Mexican Pacific ports

[m steve]

seemed to have been dropped by Princess. Is this a trend that other lines are following? Other than Acapulco, I haven't read of any crime problems. They all seem to be in Mexico City and at US border. My expat friend in Merida says no problems there. Princess has several Canal cruises now with 4-5 sea days instead of the usual stops.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I would like that on a repositioning cruise.

 

Now in 2009 we had no choice but to skip the Mexican ports because of the N1H1 virus in April/May.

[jhannah]

I believe the ports are safe ... providing you stay on the beaten path. I'm wondering if there's something else going on below the surface? I hope someone can enlighten us, Steve.

[cruz chic]

I know that some people think that Mexico is dangerous. You hear of plenty of crime in the Caribbean but somehow that gets underplayed.

[John Cruise]

The word I've heard is that is not a safety issue

but a profit issue for the cruiselines.

Fares were too low, and on board spending was

lower than average.

Bottom line is cruising is a business, and they have

to show a profit to operate on a certain route.

If the California economy returns, so too will the ships.

[Copper10-8]

Interesting article from SEP 09 on this:

 

http://www.banderasnews.com/0909/to-mexloveboats.htm

[Ine]

In general the Mexican Riviera ports are safe and ready for tourists.

Indeed there have been troubles in Acapulco, but mainly drugsrelated.

We stayed a few months in Puerto Vallarta in winter and never had any problems. I even felt safer there then in some other european or US cities.

 

As far as I know cruiselines donot make enough money on the MR cruises, since repeaters hardly book excursions etc. Also competition has been hard and they will sail and bring the ships where they can make more money.

[GATOR9]

I have been up and down the coast of Mexico several times in the last few years and the only problem I have had is from a vendor that switched packages on me and discovered that I was shorted two pieces of a chess set, I learned what to do next time. We were even lost in one port off the tourist route I would say and the locals helped us back to where we needed to be. I love visting Mexico and have yet to have a bad experience. We have visited many places, but it seems that we keep coming back to Mexico. I am retired law enforcement so dare say i am always alert and leery of things but we have always been treated very well in Mexico. I would say that crime in our own back yard is worse than any country we have visited. I would say that you would be safe.

[m steve]

That these ports don't get enough cruisers and not enough profit for Princess, I would resent being kept on board so I could buy more in the ship's shops, more drinks and lose more in the casinos so the cruise line would make more. I would not take one of those cruises and just see all the enjoyable ports from the sea.

[Jemima]

Mexican ports need more interesting excursions and more variety. There are lots of beach/water excursions, but that's not what many of us want. Those that do want beach are going to much prefer the Caribbean. The other excursions tend to be not especially interesting. The buses and guides are good. It is the excursions themselves that are mostly so-so. More interesting places often require very long bus rides.

We have three Mexican ports and a Guatemalan port on our fall cruise. We haven't booked any excursions yet because they either don't interest us or they are full day with very long bus rides. We've been to Puerto Vallarta several times and have done all the somewhat interesting excursions. Nothing sounds very interesting in Hautulco, Puerto Chiapas excursions have fairly long bus rides and Guatemala excursions seem to require a 90 minute bus ride each way.

A relative did a Pacific Mexico cruise on HAL, liked the ship; but never wants to visit another Mexican port. They later did a Panama cruise, possibly partial, and chose a different cruiseline in order to avoid the Mexican ports.

[SwissMyst]

Eating in Mexican ports is my favorite activity because you get the real thing as Mexican cuisine is quite complex and refined when you get away from the standard US versions of it. Never tire of this possibility.

 

For us the cruise as a repeat is worth it to dine both in Mazatlan at Te Amo Lucy and Puerto Vallarta on the upper back streets in the local cafes, but we still need to find something in Cabo. Hear the legendary Trailer Park restaurant is still in operation and worth a look see next time.

 

Plus we want to add to our collection of Talavera pottery ware at the shop we found in PV - Galeria Indigena. The stuff is heavy so we can only bring back a few pieces at a time and still meet our airline weight allowances. Will pick up a few more on our next stop in PV on the Statendam Panama Canal trip.