Do you feel shore excursions not offered by Carnival are safe?

We just booked Maya Chan in Costa Maya, not through Carnival. With all of the things happening in Mexico, my cruise mates are scared to go or even drink while off of the boat. I'm not really concerned. I've read nothing but great things! I know there is always a risk but how can I convince them that where we are going is safe?

Travel warning have been issued but honestly pay attention to your surroundings like you would anywhere. I'd be cautious and I say this as someone who spends 10 days in Cozumel every year but I wouldn't let fear keep me on the ship.

I guess no one can assure safety, even Carnival. In case you proceed, just exercise caution.

 

 

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As long as by a reputable operator each normally as safe as each other.

Carnival doesn't run or manage the excursions. All they do is contract with a tour provider and then take a cut, so you are really no safer on a Carnival excursion than a private tour provider, as long as they are a reputable, licensed company.

100%. We almost exclusively book independently. If you stay in 'tourist' areas and use a reasonable amount of caution you have nothing to worry about. You are taking tours from the same companies/to the same places whether doing them through carnival or independently. For example we took an ATV tour in st Martin independently. We got picked up early and went to the ATV rental company (who also provides the guides). They are the only ATV rental company in the port area. Any tour involving ATV's uses their ATV's and their guides. In fact we started with the ship tour and then broke off with a smaller group after the first photo stop.

 

 

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You can always price match with Carnival if they offer an identical excursion. It's worth doing some research.

I would go through Carnival on higher crime ports like Nassau, Roatan, Limon, and Belize. While I really ebjoyed the Yucatan, the people, the food, there was a cartel conflict in Merida, near Progreso, in view of passengers. Our tour bus returned, parallel to armed police jeeps, sirens flaring. The cartels pointed guns at each other, but it all disappated before the police arrived.

Edited August 24, 2017 by Stateroom_Sailor

Your not safe in your own back yard any more, those days are long gone. Use your instincts, stay with a group and if it feels wrong don't go.

 

No amount of money is worth your life.

You'll be fine doing your own excursion just stay within the populated areas don't try to be crazy and sneak off into backyard alley

 

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Maya Chan is excellent and very safe. It is owned and operated by an American family who are experienced cruisers wanting to offer a resort that met cruisers concerns and expectations for an activity not booked through the cruise lines. We were just there in July and are going again next March. It is everything as advertised and more. Your friends have nothing to be concerned about.

Your question was how to convince your friends it is safe. I don't know that you can. We have driven throughout Mexico over the past 10 years and never had a problem. But, we still can't convince some we know that it is not dangerous. Some people choose to limit themselves based on unfounded fears that have nothing to do with their (or others) personal experience and those people are very hard to change.

 

You may need to book a private excursion with people on cruise critic and let your scared friends do their thing.

 

 

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Some people choose to limit themselves based on unfounded fears that have nothing to do with their (or others) personal experience

I think that's presumptuous. The US Department of State has seen fit to issue a warning specifically mentioning the cities where the cruise ports are located and the state within which they're situated generally. That's based on a comprehensive view of the risk. Compare that to "personal experience" which is anecdotal and therefore nowhere near as reliable as relying on the data.

 

Bad things don't happen until they do. Relying on personal experience to the exclusion of a warning issued by governments (Canada as well) seems reckless to me. That's not to say that the warning, itself, should drive people to change their plans. It isn't changing ours. However, that's because we're carefully considering the warning, itself, and the data that it is based on, and weighing the risk that the warning communicates.

I've probably vacationed in the Playa del Carmen area over a dozen times, and always felt safe wherever I went, often on my own. I'm sure I've also visited Cozumel as a port stop the same amount or even more.

 

Playa and Coz were generally considered some of the safest tourist areas in Mexico, but there has been an uptick in violence recently due to cartel/drug rivalries. The State Dept has issued a warning for the entire Quintana Roo Province, of which Cancun, Coz and Playa are just small parts. That's like issuing a warning for the entire US West Coast because of an increase in violence in Bakersfield.

 

I don't drink booze, but if I did, I would be more concerned with drinking tainted alcohol at bars and resorts than getting caught in the midst of a cartel shootout.

I have traveled throughout Mexico, lived there for a while, and had some "interesting" experiences before the rise of the drug cartels. I'd no longer travel there. That's just my choice.

I agree, the cruise company just contracts with local tours, and they are no "safer" than another reputable tour operator. But, you have to do what you're comfortable with.

We didn't book any of our excursions through Carnival last year—not for Cozumel, and not for Roatan or Belize either. Go with a reputable company that has a high number of 5-star reviews on TripAdvisor and your chances are as good as any that you will have a great time.

I've visited Maya Chan and have also visited Chicago.

Maya Chan is much safer than the Windy City.

Look up the crime stats.

The State Dept has issued a warning for the entire Quintana Roo Province, of which Cancun, Coz and Playa are just small parts. That's like issuing a warning for the entire US West Coast because of an increase in violence in Bakersfield.

Well, no, it's not. It's like issuing a warning for Kern, Tulare, Kings, and San Luis Obispo counties. And the question is whether that's warranted. That depends not on anecdotal reaction but rather where the violence that prompted the warnings was located. I've been trying to get more details about that, so if you have a source that lists and describes the last hundred murders in Quintana Roo that would be very helpful. My instinct is that a lot of those murders took place in Cancun itself, but I'm not sure. The info I've collected so far is:

 

7/2017 - police commander shot outside his home in Cancun

 

7/2017 - shooting at nightclub in Cancun injured 3

 

6/16/17 - armed confrontation between the Ministerial Police and criminal groups in Cancun; no injuries

 

6/9/17 - double execution in Cancun followed by firefight with Municipal Police

 

4/22/17 - beating death of a Mexican tourist by a Canadian tourist

 

1/17/17 - gunfire exchanges in various locations around Cancun including Plaza de Las Americas; 4 dead including a police officer

 

1/16/17 - shooting at a music festival in Cancun; 5 dead, 15 injuries

 

1/16/17 - shooting before dawn in Playa del Carmen

 

11/2016 - three killed in Cancun hotel zone

I've visited Maya Chan and have also visited Chicago.

