Mexico gang violence!?

[chy]

hi all,

I am very concerned right now, so I was hoping someone would be able to answer my questions. It is all over the news right now that after the killing of a high up cartel member, regions of Mexico are in an uproar with extreme cartel violence. The Canadian government has said to limit travel to this area. I am going on a 7 night Mexican cruise on January 13-20. The cities on the itinerary include cabo, puerto vallarta, and mazatlan (one one the cities said to avoid for all non-essential purposes).  Will our itinerary be changed? I have not heard anything from Royal yet and am very concerned. The news has said 6 Canadians have already been trapped there, I do not want to go there if that's the case.

[Zacharius]

Mazatlan may be changed due to the fact that it's in Sinaloa which is the main problem area right now. It's fairly far from Culiacan, where yesterday's violence was, but I would imagine Royal's insurers may not be thrilled about sending any ship to Sinaloa right now. But this is so recent, I doubt Royal knows yet which is why they haven't told you anything yet.

I would say the other two stops are probably fine. But this is all a guess right now, of course. 

[Carlos A.]

It's very possible that Mazatlán will be cancelled, however Cabo San Lucas an Puerto Vallarta aren't affected at all by these events. Btw, it was because of a high up cartel member being arrested, not killed. 

[FireFishII]

I don't know about the present situation.  But this past summer, 2 weeks before our cruise, they canceled one of our Mexican port and substituted Nassau for it. It was a good news/bad news/good news scenario.  Good news: Don't go someplace where there is violence.  Bad news: I really did not want Nassau.  Good news: Our date for PDCC was changed - this meant that we were the only ship there at the time (instead of 3 ships).  I was able to grab a cabana in the Beach Club and surprised my siblings with an upgrade.   What was interesting was our cruise was the only one moved.  I know that the next ship to sail to that region, did not have their port changed. 

I believe that RC will not take you into an area with potential violence.  Be prepared for a change. 

[Zacharius]

33 minutes ago, FireFishII said:

I don't know about the present situation.  But this past summer, 2 weeks before our cruise, they canceled one of our Mexican port and substituted Nassau for it. It was a good news/bad news/good news scenario.  Good news: Don't go someplace where there is violence. 

I mean, Nassau can be a pretty violent place - there's a decently high gang-on-gang violence rate around Nassau. Not in places that most tourists will ever go to, but it definitely can be a violent place. 

[tjcruisers]

If I remember correctly, last summer there was some drug cartel violence going on in one of the Mexican ports and the cruise lines just cancelled the stop. My experience is they won’t put you in the line of danger and play it cautious

[Cactus527]

When there were issues this past August in Ensenada, RC did skip the port that weekend (but that wasn't the original plan). I'm sure they're considering this as they weigh what to do regarding Mazatlan. Luckily, the ship would still hit other out-of-USA ports to meet the non-US-port requirement. With Ensenada, that wasn't possible.

[Traveling Mike]

I have been cruising those cities for years and from history two of the three have not been a problem.  Cabo has always been a very safe place to go because it is all tourists and they make sure there is no reason for the tourists not to come.  I love walking the city of Cobo (get off the avenue that is next to the bay).  Puerto Vallarta is a larger city and has not had many issues.  There are things to do but after being there a few times you start staying on the ship or going to one of all exclusive hotels.  I used to worry about Mazatlan.  There is always many military people going around the city.  We used to take a taxi from the port to the hotel district on the beach.  You get out of your taxi at one of the hotels and walk through the hotel to the beach.  Once you are on the beach it is safe, and they have all the toys to rent.  Last year when I was in Mazatlan it seemed much safer, and I took a shore excursion that showed me the town and I enjoyed it.  If you are worried about Mazatlan just take a taxi to the hotel district and spend the day on the beach.

[PL8SWPR]

On 1/6/2023 at 2:18 PM, Zacharius said:

I mean, Nassau can be a pretty violent place - there's a decently high gang-on-gang violence rate around Nassau. Not in places that most tourists will ever go to, but it definitely can be a violent place. 

 

I believe the state department has a current gang violence warning for the "Over the Hill" area south of Shirley street.

[Ryan79]

If you are concerned about violence and murders, don’t sail out of Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, Boston, Jersey, Seattle, or Baltimore! 

[stevendom57]

16 minutes ago, Ryan79 said:

If you are concerned about violence and murders, don’t sail out of Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, Boston, Jersey, Seattle, or Baltimore!

Apparently Galveston is good, though.

 

[Ryan79]

15 minutes ago, stevendom57 said:

Apparently Galveston is good, though.

 

Wouldn’t know. It’s the only port mentioned that I haven’t been to, therefore it was omitted. I apparently only give feedback on ports I have experience with. I should stop doing that!

