by Dan Askin, News Editor/Cruisecritic.com
http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4755
Twenty-two passengers on Carnival Splendor were robbed at gunpoint Thursday while on a ship-sponsored tour in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
At least one Mexican media outlet says the passengers were returning by bus to their ship at approximately 5 p.m. after spending time in El Nogalito, a tourist area known for its lush natural setting. Masked assailants stopped the bus and robbed the cruisers of their money, watches, cameras and other valuables.
A statement from Carnival said there were no injuries and all passengers returned safely to the ship. Numerous authorities were notified and responded to investigate, as well as assist the affected passengers, said the line.
According to informador.mx.com, the bandits have yet to be apprehended.
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.
On Saturday, Latitude Intl, the public relations firm representing the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board, called Thursday's robbery an "extremely rare incident." A statement on Latitude's Facebook page said, "minutes after we learned of the incident representatives from the local and state government, tourism leaders and tour operators [moved] to provide assistance to those involved and police and the district's attorney office started their investigation."
The robbery comes at a rough time for the beleaguered Mexican Riviera cruise region, which has seen numerous lines pull out over safety and security concerns, as well as issues with demand. Lines have primarily cut calls in Mazatlan, which has seen its scheduled ship visits plummet from 200 in 2010 to roughly a dozen in 2012, but Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta have also suffered.
The tour in question -- a guided nature trail excursion sold and booked through the line -- has been suspended until further notice.
These 22 get more of a government response than 99% of Mx citizens do.
ReplyDeleteAs they should
Deleteso many beautifull places in the u.s. and these dumb people take a trip to mexico... sorry but I dont feel sorry for them....u play with fire you gonna get burned
ReplyDeletePerfect!! The mex gov is to blame for all troubles down there
ReplyDeleteRight" the government has a big part in unabated crime and corruption, they are cutting their own head off, pun intended.
DeleteThat is why the U.S. had issued several travel warnings to Mexico but people take it for granted. If you plan to go to Mexico, then you must travel at your own risk.
ReplyDeleteThese were banditos from the hills. At least one good robbery of this sort happens a year and this was the one for this year. Most usually happen on horseback instead of the shuttles.
ReplyDeleteOnly a total moron would step foot in Mexico these days.
ReplyDeleteIf all the cruise lines stopped going to Mexico maybe the govt would start executing the drug dealers on site.
February 25, 2012 3:44 PM ,
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty of drug dealers on your side.
get to work mofo semper wifi
Watch the news in the coming days....politicians will be wearing the jewelry soon....narcos, robbers, thieves, politicians, police, soldiers...they are all one BIG group...Pobrecito de Mexico....
ReplyDeleteHow can this madness end?
ReplyDeleteAt least they did not physically hurt or kill the tourist's.
What is wrong with this world?
Stop blaming the gringo's..
Stop blaming the Mexican government..
And start blaming the people and the parents who raise these Demons..
Mexico may be poor,but there are far poorer countries in the world,and you do not see anywhere near this level of violence!
Sad indeed :(
Hey akeem, yes there are more poorer countries than mexico but they arent neighbors of the number one drug consuming country in the world idiot. Think before write or stay off board.arriba mexico cabrones
DeleteBOYCOTT MEXICAN PRODUCTS. Buy nothing made in Mexico. Do no business with Mexican companies. Cross the border for nothing.
ReplyDeleteSlim, Zambrano, Calderon drown in your own shit. Cruise companies drop all Mexican ports.
@7:41pm
DeleteDa da tisssss! Haha. Good one!! That guy how said boycott Mexican goods is an idiot.
too bad they were not killed, maybe then somebody would take notice. oh well maybe next time. we all know their will be a next time.
ReplyDeleteTook a cruise to Ensenada last year. Did not leave the ship area, only shopped in the ship area. Mostly went for the boat ride.
ReplyDeleteMy friend knows of an America couple touring Puerta Vallarta. Robbers stopped their bus,killed the bus driver and the couple.
Glad no one was hurt.
ReplyDeleteAre Mexicans capable of self rule? What can they point to with pride,They can't even smuggle drugs without killing each other,Govt is simply a way to get rich, business is again a way to screw or be screwed, Oh yes don't forget its all a Gringo conspiracy,or Geo Bush did it! Now watch the PRI climb right back in the drivers seat!!
ReplyDeleteSad, this will surely be the end of this route for Carnival out of LA. Three of the other major cruise lines already announced they are pulling their Mexico routes starting in 2013. Also I would consider this a "spillover" effect as there will certainly be a loss of jobs in the port of LA and the cruise lines....