 

Maya Chan is much safer than the Windy City.

 

Look up the crime stats.

 

 

Stop and use common sense here and learn to understand statistics and demographics before you post such nonsense

 

 

If a city has 1 million inhabitants and has a 10% crime rate that could be interpreted as 100,000 of the people are involved in or have been victims of crime. So the 100,000 seems high

 

 

If a town has 10,000 occupants and a 10% crime rate that could be interpreted as 1000 inhabitants involved or affected so that seems low

 

Chicago rates and costa maya rates can't be compared unless you get more detailed info

 

 

And no I'm not looking up Chicago crime stats I just know that to compare Chicago to costa maya is ridiculous

 

 

However the point you miss it that Chicago is a large area whereas costa maya is not....meaning that crime in Chicago could be spread out over a much larger geography but in costa maya which is small the crime is more than likely condensed. This is important btw

 

 

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Well, no, it's not. It's like issuing a warning for Kern, Tulare, Kings, and San Luis Obispo counties. And the question is whether that's warranted. That depends not on anecdotal reaction but rather where the violence that prompted the warnings was located. I've been trying to get more details about that, so if you have a source that lists and describes the last hundred murders in Quintana Roo that would be very helpful. My instinct is that a lot of those murders took place in Cancun itself, but I'm not sure. The info I've collected so far is:

 

7/2017 - police commander shot outside his home in Cancun

 

7/2017 - shooting at nightclub in Cancun injured 3

 

6/16/17 - armed confrontation between the Ministerial Police and criminal groups in Cancun; no injuries

 

6/9/17 - double execution in Cancun followed by firefight with Municipal Police

 

4/22/17 - beating death of a Mexican tourist by a Canadian tourist

 

1/17/17 - gunfire exchanges in various locations around Cancun including Plaza de Las Americas; 4 dead including a police officer

 

1/16/17 - shooting at a music festival in Cancun; 5 dead, 15 injuries

 

1/16/17 - shooting before dawn in Playa del Carmen

 

11/2016 - three killed in Cancun hotel zone

 

One person dying by gun violence is one person too many. However, I'm not sure how many tourists were involved in the incidents you detail, nor do we know how many incidents occurred in the Hotel or tourist zones. Just saying "Cancun" does not mean exclusively the Hotel Zone.

 

I did hear reports of tourists being sickened or even killed by tainted alcohol in the resort and hotel areas, and those numbers exceed the total you cite above.

 

Statistically speaking, if 20 tourists were killed by gun violence and / or tainted alcohol, that is a very small % of the 10 million tourists who vist these areas annually. { 0.00002 %}. If we add the number of annual cruise ship day trippers to the annual # of vacationers, the % drops even way lower.

 

No consolation to those who did lose a loved one, of course. But statistics have no feelings, they are simply numbers.

 

And statistically speaking, more people are killed by falling coconuts than by sharks, but people fear sharks more. Same with these reports of gun violence and bad booze. I recognize that a fear felt is real to the person experiencing it, even if the numbers show it is irrational.

One person dying by gun violence is one person too many. However, I'm not sure how many tourists were involved in the incidents you detail, nor do we know how many incidents occurred in the Hotel or tourist zones.

Me neither. The fact that it is so difficult to find out, and the fact that news reports are saying things like governors are being pressured to not count all the murders in the statistics they provide, raises suspicions. If the violence was taking place away from tourist areas, you know that the government would be touting that fact.

 

Statistically speaking, if 20 tourists were killed by gun violence and / or tainted alcohol, that is a very small % of the 10 million tourists who vist these areas annually. { 0.00002 %}. If we add the number of annual cruise ship day trippers to the annual # of vacationers, the % drops even way lower.

You're working too hard to chase away the reality of this new advisory from the State Department. Something has changed. They weren't saying these things a year ago; now they are.

 

I recognize that a fear felt is real to the person experiencing it, even if the numbers show it is irrational.

Except the fear isn't irrational given the facts. It may be irrational to act on that fear, but the fear itself is very clearly, and unequivocally, warranted. If anything, what would be irrational would be refusing to acknowledge and respect the risk and allowing that to affect your perception of the experience of visiting the affected area. Edited August 24, 2017 by bUU

20 out of 10.00.0.00 - I'll wager that is lower than the death rate for annual # of deaths among cruise ship passengers. Should I not cruise then?

 

And since I don't drink booze halve those odds to 10 out of 10 Million

 

We all do what we feel is good for us. I don't have any current plans to vacay in PDC, but only because I have other new land plans instead.

 

 

 

 

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It may be irrational to act on that fear

20 out of 10.00.0.00 - I'll wager that is lower than the death rate for annual # of deaths among cruise ship passengers. Should I not cruise then?

Please read the messages to which you are replying. Thanks.

Just to point out, the question asked is whether a carnival excursion is safer than an independent excursion. Your tour bus can end up in the wrong place at the wrong time either way. If anything, I would count on a locally run excursion to react to local trends and deviate from the itinerary if needed whereas a carnival excursion may be unable to do that due to their contract.

 

 

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Absolutely, we never do excursions through Carnival, we always do them through a private vendor whichever port we go to. The only time we book anything through Carnival is at Half Moon Cay which we book a cabana. That's it.