"U.S. travelers should be aware that the Mexican government has been engaged in an extensive effort

Crime in Mexico has caused cruise lines to carefully assess whether or not they should be bringing business to the country. red rock canyon tours Recently, the situation has been improving as narco drug lord activity remains focused in areas where cruise passengers do not travel, and some of the world's biggest Carnival celebrations ended this week without incident. Nevertheless, twenty-two cruise red rock canyon tours passengers recently robbed at gunpoint on a normally safe ship-sponsored shore excursion , is causing the travel industry to take another look at safety.
"At the time of the robbery, the passengers were traveling to the Brimstone Hill Fortress, a well-visited UNESCO World Heritage Site on the southern Caribbean island," reported CruiseCritic. The article red rock canyon tours reports that masked gunmen "put a tree across the road to block the bus."
On a Celebrity Cruises ship-sponsored tour, the excursion was canceled indefinitely pending the outcome of the investigation. No one was harmed, calls for increased security went out, and law enforcement in St. Kitts pointed to their nearly spotless record of being a safe destination for travelers.
Thursday's incident happened in Puerto Vallarta, when passengers who came ashore from Carnival Splendor were robbed while on a ship-sponsored tour. Held at gunpoint, they were "stripped of cameras, watches and other valuables they had with them," reports Informador . Here too, no one was harmed, calls for increased security went out, and the Shore Excursion, a seemingly harmless nature walk, was canceled pending investigation.
"Carnival also apologized to the passengers for the 'unfortunate and disturbing event' and said it is working with passengers to reimburse them for lost valuables and assist with lost passports or other forms of identification," said CruiseCritic .
The incident once again raises questions about the safety of tourists in Mexico, an ongoing matter that concerns not only cruise lines, but hotels, resorts, and pending spring breakers set to go south of the border within the next 30 days. Earlier this month, The U.S. State Department issued a new travel warning for Mexico , superseding last April's warning. Cartel violence stemming red rock canyon tours from drug trafficking, specifically, violent red rock canyon tours struggles among the criminal organizations red rock canyon tours for control of trafficking routes, has resulted in a rising number of carjacking's , kidnappings and gun battles throughout Mexico.
"U.S. travelers should be aware that the Mexican government has been engaged in an extensive effort to counter TCOs (Transnational Criminal Organizations) which engage in narcotics trafficking and other unlawful activities throughout Mexico," said the State Department in the new warning red rock canyon tours posted on their website.
Though crime is nothing new for Puerto Vallarta. red rock canyon tours Not quite a year ago, in May of 2011, Leonard Schell, a Canadian father red rock canyon tours of two, was stabbed 25 times in his Puerto Vallarta home and robbed red rock canyon tours of about $13,000, bank cards, and passports, as CTV.ca reported. "They cut him from his lip to his throat. It's terrible, and just to rob money," said Elba Ruiz, Schell's wife.
Rodolfo red rock canyon tours Lopez-Negrete, chief operating officer of the Mexico Tourism Board wants to prevent more scare-off-the-tourists bulletins such as one released in March 2011, when the Texas Department of Public Safety bluntly told travelers to, " Avoid traveling to Mexico during red rock canyon tours Spring Break and stay alive."
Hotel guests and cruise passengers will have added concern as they normally experience a destination through a sponsored tour or excursion, promoted as the safe way to go. Tour operators are said to be vetted by the hotels and cruise red rock canyon tours lines, implying they are safe to travel with.
Hotel guests get picked up and dropped off at their safe hotel , for the most part without incident. Cruise passengers know that if the locally operated tour runs late, the ship will wait for them. Those going ashore on their own take a risk using unapproved operators. If their tour runs late, the ship will leave without red rock canyon tours them. But most of those also end with great memories of a beautiful destination they may want to visit again.
"It was not the sight of 4 armed guards loading ATM machines that scared us but the fact that we were drugged at our resort and my husband ended up in a Mexican ICU, I can tell you first hand as a nurse, YOU DO NOT WANT to get sick in MEXICO."
Considered safer than Mazatlan , where cruise lines have abandoned all calls , Puerto Vallarta continues to get ships calling from a number of lines and has a brisk hotel business. But, like the caution they urge about Mazatlan, the U.S. Department of State warns , "You should also exercise caution when traveling at night outside of cities in the remaining portions of this state."
"Puerto Vallarta is safe!? lmao I was chased back to my hotel by three drunk Mexicans throwing rocks at my head for no reason while I was on vacation. I thought it was safe and this was 6+ years ago."