[BB1]

15 hours ago, Traveling Mike said:

I have been cruising those cities for years and from history two of the three have not been a problem.  Cabo has always been a very safe place to go because it is all tourists and they make sure there is no reason for the tourists not to come.  I love walking the city of Cobo (get off the avenue that is next to the bay).  Puerto Vallarta is a larger city and has not had many issues.  There are things to do but after being there a few times you start staying on the ship or going to one of all exclusive hotels.  I used to worry about Mazatlan.  There is always many military people going around the city.  We used to take a taxi from the port to the hotel district on the beach.  You get out of your taxi at one of the hotels and walk through the hotel to the beach.  Once you are on the beach it is safe, and they have all the toys to rent.  Last year when I was in Mazatlan it seemed much safer, and I took a shore excursion that showed me the town and I enjoyed it.  If you are worried about Mazatlan just take a taxi to the hotel district and spend the day on the beach.

Just a reminder,  a short time before Royal stopped sailing out of California,  there were many problems in Mexico.  In Puerto Vallarta,  a Carnival excursion bus was robbed at gun point. I had heard multiple reasons for why they left California, from problems in Mexico to problems with California,  to problems with the dock workers. I don't think much has changed. The key is to be careful but drugs and the cartels are as bad now as ever.

[AandD]

4 hours ago, PL8SWPR said:

 

I believe the state department has a current gang violence warning for the "Over the Hill" area south of Shirley street.

We were just in the Overhill area in Nassau. Did a 2-hour walking tour during the day with a group of 10 people. Didn't worry too much but the local guide said to be careful. This was actually a nice inexpensive tour booked thru Royal. If you like local history, buildings and architecture it is worthwhile.

[luv2sail]

In July of 2019, our Harmony cruise skipped the port of San Juan due to the riots at the time. It was a last minute change. For various reasons, we just had another sea day instead of a different port. I was sad to miss the port for personal reasons, but better safe than sorry. After living on the island of St. Croix many years ago, I know that tourists are not always aware of certain issues or spots to avoid. The same could be said for most anywhere, really. There is no place 100% safe. But I think cruise lines are aware of heightened security issues and try to act accordingly. 

[cruisellama]

The cruise lines are paying attention.  I had an itinerary change recently (skipped and added a port stop).

 

[Ditchdoc]

Just stay on the ship if it goes somewhere you don't like.

[Temeculaguy]

On 1/7/2023 at 12:07 AM, Traveling Mike said:

I have been cruising those cities for years and from history two of the three have not been a problem.  Cabo has always been a very safe place to go because it is all tourists and they make sure there is no reason for the tourists not to come.  I love walking the city of Cobo (get off the avenue that is next to the bay).  Puerto Vallarta is a larger city and has not had many issues.  There are things to do but after being there a few times you start staying on the ship or going to one of all exclusive hotels.  I used to worry about Mazatlan.  There is always many military people going around the city.  We used to take a taxi from the port to the hotel district on the beach.  You get out of your taxi at one of the hotels and walk through the hotel to the beach.  Once you are on the beach it is safe, and they have all the toys to rent.  Last year when I was in Mazatlan it seemed much safer, and I took a shore excursion that showed me the town and I enjoyed it.  If you are worried about Mazatlan just take a taxi to the hotel district and spend the day on the beach.

Ditto what Mike said, Cabo and PV are fine, we go there and stay in hotels regularly, my daughter landed in Cabo today. Both are probably safer than LA where the cruises originate from. Mazatlan is probably on par with Nassau, be risk averse and selective where you go in the city and you should be fine. I won't fly to Mazatlan and stay a week in a resort but wouldn't hesitate to go to Cabo or PV tomorrow. That's the downside of the pacific coast of Mexico, two great towns in range of LA and Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa is quite a bit further but great yet requires and 8 day cruise to get there, Mazatlan is in the right place but not very good and Acapulco has seen better days,  Manzanillo is industrial like Long Beach. The west needs one more cool and safe city/port in range of a 7 day. They should just do PV, Cabo and San Diego, and skip Mazatlan right now.

[EvergreenCruzers]

Royal needs to create a "Perfect Day" location on the West coast side of Mexico.

[CrimsonCruiser]

In 2021 our stop in Labadee was changed to Nassau due to the unrest at the time for the President's assassination. Even though it was said all over that most of the concern area was in Port au Prince on the other side of the nation and Labadee is a semi-gated area, they didn't want to risk going.

So I would agree with what others are saying and guess that the port in the area of issue would get changed. Reflection of the change, however, may not come until you are onboard given how close we are to your sailing.