Is Mexico safe to travel to now?

[palpieha]

A lot of disparaging words about New York, and yet Alaska has almost twice the murder rate than NY, and people happily take cruises to Alaska.

[Longstockingpippi1]

On 1/7/2023 at 8:24 PM, BirdTravels said:

If you were from Europe and read the news about New York, would you want to visit/embark/disembark there? (Sorry Traveling2some). We sail out of NYC at least once a year. 
 

If a Mexican Riviera port was truly unsafe, the cruise line would not call there. 

Wouldn’t they🤔. Everything I’ve read about Colon, Panama says bad news, don’t walk down the street, don’t stay overnight , etc. and yet cruise ships stop there. 🤷‍♀️

[New2cruise2022]

We just got back from Mexico on the Bliss with stops in Cabo and Ensenada. We didn’t do excursions in either one. We walked, took taxis, Ubered in the main areas and further out. We were thoughtful about what we did. It was daylight for most of our time out shopping and eating. We were four guys (45, 37, 17, 15) but the teenagers look older than their age. We were offered drugs of every variety and all manner of massages, strip clubs, etc. So we were definitely intertwined with some of the dangers of Mexico, but we politely declined and people were kind and we never felt unsafe. 

[Liljo22]

20 hours ago, HuliHuli said:

Oh wow - That will make your family feel so much better when you get shot that they were not targeting you.  How comforting. 🥴 💀 🐀

Based off your map, are you telling everyone not to cruise?  Mexico, Belize, Honduras and Jamaica are all on the bad list.  Haiti is do not travel so should we avoid Labadee?  Is the DR ok?  How do we know that Haiti risk won't makes its way into the DR?  

[New2cruise2022]

Just be smart. It will be fine. 

[HuliHuli]

On 1/31/2023 at 1:54 PM, Liljo22 said:

Based off your map, are you telling everyone not to cruise?  Mexico, Belize, Honduras and Jamaica are all on the bad list.  Haiti is do not travel so should we avoid Labadee?  Is the DR ok?  How do we know that Haiti risk won't makes its way into the DR?  

I didn't create the map; this is the recommendation of the U.S. State Dept.  You can take it or ignore it as you desire.  I've traveled the world to places cruise ships never go.  I've found myself in countries at the outset of military overthrows.  I've studied our allies and adversaries, and served to protect us from the latter.  I think I have a solid sense of danger around me as I travel, but there are places I won't go.  Everyone must make that decision for themselves @Liljo22.

[spanishguy1970]

I have friends, American friends who live in San Miguel de Allende and Playa del Carmen who are now thinking of coming back to the US. They tell me that it gets more and more dangerous as time passes. I have been to Mexico and i am always cautious but the again i grew up part of my childhood in South America and you learn to be cautious at all times.

[Nyc2tropics]

On 1/31/2023 at 1:54 PM, Liljo22 said:

Based off your map, are you telling everyone not to cruise?  Mexico, Belize, Honduras and Jamaica are all on the bad list.  Haiti is do not travel so should we avoid Labadee?  Is the DR ok?  How do we know that Haiti risk won't makes its way into the DR?  

I mean..Labadee is a gated off “private island”. Bad example

[greatestvalue]

Just went to Acapulco, Puerta Vallarta, Mazatlán & Cabo San Lucas on a Panama Canal cruise and it was incredible cruise. Even did Columbia & Guatemala and would do it all over again!

[ace2542]

On 1/31/2023 at 12:04 AM, palpieha said:

A lot of disparaging words about New York, and yet Alaska has almost twice the murder rate than NY, and people happily take cruises to Alaska.

And Alaska also has two types of people living in it. People who where born there and can't imagine living any other way or people who are running from something.

[Liljo22]

17 hours ago, Nyc2tropics said:

I mean..Labadee is a gated off “private island”. Bad example

Is it?  On the RCL board its asked if its safe from time to time and some people are concerned that 2 armed rent a cops and a tall wall is not enough to keep out the unrest if they really wanted to get in.  I had no issue going to Labadee in December but here were a couple of threads being discussed before I went.  

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2890469-labadee-haiti-stopsaffected-by-local-unrest/

[phillygwm]

I get where you're coming from: 30+ years ago, I used to do a side trip to Tijuana when visiting San Diego.  Things are different now and the risk profile has changed.  That said, I've done cruises on both coasts and felt safe.  However, I am either on a ship excursion or I'm with friends in Cozumel and PV who are locals whom I stay close to.  I'm not going to wander too far from the beaten path, especially at night.

 

It's not much different than the US: 500+ were killed in Philadelphia last year.  The vast majority of those people were in certain neighborhoods doing certain things.  If you avoid those neighborhoods and those activities, the odds of getting killed don't reduce to zero but become vanishingly small.