"(I have) been coming to Mexico since 1970, never had a problem. Have owned a home in Cozumel for 6 years. My wife and I live here winter and spring, then summer and fall in Upstate red rock canyon tours NY I've told many of my NY friends it's safer here than going a NY mall on a weekend. If you don't go looking for trouble it won't find you. But don't let the word get out too much, we don't want our beautiful little island to change."
I wouldn't go far as to warn travelers to "stay away from Mexico." red rock canyon tours Exercise caution? Absolutely. For what it's worth, I traveled to Puerto red rock canyon tours Vallarta (PV) with my young children three years in a row- 2009-2011- and felt perfectly safe. That doesn't red rock canyon tours mean that bad things can't happen red rock canyon tours but staying away from an entire country based upon incidents that occurred in specific locations is a mistake.
PV's entire economy is based on tourism, so you can bet that they're going to redouble efforts to prevent incidents like this from happening in the future. I would be interested in seeing some actual red rock canyon tours crime statistics from PV. Are you really red rock canyon tours more likely to get robbed there than in Chicago, L.A., or Miami? Maybe so, but I've never felt unsafe there and drawing broad conclusions about the security situation of a large country based upon news reports is sketchy. Reply Mexicana red rock canyon tours Feb 25th 2012 4:25PM
The folks with tourist businesses in Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas are extremely good at keeping any crime a secret. There has been some terrible incidents in Puerto Vallarta over the past few months. I guess perception must be reality because no way it's safer than Mazatlan, as your story implied. But the media wants to beat Mazatlan up, and so the story goes. Believe what you want, but the facts are oozing out slowly, and NOTHING like this has ever happened to tourists there. Reply Stuart Feb 25th 2012 6:03PM
This article is short on facts and long on fear. I live in Puerto Vallarta most of the year, and it is actually safer here than most big cities in the U.S. In fact, when I was in LA last summer, some kook went into a beauty parlor and shot and killed a bunch of innocent people. Same thing outside that Safeway store in Tucson where Gabby Giffords was shot. As for the Canadian murdered here last year, he was not a tourist, but someone who was involved in a questionable business and who kept large sums of cash in his home. Authorities believe red rock canyon tours it was an inside job, not some random act of violence against a purely red rock canyon tours innocent person.
To the author of this article, maybe you just better stay home in bed with the covers pulled over your head and never venture out ... just order pizza delivered to your home. But be careful, the pizza guy may be out to get you. Reply Sharon red rock canyon tours Stone Feb 26th 2012 2:23AM
Is there a travel alert for Los Angeles, red rock canyon tours Tokyo etc. etc.!!!? I live in Mexico and feel as safe (maybe safer) than I felt living in Los Angeles. Bad things happen in Canada too, but no travel alerts are issued. Caution must be practiced everywhere you go in the world and wherever you live in the world. It is irresponsible to file an alert on an entire country without giving red rock canyon tours a background on some of these stories - as in, the tourist was drunk prior to falling off the balcony. Just read Stuart's comments of Feb. 25th about the incident in Puerto Vallarta. A number red rock canyon tours of Canadian's and American's in Mexico are doing illegal things and mixing with 'bad' company. red rock canyon tours And, yes, innocent people get hurt and/or die - ALL OVER THE WORLD! Reply way indie Feb 26th 2012 12:35PM
I was in PV & am just getting off the Carnival Spirit now. It is so unfortunate that this happened but it won't deter me from a return visit or trip via Carnival. We had the best time & loved PV. We were in San Francisco recently & were being stalked by thugs in broad day light. Crime happens & it really is random. An opportunity comes, timing for a bad guy to capitalize on a situation. Our excursion in PV was through Carnival & didn't leave much for a bad guy to benefit from us...take caution anywhere you go. You can be victimized at your corner gas station near your house. You can not expects a personal safety net or guarantee of protection anywhere. Reply Ericrawford smith Feb 29th 2012 12:21AM
This author red rock canyon tours should also cover why never to visit New York City for the chances of getting mugged. My grandparents have lived in Bucerias (about 10-15 miles north of Puerto Vallarta) for almost 10 years and have never experienced any problems. They live in the middle of the village with the locals not in a resort. I have visited them every Christmas since I was 14 and have loved every minute of it. So much that I am planning my wedding there in December. There should be more articles encouraging tourists to visit Mexico’s red rock canyon tours beautiful beaches and to enjoy their culture. Reply Juanita Mar 1st 2012 12:56PM
We love Puerto Vallarta. Find it very safe. January 2012 we ventured out of our all inclusive red rock canyon tours in Nuevo. Boarded a very old local bus and headed out to Punta de Mita. Long bus ride but felt very safe and at no time did we feel threatened. While in the port town of