Mazatlan being destroyed by cartel.

[NutsAboutGolf]

Here are all the ships that are still visiting Mazatlan through March

 

[Shiba_Lover]

I only clicked this to see if someone were somehow blaming Celebrity for this.

[phoenix_dream]

7 hours ago, cruisingator2 said:

Sad to read about Mazatlán. We were there last month and walked downtown and back to the ship with no issues. There was expats along the walk giving info and directions. Felt very safe at that time. No issues with PV either. Cabo was another story. We were constantly offered drugs, sex and tours along our walk to eat dinner at a local restaurant. I’m used to people trying to sell things in other ports but Cabo took it to a new level. 

Surprised to see this. We were there in December and overnighted in Cabo so spent 2 days walking around.  No one offered us anything but tours. Nothing beyond the usual.  Also visited Mazatlan, walked the blue line, and never felt unsafe.

[abbydancer2003]

1 minute ago, phoenix_dream said:

Surprised to see this. We were there in December and overnighted in Cabo so spent 2 days walking around.  No one offered us anything but tours. Nothing beyond the usual.  Also visited Mazatlan, walked the blue line, and never felt unsafe.

My experience as well.

[NutsAboutGolf]

7 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

Surprised to see this. We were there in December and overnighted in Cabo so spent 2 days walking around.  No one offered us anything but tours. Nothing beyond the usual.  Also visited Mazatlan, walked the blue line, and never felt unsafe.

 

5 minutes ago, abbydancer said:

My experience as well.

That’s because the violence was localized to the cartel strong hold about 135 miles away

[bEwAbG]

They closed the Mazatlan airport.  There was a day or two where tourists were being told to stay inside and shelter in place and some hotels had people sleeping in the lobby because they were out of rooms since no one could leave.  The extradition of the captured drug trafficker to the U.S. was put on hold, partly due to the outbreak of violence.  So who knows how it will be resolved or when.  This rattled the area for several days, so not exactly business as normal. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

4 minutes ago, bEwAbG said:

They closed the Mazatlan airport.  There was a day or two where tourists were being told to stay inside and shelter in place and some hotels had people sleeping in the lobby because they were out of rooms since no one could leave.  The extradition of the captured drug trafficker to the U.S. was put on hold, partly due to the outbreak of violence.  So who knows how it will be resolved or when.  This rattled the area for several days, so not exactly business as normal. 

 

All true and it absolutely makes sense to proceed with caution.  The good news is the violence remained localized in the cartel stronghold city

[Arizona Wildcat]

12 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

All true and it absolutely makes sense to proceed with caution.  The good news is the violence remained localized in the cartel stronghold city

The violence in Mexico is not localized.  It is rampant along the entire border with the US and effects many towns both coastal and inland.  Most tourist areas are heavily policed, but don't stray far if you want to be safer.

From Ciudad Juarez (El Paso) to Acapulco and in between lots of problems

[NutsAboutGolf]

40 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

The violence in Mexico is not localized.  It is rampant along the entire border with the US and effects many towns both coastal and inland.  Most tourist areas are heavily policed, but don't stray far if you want to be safer.

From Ciudad Juarez (El Paso) to Acapulco and in between lots of problems

 

Sure, there could be pockets of violence all over the country.  Was simply pointing out the retaliatory violet event that took place about 135 miles from Mazatlán was localized

[sfaaa]

3 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Surprised to see this. We were there in December and overnighted in Cabo so spent 2 days walking around.  No one offered us anything but tours. Nothing beyond the usual. 

The street hustlers don't approach everyone to paddle their drug and sex merchandise in Cabo. They target tourists that fit a certain profile like young party type American males who are out to have fun and cash to spend. I wasn't approached since I am a sloppily dressed old fart but the 3 young dudes besides me were.

[Cruising89143]

29 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

The street hustlers don't approach everyone to paddle their drug and sex merchandise in Cabo. They target tourists that fit a certain profile like young party type American males who are out to have fun and cash to spend. I wasn't approached since I am a sloppily dressed old fart but the 3 young dudes besides me were.

I can assure that we are not that young and certainly do not fit the party crowd but yes we were a target. Even had a man and women pushing a baby carriage asking me if I wanted “blow” while tapping his nose. That one surprised me. Wasn’t expecting that from what appeared to be parents with a baby.

[Mike981]

21 hours ago, rbelshaw said:

The last time the cartels got frisky on the coast, July 2022, I became curious about how the bad press/State Department alerts had affected Mexican Riviera cruise fares. I knew the Mexican government would not permit such shenanigans to adversely affect its tourism trade.