ReplyDeleteI live in Mexico have lived here on and off for over 20 years, I have also lived in LA and Tucson among other states in the US, I just want to say PEOPLE wake up this is the world we live in, but if you think it is any worse in Mexico than it is in the states or other places in the world then you are really living in a bubble. It's bad every where.......... and we are the only ones that can change that by making it harder for these people to get away with what they do.... and that goes for people that live any where Let's try growing a pair and learn how not to be victims for a change. I'm a 52 year old white female and I live in a town with all Mexicans. And I would not change that for anything. I love Mexico and the people. The problem is not Mexico the problem is GREED and that is the major problem in the world.
ReplyDeleteLinda: I have a similar travel history between the US and Mexico. I had relatives living in Jalisco and would visit them and travel about. The Indios and peasants and many others were gentle and kind. Being Mexican-American I spoke pocho Spanish,and passably understand the Mexican cultura.
ReplyDeleteI consider myself a "nice" guy with decent values. From my perspective Mexico is its own worst enemy and is harvesting the evil fruits of an corrupt, oligarchic, pseudo democracy of many years.... back to the revolution of 1910.
In my eyes, the Narco-Cartels (and the violence and many other crimes stemming from it) are "natural" outgrowths of this history.
From what I know, I would NOT travel to Mexico or trust anyone. I am talking about ordinary people including cops, judges, merchants, neighbors, clerks, priests, soldiers, etc., etc. etc. The whole country is morally bankrupt and wallowing in many problems of its own making.
To visit Mexico now, for me, is a painful experience.... because I don't trust the Mexican people like I once did. And I couldn't live amongst them.
Mexico Watcher
I swear that I am beguining to think that Liberal politics is responsible for the Sorry state of affairs in the so called Free world??
ReplyDeleteHaven't traveled to Mexico for five years and no plans to go back. Time for the cruise lines to stop visiting those ports until they get a fix for the problem there.
ReplyDeleteMy coworker's cousin was recently kidnapped in Mexico. Ransom was paid- all the relatives pulled their money together for it. He never showed up again.
ReplyDeleteI've lived here for four years. We're leaving by the end of this year. We've seen enough. And no, things aren't "just as bad everywhere". Like one commenter noted, many countries far less wealthy than Mexico do not have this kind of violence, and they don't have a culture than celebrates and romanticizes the violence. We're leaving because once the tourist trade dries up, it won't take these people long to turn on those of us Expats still stuck down here. So we're getting out as soon as we can.
ReplyDeleteThey're LUCKY they were just robbed.
ReplyDeleteThey could have suffered a fate worse than death.
Recently at an "all inclusive" 5 star ISOLATED beach resort a woman was attacked in the elevator by a local. Had to be airlifted back to Canada. So even if you stay at an expensive resort and don't leave the grounds, you are at risk.
ReplyDeleteif any one travel into mexico its on their own risk your on your own no one will help one of my family got kidnap in michoacan mexico the ransom was paid .about 2 weeks ago and never got him back its suicide to go mexico people who live there have no choice but to wait for luck to run out they are just waiting for their turn.
ReplyDeleteMEXICO THATS WHAT HAPPENS BECAUSE PEOPLE VOTE FOR PRI AND PAN NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE THIS WAY.
ReplyDeleteThat Canadian woman was in Mazatlan. Hardly isolated.
ReplyDeleteThere have been no "bus driver and american couple" killed in Mexico. Tell your friend to come off with photos or it didn't happen.
I told you people 4 days ago this was an isolated incident and nothing more than local bandito work and you paranoid people turn it into the second coming of christ.
@4:51
ReplyDeleteClose enough?
PACHUCA, Mexico — Three people from Fort Worth who were traveling to Mexico for the holidays were among those killed in attacks on buses in northern Mexico, authorities said Friday.
Five gunmen attacked three buses in Mexico’s Gulf coast state of Veracruz on Thursday, killing seven people in what authorities said appeared to be a robbery spree. Police later killed the gunmen.
An official of the neighboring state of Hidalgo said the people from Fort Worth who were killed in the attack included a mother who was born in the area and was returning with her two daughters to visit relatives.
Hidalgo state regional assistant secretary Jorge Rocha identified the woman as Maria Sanchez Hernandez, 39, of Fort Worth and her daughters as Carla, 19, and Cristina, 13. Rocha said all three held dual citizenship.
