraid to leave the ship, what is the purpose of even taking one of these cruises?

We have no concerns at all about the Western Caribbean cruise. Most of the major problems seem to be on the other side of the country.