Edited February 2, 2023 by phillygwm

[eileeshb]

The cruiselines can and do adapt when security issues arise. On one cruise I had that included Cozumel they cancelled all of the excursions which used the local ferry service due to a bomb threat the week prior. 
 

I remember the days when American tourists were scared to visit Ireland due to the terrorism in Northern Ireland. It was one fairly small area of the country impacted but thanks to lack of knowledge those overseas thought the whole country was a dangerous place.  I would say American news coverage of problems in other countries tends to be a bit alarmist, I’ve been to the USA a lot and spent a few months in Chicago as well as upstate Massachusetts so I’ve seen how things get reported. 

[cruiseny4life]

18 hours ago, eileeshb said:

The cruiselines can and do adapt when security issues arise. On one cruise I had that included Cozumel they cancelled all of the excursions which used the local ferry service due to a bomb threat the week prior. 
 

I remember the days when American tourists were scared to visit Ireland due to the terrorism in Northern Ireland. It was one fairly small area of the country impacted but thanks to lack of knowledge those overseas thought the whole country was a dangerous place.  I would say American news coverage of problems in other countries tends to be a bit alarmist, I’ve been to the USA a lot and spent a few months in Chicago as well as upstate Massachusetts so I’ve seen how things get reported. 

What a common sense post. Thank you! 

[Von & John]

On 2/2/2023 at 2:29 AM, ace2542 said:

And Alaska also has two types of people living in it. People who where born there and can't imagine living any other way or people who are running from something.

Almost but not quite correct (@ least from my personal point of view)…

Alaska has 4 types of people living here

1).  Born here

2).  Running Away from something 

3).  Running Towards something (Johnny & I)

4).  Seasonal Employees 

Edited February 6, 2023 by Von & John

[Homosassa]

On 1/27/2023 at 4:06 AM, ace2542 said:

Are you also considered to go the village of Midsomer Norton - a real place btw - in case you get hit with a posion arrow or get a church steeple dropped on your head for turning up late in WW2 like in Midsomer Murders on BBC America or is PBS it is airs on? 😱🤣🤣

 

 

Cabot Cove, Maine,  is a better option for personal safety....

[ace2542]

41 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

Cabot Cove, Maine,  is a better option for personal safety....

Or palm beach maybe......

[Laszlo]

50 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

Cabot Cove, Maine,  is a better option for personal safety....

Ogunquit

[cruiseny4life]

35 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

Ogunquit

Seems that the folks in Ogunquit were concerned about a rash of burglaries just last year at this time. 

 

https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/crime/2022/02/25/wells-me-to-host-public-forum-march-1-on-recent-crime-trends-maine/6908440001/

 

Y'all, nowhere is safe and everywhere is safe. Just depends on when you're there. As for me, I'll travel wherever, taking the same precautions as I do when I walk down Broadway in NYC. 

[psuboater]

On 1/30/2023 at 4:10 PM, Longstockingpippi1 said:

Wouldn’t they🤔. Everything I’ve read about Colon, Panama says bad news, don’t walk down the street, don’t stay overnight , etc. and yet cruise ships stop there. 🤷‍♀️

About 15 years ago, we were the first cruise ship to dock at St. Croix after years of the cruise lines pulling out of that port due to safety concerns. The island literally threw a parade for the return of the ships. Up until a few years ago, trying to find a West Coast/Mexico cruise was few and far between because of the safety concerns. As someone said, dead tourists are bad for business,  and the ports do everything they can to keep business coming to them. Heck, I see a huge difference in public safety from the winter here in Seattle to cruise season. I haven't felt unsafe downtown (with the exception of some weird months of the pandemic), but I notice a huge difference in the uptick in police/security when the ships are in town. 

[spanishguy1970]

On 2/2/2023 at 3:29 AM, ace2542 said:

And Alaska also has two types of people living in it. People who where born there and can't imagine living any other way or people who are running from something.

hmmm like Dexter? LOL

[ace2542]

8 hours ago, spanishguy1970 said:

hmmm like Dexter? LOL

I was actually referring to Silk Stalkings Stephen J Cannell longest running TV show from the 1990s. Set in Tiger Wood's home town. Watch the very start of the pilot episode on you tube just listen to the narration 🤣

[CILCIANRQTS]

On 2/1/2023 at 7:48 PM, Nyc2tropics said:

I mean..Labadee is a gated off “private island”. Bad example

Labadee is not a private island.

It is only separated by a fence, which will protect you…until it doesn’t.

The only reason Labadee is a cruise stop is because it was very cheap to pay off a few corrupt politicians who run Haiti and take all the aid the U.S. sends down to help the suffering masses. 
The citizens of Haiti get no benefit from it. They let in a few vendors to make it seem like this is good for the locals.