 

So, I was able to book a seven day RS on Soli for early November at $3600, all in, with $600 OBC. As a solo.

 

The cruise was perfect and ruined (spoiled) me. My only regret was that I did not grab the Penthouse, also available, at $5000.

 

I am again checking fares daily.

 

 

 

I watched an interview with a guy  who does exactly this and talked about how cheap he can travel around the world. Civil unrest, gov issues, weather events, he just waits until he feels comfortable for himself and then books. Most people need more assurance and time to travel to a place like that so all costs are much less.

[ptcflyer]

Best trips are right after major disasters, pandemics, and geopolitical events.      Scored a $999 round trip to Hong Kong with 5 nights hotel... on Cathay Pacific right after Hong Kong Bird Flu in 1998.      Toured South Africa as one of a few tourists and was only one of two guests at an entire Game Lodge (Sabi Saba) in 1994 right after terrorist attacks and Nelson Mandela was freed.   Flew on the Concorde round trip to Paris for 175,000 sky miles with only 30 passengers on the plane soon after it resumed services from its crash.     Toured an empty tourism Thailand during and after the Student Riots in May, 1992.     Was one of a few tourists with empty game lodges and excellent rates after the Terrorist attacks in Nairobi.    Cruised on a half empty Viking Cruise Ship for the 2021 / 2022 World Cruise (138 days) that was affected by Covid....  had huge rebates.... nice upgrades..... and paid about 1/2 of the typical daily rate.   Had to be tested every day and the entire itinerary changed the day before we left...  but it was an incredible journey.    Right now, Celebrity and other cruise lines are giving away cabins to small time gamblers on their gambling lists.   I have booked a dozen free cruises on Celebrity (Just pay taxes for verandah or higher cabin).... traveling all corners of the globe.   (Thanks to slow Covid recovery... and Celebrity aggressively trying to fill cabins).      The best and most memorable adventures are when you dare to go ....  when nobody else will.       Next trip:   The Mexican Riviera on a seemingly empty Solstice....  Single 7 Day Verandah Cabin... for $223.00.   

Edited January 17, 2023 by ptcflyer

[mpdog42]

4 minutes ago, ptcflyer said:

Best trips are right after major disasters, pandemics, and geopolitical events.      Scored a $999 round trip to Hong Kong with 5 nights hotel... on Cathay Pacific right after Hong Kong Bird Flu in 1998.      Toured South Africa as one of a few tourists and was only one of two guests at an entire Game Lodge (Sabi Saba) in 1994 right after terrorist attacks and Nelson Mandela was freed.   Flew on the Concorde round trip to Paris for 175,000 sky miles with only 30 passengers on the plane soon after it resumed services from its crash.     Toured an empty tourism Thailand during and after the Student Riots in May, 1992.     Was one of a few tourists with empty game lodges and excellent rates after the Terrorist attacks in Nairobi.    Cruised on a half empty Viking Cruise Ship for the 2021 / 2022 World Cruise (138 days) that was affected by Covid....  had huge rebates.... nice upgrades..... and paid about 1/2 of the typical daily rate.   Had to be tested every day and the entire itinerary changed the day before we left...  but it was an incredible journey.    Right now, Celebrity and other cruise lines are giving away cabins to small time gamblers on their gambling lists.   I have booked a dozen free cruises on Celebrity (Just pay taxes for verandah or higher cabin).... traveling all corners of the globe.   (Thanks to slow Covid recovery... and Celebrity aggressively trying to fill cabins).      The best and most memorable adventures are when you dare to go ....  when nobody else will.       Next trip:   The Mexican Riviera on a seemingly empty Solstice....  Single 7 Day Verandah Cabin... for $223.00.   

Eventually your luck will run out….Glad I am retired and no longer have to deal with Civilians (People like this) as a first responder….,

[ptcflyer]

27 minutes ago, mpdog42 said:

Eventually your luck will run out….Glad I am retired and no longer have to deal with Civilians (People like this) as a first responder….,

Never in any danger.  It is FEAR and FEAR alone during the aftermath that drives tourism away...   My luck will run out only because of the pure physics involved with traveling the world.... not because I dare to travel in the aftermath of upheavals.   The closest I have come to death, by far,  is a stray bullet that killed a woman across from me in a Las Vegas Casino fired by a common criminal being accosted by a security guard.... right here in the good old USA.  

