Is Princess Going to Puerta Vallarta, Mazatlan Again?

[flourpot]

The first time I visited the western coast of Mexico on Princess, the ship visited all three ports of Cabo San Lucas, Puerta Vallarta, and Mazatlan. When I have returned on the same itinerary a year later, the port of Mazatlan had been canceled, and then Puerta Vallarta was also excluded. Does anyone know if those ports have been reinstated? The Princess website says that they are going to all three ports, but I'm not sure if I can believe it. Has anyone been there relatively recently to tell me if all three ports are back?

Thanks!

Bonnie

[Msail]

Yes they go to all 3

[flourpot]

Yes they go to all 3

 

Thanks! I didn't want to book it if I was only going to get 1 port on a 7 day cruise. :-)

[arizonaperson]

The first time I visited the western coast of Mexico on Princess, the ship visited all three ports of Cabo San Lucas, Puerta Vallarta, and Mazatlan. When I have returned on the same itinerary a year later, the port of Mazatlan had been canceled, and then Puerta Vallarta was also excluded. Does anyone know if those ports have been reinstated? The Princess website says that they are going to all three ports, but I'm not sure if I can believe it. Has anyone been there relatively recently to tell me if all three ports are back?

Thanks!

Bonnie

 

Bonnie,yes Princess is still going to PV,Mazatlan, & Cabo. I just returned from The Crown Princess on 12-13-14. Mazatlan was the only port many ships were not calling on in the past few years,but we walked the blue line into town and absolutely no problems along the way. Canadian & USA citizens are snowbirds in Mazatlan and they are along the walk, answering any questions or pointing you in the right direction.

Julie

[flourpot]

Bonnie,yes Princess is still going to PV,Mazatlan, & Cabo. I just returned from The Crown Princess on 12-13-14. Mazatlan was the only port many ships were not calling on in the past few years,but we walked the blue line into town and absolutely no problems along the way. Canadian & USA citizens are snowbirds in Mazatlan and they are along the walk, answering any questions or pointing you in the right direction.

Julie

 

Thanks, Julie! Mazatlan was my favorite port when I was there before.

:-)

Bonnie

[Pam in CA]

Mazatlan had a number of drive-by drug shootings and beheadings a couple of years ago, including near where ship docks as well as in the tourist shopping area. While few cruise passengers and tourists were affected, cruise lines couldn't take the chance. I was on one of the last itineraries to stop in Mazatlan and there were truck loads of armed soldiers everywhere: at the port, along the way to the shopping area and in the shopping area. Naturally, many people were concerned. It was pretty frightening.

 

Princess and other cruise lines have just started to return to Mazatlan. Far cry from "still going" since they haven't stopped there for a couple of years due to the active violence. Nothing like a couple of beheadings in the port area to turn you off.

[flourpot]

Mazatlan had a number of drive-by drug shootings and beheadings a couple of years ago, including near where ship docks as well as in the tourist shopping area. While few cruise passengers and tourists were affected, cruise lines couldn't take the chance. I was on one of the last itineraries to stop in Mazatlan and there were truck loads of armed soldiers everywhere: at the port, along the way to the shopping area and in the shopping area. Naturally, many people were concerned. It was pretty frightening.

 

Princess and other cruise lines have just started to return to Mazatlan. Far cry from "still going" since they haven't stopped there for a couple of years due to the active violence. Nothing like a couple of beheadings in the port area to turn you off.

 

Pam, we were there around those times, too. I completely understand why the cruise lines did what they did. I hadn't heard anything crazy going on there recently, so I thought the restrictions might have been lifted.

:-)

Bonnie

[Kingofcool1947]

The first time I visited the western coast of Mexico on Princess, the ship visited all three ports of Cabo San Lucas, Puerta Vallarta, and Mazatlan. When I have returned on the same itinerary a year later, the port of Mazatlan had been canceled, and then Puerta Vallarta was also excluded. Does anyone know if those ports have been reinstated? The Princess website says that they are going to all three ports, but I'm not sure if I can believe it. Has anyone been there relatively recently to tell me if all three ports are back?

Thanks!

Bonnie

 

La Paz, Loretto, Puerta Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas.

[VibeGuy]

Crown definitely called in PV, Mazatlan and Cabo on the 13Dec sailing.

 

Mazatlan has definitely been hit hard by the reduction in both domestic and international tourism. They have a rebuilding process to do.

[Husky61]

The first time I visited the western coast of Mexico on Princess, the ship visited all three ports of Cabo San Lucas, Puerta Vallarta, and Mazatlan. When I have returned on the same itinerary a year later, the port of Mazatlan had been canceled, and then Puerta Vallarta was also excluded. Does anyone know if those ports have been reinstated? The Princess website says that they are going to all three ports, but I'm not sure if I can believe it. Has anyone been there relatively recently to tell me if all three ports are back?

Thanks!

Bonnie

 

I'm curious why you wouldn't believe the Princess website about their ports of call.:confused:

[iceleven]

I could be wrong but I think I recall seeing HAL still using Mazatlan after Princess pulled out.