A U.S. embassy official confirmed the three were from the United States but did not release other details. The official, who was not authorized to be quoted by name, said consular authorities were offering assistance to the victims’ relatives.
A 14-year-old nephew from the Mexican border city of Reynosa who had joined the three family members on the trip was also killed, Rocha said.
And guess what people get robbed in the US too
ReplyDeleteEvery time my sons go to Puerto Vallarta and rent a car (our was stollen last year) because they look like Gringos...they are stopped by the police for whatever reason and are asked to surrender their drivers license. So, what happens next? a bribe accepted by the officer and once the $$ changes hands, the drivers license is returned. Recently, my son, traveled there with two drivers licenses...one from the state where he no longer resides and handed that to the policeman...he then said I have no money so keep the drivers license! the police officer let him go and handed back the drivers license. This has left a sour taste in their mouths and would they return to Mexico, not again they said! so the people suffer..no Americans with dollars, the mexican are hungry and now they have to assault the buses. Bad news for Mexico. Start by cleaning the police force! they are all corrupted. The first time my son had to give the police officer all he had...$200 usa dollars...he was acused of driving fast along Mismaloya carretera on the way to the airport...and with a toddler in his car which is all a lie...but look! he is returning to the states...he needs his drivers license when he lands to drive home...he has to work the next day so there is no time to waste.......so he paid usa $200 to keep his license. Well..sweat it Mexican people, the gringos ain't coming back! at least not us!!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that the capture of the "banditos" is not newsworthy. The two hooded thieves and the bus driver (who was in on the robbery) were arrested and all the items that were stolen were recovered. The news media likes to paint a negative picture about Mexico but doesn't follow up with the positive results. I have lived in Puerto Vallarta for fifteen years and can attest that it a safe place. Use common sense and stay out of questionable neighborhoods, the same as one would do in the States.
ReplyDelete--Don Ramon, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico
Oh my god! This is so terrible, let’s run and hide under the beds because the boogeyman has become Mexican and will appear in every st**d ignorant’s nightmare. At least we know why this idi**s are fighting and killing each other, which is to win the best route and plaza to sell and send the drugs to the BIGGEST AND BEST BUYER they will ever Have: USA!!
ReplyDeleteYou all are a Nation of hypocrites, that looove to point out what is wrong with the rest of the world and not in your own homes. Give me a break! At least I’m not afraid that some stu***d kid will show up in the school with guns and shoot at everybody, which it seems to be a frequent hobby between your teen agers.
Where are their parents?? Probably cheating each other, dad with the latina secretary and mom with some guy at the Country Club, let’s give them bunch of money to spend to take them out of your back and teach them not manners and treat with NO respect to anyone that look different to them.
And all your st***d and ra**s*t comments just make me laugh, because show your ignorance. Oh my good drugs and people with guns! and what is what you enjoy to watch on your Movies and TV Shows? Isn’t everything about Se**x, Drugs and Guns? Your Hollywood fake royalty making “innocent scenes” in movies smoking Marihuana like is something Fun, that’s the message you are sending to your teenagers! Don’t you even have your “ weeds TV show” that is your level of hipocrecy!!
SO please clean your own sh**t before start to throw it to others…oh! And sorry if any of these words are not well written, as you may figure it out, my first language is not English but the 90% of you bunch of lazy as**es, don’t speak any other language.
And Yes God Bless AMERICA because AMERICA is a CONTINENT not a Country!
Beware of your surroundings no matter where you are. I have lived in Mexico Los Angeles and Canada and now the inland empire. My mom is from Oregon and has lived in Mexico for seven years with her new husband and my baby sister. His body was found in an abandoned lot thirty minutes outside of Puerto Vallarta. He was robbed on his way home from his time share job. I've been begging them to come back to the USA five years and now she finally is nd my sister no longer has a father. It's not the same when people are targeting you just because you are white. He lost his life over an iPad. I live by San Bernardino but I'm not going to walk around in the ghetto anywhere but at least if I was murdered there an investigation would occur. My mom said they are investigating his murder but it is like trying to solve a crime in the 18th century. If you're smart be safe and be aware.
ReplyDeleteWe could go down there and put an end to all this bullshit!!! However, there is too much money lining peoples pockets! As far as the comment on how bad the states are, thats funny!!! I do not see thousands of people fleeing the U.S. To live there! Mexican government are too weak and corrupt to fight cartels!
ReplyDelete