Recent visit to acapulco

[Acapulco Flores]

The last cruise we were on that stopped in Acapulco was a year ago April.

 

Due to the violence, we decided to stay on the ship and enjoy the day in a safe manner.

 

It is really very sad what has happened to Acapulco, we think it is a beautiful city, but not enough to get off the ship and worry about our safety.

Right before the ships stopped the call on Mazatlan, we did the same, stayed on the ship and had a great time.

 

I know the day you are talking about. I was going to the store for groceries and all hell broke loose and I am lucky to not have been shot. I was ducking behind a car not 100 feet from the shooting. Bullets were tapping everything around me. It is nothing like an old western when you hear the ricochet and all is cinema drama. This was real and all I could hear was screaming, cars crashing and trying to drive over the median and the tap tap tap of automatic rifle fire.

 

At the split second that I peeked over the hood of the car I was hiding behind I saw a woman in her car shot in the head.

 

This is when Acapulco started falling apart and the turf war seems to have began. It was like a very quick war had broken out in the street with no warning.

 

Imagine walking down the street under a big blue sky and suddenly you are struck by lightning. This is how I felt.

 

That was a year ago and was very abnormal. A year later and hundreds of murders, decapitations, kidnappings and mass graves later it seems to have become the normal daily headlines.

 

There should be no reason to question why cruise ships are not stopping in Acapulco.

 

I know there are a lot of unhappy tour guides in Acapulco and will go to great lengths to get clients. I recently emailed a tour guide and told him on I am on a cruise ship - he wrote me back and said he would give me a free tour if I would advertise him in my Roll Call.

 

At this time it is IMO important to scrutinize every comment and offer, especially when it concerns Acapulco and Mazatlan. You really have no idea who is on the other side of the keyboard and all is not as it appears.

[Acapulco Flores]

I would suggest doing a Bay Tour - I did this on Celebrity, and you just left right from the dock, you didn't even have to walk into the town or see the busy streets!

The Bay Tour was wonderful, as Acapulco Bay is famous in itself. It takes you around the whole bay, past the old Hollywood glam houses (you see Steve McQueen's house and many more!), and go visit the Cliff Divers - spectacular! We even had three of the cliff divers swim all the way out to our giant catamaran and take pictures with us. They offered a buffet of snacks and drinks on the catamaran, it was a great tour!

The tour guide gave tourists an option to extend their tour to go shopping (I am sure he got a percentage for bringing tourists to the market), but I opted not to go both for safety reasons, exhaustion reasons, and because I already had enough souvenirs! There was a large shop located on the dock, so don't worry if you do want to get Acapulco souvenirs.

I would also not get a beach massage, a friend of mine did and they took advantage of her and tried to go a little too far. So don't consider it.

Again, keep an eye on news - I am glad you said that you would cancel the tour if you felt unsafe, this is a good mindset!

 

I am very confused by this comment. There are no catamarans that are near the cliff divers. The only catamarans in Acapulco offer two trips a day and they do not offer / include free food and do not visit the cliff divers.

[lovepea]

I am very confused by this comment. There are no catamarans that are near the cliff divers. The only catamarans in Acapulco offer two trips a day and they do not offer / include free food and do not visit the cliff divers.

 

Acapulco Flores, here is a link direct from Celebrity cruiselines shore excursions that I think the previous poster was referring to

http://www.celebritycruises.com/shoreExcursions/product/detail/view.do?backPageUrl=%2Fsearch%2FshorexSearchResults.do%3FDestinationCode%3DT.PAN%26DurationCode%3D%26ActivityTypeId%3D6%26ActivityLevel%3D%26shipCode%3D%26Day%3D%26Month%3D%26Year%3D%26CurrencyCode%3Dnull%26x%3Dnull%26y%3Dnull%26backPageUrl%3D%2Fdestinations%2FshoreExcursions%2Fhome.do%3Fdest%3DT.PAN%26pager.offset%3Dnull&ProductCode=AC11&DestinationCode=T.PAN&CurrencyCode=&LocationCode=ACA&DurationCode=&ActivityTypeId=6&ShipCode=&ActivityLevel=&SortBy=

[CruisingChronicler]

I am very confused by this comment. There are no catamarans that are near the cliff divers. The only catamarans in Acapulco offer two trips a day and they do not offer / include free food and do not visit the cliff divers.

 

 

It was a ship excursion, so you would have to check via the ship excursions. It will be listed as a Bay Tour and will describe in detail that it is on a catamaran and will include lunch and drinks. Maybe not all ships offer this? I can't imagine them not as most ships use the same contractors for similar tours.

[Lvs2Cruise2]

We went on a Panama Canal cruise in April that EMBARKED out of Acapulco. Since it was kind of tricky to fly to Acapulco (only 1 flight a day) We decided to fly in a day early. I too was concerned with safety and where would we stay? I wound up booking a hotel and transfers through Princess just to have piece of mind. Princess picked us up at the airport, brought us to our hotel (which was GORGEOUS by the way! Grand Hotel Acapulco) We did not plan a tour in Acapulco because we were exhausted from traveling all day plus we wanted to be fresh for the next day. We NEVER felt unsafe or in jeopardy in any way.

 

Last year April we did a Mexican Riviera cruise and enjoyed this cruise very much. Acapulco was one of the ports. We planned the Acapulco Bay tour by catamaran that the last post mentioned. This was a great tour. We had a fabulous tour guide, my only disappointment was we were FAR from the cliff divers because of the tide, so it was difficult to see them. They did board our boat after to take pictures ect.

 

I think if you use good ole' fashioned common sense you will be fine. Don't walk down dark alleys at night alone, stay in very public areas, go on a TOUR, do not wander by yourself. Treat the Mexican ports like you would any large US city and you'll be fine. Enjoy your cruise, the Panama Canal is an AMAZING experience!