[flourpot]

I'm curious why you wouldn't believe the Princess website about their ports of call.:confused:

 

Because they have listed all the ports in the past, but when I got to the ship, I was told we weren't going to the ports listed on the itinerary in the western Mexico destination...twice.

[Hawaiidan]

Mazatlan had a number of drive-by drug shootings and beheadings a couple of years ago, including near where ship docks as well as in the tourist shopping area. While few cruise passengers and tourists were affected, cruise lines couldn't take the chance. I was on one of the last itineraries to stop in Mazatlan and there were truck loads of armed soldiers everywhere: at the port, along the way to the shopping area and in the shopping area. Naturally, many people were concerned. It was pretty frightening.

 

Princess and other cruise lines have just started to return to Mazatlan. Far cry from "still going" since they haven't stopped there for a couple of years due to the active violence. Nothing like a couple of beheadings in the port area to turn you off.

 

Nothing has really changed except they have put a lid on the media so you wont hear about it. Mazatlan has long been a cartel battle ground and they are now into kidnapping and good old fashioned robbery... No way would I get off there...

[beatriz22]

We were just there last week, all was fine....saw the armed police in police cars cruising up and down the main boulevard along the pretty ocean, and we saw things calm. It is still on the U.S. state Dpt. warning list to not go out of the main town. A cab driver told us the issues were just outside the city but subsided. Your ports I guess will depend on where you leave from and which trip you planned. Strange you'd not be advised before arriving at the ship that ports were eliminated as we were getting update notices direct from Princess on different things. Anyway, just don't wear flashy jewelry, stay in the main part of town and enjoy it if you choose to get off. We were hesitant but glad we did it in the end, but we always stay in the main part of the city.

[Pam in CA]

I could be wrong but I think I recall seeing HAL still using Mazatlan after Princess pulled out.

HAL continued to go to PV but I don't know if they did it continuously over the past couple of years. Mazatlan was definitely off the HAL itineraries. RCL and Disney abandoned West Coast departures completely. At least those from the LA/SD area. I don't keep up with what they do.

[Buck Turgidson]

A few years ago, on HAL, Mazatlan was our planned next port, the Captain changed our port to Manzanillo , due to Mazatlans trouble's.

[cruisingpeople]

Bonnie,yes Princess is still going to PV,Mazatlan, & Cabo. I just returned from The Crown Princess on 12-13-14.

 

Julie, Quick Question.... What shape was Cabo in since the storms this past summer/fall ???? BTW, we are heading there in April.

 

Joe

[Husky61]

Because they have listed all the ports in the past, but when I got to the ship, I was told we weren't going to the ports listed on the itinerary in the western Mexico destination...twice.

 

So if you don't believe the ports that are listed by Princess, why do you believe what posters on this forum say, even though they may be wrong?:confused:

[shredie]

Nothing has really changed except they have put a lid on the media so you wont hear about it. Mazatlan has long been a cartel battle ground and they are now into kidnapping and good old fashioned robbery... No way would I get off there...

 

 

You said the same thing about Ensenada. 😏

[Holomoku]

Julie, Quick Question.... What shape was Cabo in since the storms this past summer/fall ???? BTW, we are heading there in April.

 

Joe

 

Some of our cruising friends have a condo in Cabo. They just returned from a few week stay and said everything is fine there now. You can still see damage but all the tourist areas are fully back up and running. They will be flying down to show us around when the Star stops there in late Feb. All is good, keep on cruising.:D

[cruz chic]

There is plenty of crime in the Caribbean and people are pretty ok going there. One of my friends spends about a month every year in mazatlan. No problems at all. I'd have no qualms going there at all. Much better then a place like Jamaica.

[cruisingpeople]

Some of our cruising friends have a condo in Cabo. They just returned from a few week stay and said everything is fine there now. You can still see damage but all the tourist areas are fully back up and running. They will be flying down to show us around when the Star stops there in late Feb. All is good, keep on cruising.:D

 

Thanks very much for the update.

[arizonaperson]

Thanks very much for the update.

 

Hi-

Joe & Amelia.

I just returned from Mexico on 12-13-14, it was great, but we missed you.

I sailed with a total of 8 people.(a first for me)

Julie

[arizonaperson]

Julie, Quick Question.... What shape was Cabo in since the storms this past summer/fall ???? BTW, we are heading there in April.

 

Joe

 

Joe, we stayed right in the town area of Cabo, since not much time there. We only saw some street repair working going on, but have no idea if that was because of the hurricane or regular work. We walked to Cabo Wabo and back to the marina(tender area).

Julie

[MTJSR]

We just visited Manzanillo instead of Cabo due to the hurricane damage. This was on a Panama Canal cruise. Manzanillo is a very nice port, a mile long beach and plenty of shopping. The charm here is that tourists are not that common and there was no hustling/begging anywhere. Be sharp on Pesos value here as they prefer Pesos.