22 Tourists Robbed At Gunpoint On Bus Tour in Puerto Vallarta

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

Overhead Bin - 22 Carnival Cruise passengers robbed at gunpoint on ship-sponsored tour in Mexico

[easyrider Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close easyrider]

This is a bummer. Even though I feel very safe traveling in Mexico I sometimes wonder after reading articles like this. Having a gun pointed at you is a bad experience.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

To think I am happy about the Mayan 1-4 rule since this is the time where we would book our large family trips to Mexico.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I'm Surprised.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

To think I am happy about the Mayan 1-4 rule since this is the time where we would book our large family trips to Mexico.

Use SFX and there is NO 1 in 5 rule.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

This is really scary. I took a bus tour that day by myself and we went in and out the bus many times to see something and take pictures, etc. Will this happen again once one group got away with it? I even saw the Splendor in the harbor on Thursday on my way home. We have seen her more than once and we see different cruise ships practically every day even from Germany a week or so ago. Will people still go on excursions now after this has happened?

I feel less safe now as before and may start going out less after dark. I used to go even on my own as the evenings are great for walking. You see security everywhere but not in isolated places. Times are changing everywhere. It will hurt their economy even more, I am afraid.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

¡Que terible!

This is really scary. I took a bus tour that day by myself and we went in and out the bus many times to see something and take pictures, etc. Will this happen again once one group got away with it? I even saw the Splendor in the harbor on Thursday on my way home. We have seen her more than once and we see different cruise ships practically every day even from Germany a week or so ago. Will people still go on excursions now after this has happened?

I feel less safe now as before and may start going out less after dark. I used to go even on my own as the evenings are great for walking. You see security everywhere but not in isolated places. Times are changing everywhere. It will hurt their economy even more, I am afraid.

We spent that day at Boca. I figure that the bus we were on must have gone past the side road to El Nogalito about 30 minutes before it happened.

I hope the local people, recognizing how important it is that PV not become the next Mazatlan, rally to identify los cabrones (English translation would probably be edited) to the police.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

PV not become the next Mazatlan

Care to explain?

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

I'm certainly not unimpressed by the danger that group of tourists faced, but I believe part of the responsibility has to fall on Carnival. That's an isolated spot, far from town and people. That bus load of tourists was ripe for picking--and Carnival, in my opinion, should have known better than to offer that excursion.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Care to explain?

Cruise ships have essentially stopped calling at Mazatlan - from 200 stops to less than 20.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

I'm certainly not unimpressed by the danger that group of tourists faced, but I believe part of the responsibility has to fall on Carnival. That's an isolated spot, far from town and people. That bus load of tourists was ripe for picking--and Carnival, in my opinion, should have known better than to offer that excursion.

The tour to El Nogalito is a regular excursion or outing, available not only to cruise ships but to the general public. It's not just a matter of cruise ships. Ziplining, hiking, and tours at El Nogalito has been featured by many activity promoters in the PV area for at least the last several years.

*****

To me the larger issue is that the perps, in essence, hijacked a tour bus on a relatively isolated stretch of road. That is a type of criminality that has not previously been extant in Puerto Vallarta, though it is not unusual in other parts of Latin America. If this type of crime starts to become a major concern there are some pretty significant associated impacts.

IMHO - one of the tourism advantages that locales such as Puerot Vallarto have often afforded visitors is that tourists can undertake "off the beaten path" types of activities such as this with reasonable safety. To my mind one of the charms of Puerto Vallarta has been that we can move about and circulate safely - not just in heavily used tourist areas but in some of the more remote locales.

It's been wonderful to see eco-tourism developing in locations such as Puerto Vallarta. Eco-tourism provides a great force to reduce the perceived necessity of exploiting resources simply as a matter of survival.

Of necessity, ecology oriented tours to locales such as the Sierra Madre is going to involve traveling to locales on remote and isolated roads. If traveling those roads becomes an invitation to hijacking, the economics are going to wither and local residents will be forced back into an extractive and explotive situation.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Cruise ships have essentially stopped calling at Mazatlan - from 200 stops to less than 20.

Why?

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

I'm certainly not unimpressed by the danger that group of tourists faced, but I believe part of the responsibility has to fall on Carnival. That's an isolated spot, far from town and people. That bus load of tourists was ripe for picking--and Carnival, in my opinion, should have known better than to offer that excursion.

I disagree because these tours are available to everybody, notjust cruise ship passengers. We took a tour that went up into the mountains at Puerto Vallarta. It was an excellent tour but that was 20 years ago.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Why?

As I understand - and I caveat that I have not looked verified this info by direct research myself - it's because of perceived inabilities to assure the security of cruise passengers while off-ship.

Perhaps there are other reasons. But that is what I have been told is the fundamental reason for the decline in cruise ship port calls at Mazatlan.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

I disagree because these tours are available to everybody, notjust cruise ship passengers. We took a tour that went up into the mountains at Puerto Vallarta. It was an excellent tour but that was 20 years ago.

I agree totally. I commented about this OYin the parallel thread about this incident.

Incidentally, we were returning from Boca on Highway 200 at or shortly before the time this happened.