 

[AstoriaPreppy]

18 hours ago, bEwAbG said:

They closed the Mazatlan airport.  There was a day or two where tourists were being told to stay inside and shelter in place and some hotels had people sleeping in the lobby because they were out of rooms since no one could leave.  The extradition of the captured drug trafficker to the U.S. was put on hold, partly due to the outbreak of violence.  So who knows how it will be resolved or when.  This rattled the area for several days, so not exactly business as normal. 

 

If you actually read the reports of sheltering in place in Mazatlan, they seem to all be from Canadian media/wire services, and specifically one or two Canadian families. Other than the airport getting shut down so cartel members couldn't escape by air, I can't find any reports from American/European tourists about having to shelter in place. 

[AstoriaPreppy]

15 hours ago, cruisingator2 said:

I can assure that we are not that young and certainly do not fit the party crowd but yes we were a target. Even had a man and women pushing a baby carriage asking me if I wanted “blow” while tapping his nose. That one surprised me. Wasn’t expecting that from what appeared to be parents with a baby.

 

Usually the only thing that surprises me is when it's a dog/cat in the stroller. 

[abbydancer2003]

42 minutes ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

If you actually read the reports of sheltering in place in Mazatlan, they seem to all be from Canadian media/wire services, and specifically one or two Canadian families. Other than the airport getting shut down so cartel members couldn't escape by air, I can't find any reports from American/European tourists about having to shelter in place. 

If you ask my sister (who's a little wacko on these sort of things) it's because American media doesn't report anything out of the US except Ukraine. 

[Z'Loth]

On 1/15/2023 at 11:10 PM, NMTraveller said:

The Pacific side of Mexico used to have more cruise ships that it does now.  There is a reason for that. 

 

In January 2005, my mother and I had an 8 day cruise on the Carnival Spirit. Two of the stops was Acapulco and Ixtapa. Yes, we saw the cliff divers.

 

Unfortunately, Acapulco is part of the Guerrero state, and per the State Department, this is a DO NOT TRAVEL location. It is especially noted that "U.S. government employees may not travel to other areas of the state of Guerrero, including to tourist areas in Acapulco, Zihuatanejo, and Ixtapa." It has been several years since the cruise ships stopped at those ports. 

[AstoriaPreppy]

1 hour ago, abbydancer said:

If you ask my sister (who's a little wacko on these sort of things) it's because American media doesn't report anything out of the US except Ukraine. 

 

Eh, I'm sure she'd be happy to tell you that the media makes it clear that NYC is actually just a dystopian burning pit of despair these days too 😂

[phoenix_dream]

52 minutes ago, Z'Loth said:

 

In January 2005, my mother and I had an 8 day cruise on the Carnival Spirit. Two of the stops was Acapulco and Ixtapa. Yes, we saw the cliff divers.

 

Unfortunately, Acapulco is part of the Guerrero state, and per the State Department, this is a DO NOT TRAVEL location. It is especially noted that "U.S. government employees may not travel to other areas of the state of Guerrero, including to tourist areas in Acapulco, Zihuatanejo, and Ixtapa." It has been several years since the cruise ships stopped at those ports. 

True and very sad. I loved my visits there years ago, especially Zihuatanejo.

[phoenix_dream]

20 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

The violence in Mexico is not localized.  It is rampant along the entire border with the US and effects many towns both coastal and inland.  Most tourist areas are heavily policed, but don't stray far if you want to be safer.

From Ciudad Juarez (El Paso) to Acapulco and in between lots of problems

Try visiting the south or west side of Chicago sometime.  There are places everywhere one should avoid or be extremely careful visiting in most countries unfortunately. 

[Mike45LC]

22 hours ago, sfaaa said:

The street hustlers don't approach everyone to paddle their drug and sex merchandise in Cabo. They target tourists that fit a certain profile like young party type American males who are out to have fun and cash to spend. I wasn't approached since I am a sloppily dressed old fart but the 3 young dudes besides me were.

I too have not been offered drugs or sex in any of the Mex Riv ports (including Sea of Cortez).   And I've been many times.  I guess I am also an old fart in the eyes of the street vendors!  But since all the pharmacies offer *****, well, my being old should not be a deterrent!! 

 

[Oceansaway17]

5 hours ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

Eh, I'm sure she'd be happy to tell you that the media makes it clear that NYC is actually just a dystopian burning pit of despair these days too 😂

I will trade you Phila for NYC any day.   Felt safe in NYC except did not like smelling all the legal pot folks were smoking around Times Square

[sfaaa]

About security, Mazatlan & PV were flooded with police and heavily armed soldiers but nothing like that in Cabo. All I saw was a lone security guard armed with an SMG in front of a high end jewelry store.