Mexican Riviera Yes or no?

[CarolynU]

I really fancy the Mexican Riviera cruise Easter 2012 with a few days at Disneyland at the end, but just spoke with DS who is a regular DCL cruiser and he said not to do this because Mexico is not a good place to visit right now, and he and his wife don't want to come!
Now I have heard about stuff happening, but surely you just have to be a bit vigilant right like many places? I can't imagine Disney compromising the safety of thousands of guests taking them to dangerous places!
How does everyone here feel? Would you take this cruise, and presumably some folk are. Is anyone else worried or is my son worrying unnecessarily?

 

[UK-Simon]

No Mother

I understand many thousands of people do visit Mexico on a daily basis, but with many options, we have decided to stay out of Mexico right now.

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/World/Story/STIStory_655422.html

 

[CarolynU]

That's so funny son. I wondered if you'd reply. What are you doing awake right now LOL! Even the caribbean option stops in Cozumel and Costa Maya though and that's Mexico though, so surely no better?

 

[aidtrismommy]

No for me. The Mexican government is a mess and I do not feel safe bringing my children there. The areas may seem safe, but Mexico is Mexico and the police are corrupt. Maybe one day, but not anytime soon.

 

[Ladyshopper]

We did the MR Disney cruise at the end of Feb this year and loved it. I am a single mother, and didn't feel at all unsafe off the boat in either Puerto Vallarta or Cabo. In Puerto we wandered round the flea market, went to Wallmart, then went back onboard (tried to get a whale watching trip but they'd all sold out).

In Cabo we went on a whale watching trip for 4 hours which was fab. I booked with one of the many operators in the port.

The second day in Cabo I left my kids onboard the Wonder (fast asleep, too many late nights at the Edge!) and I went back to Cabo, wandered all along the port and looked in all the shops and the market. I was going to get a water taxi to lovers beach, but left it a bit late so decided against it.

Disney really aren't going to go anywhere that is going to put you in danger. Unfortunately there is violence all over the world, look at the 2 british tourists who have just been shot in Florida by a 16 year old.

We all loved our cruise, and Cabo in particular was stunning.

 

[drparoo]

We're looking forward to our MR cruise this December!!

 

[AZPirate]

Never for one second did we feel unsafe while in Mexico. This included both DIsney sponsored excursions and just exploring on our own. Sure, there are parts of Mexico that I wouldn't go to right now but they are not anywhere near where you might wander through as a tourist. Oviously everyone has to make their own decision, but I am extremely happy we ended up going because we had a wonderful time there. Again, we never felt threatened in any way nor did we hear from anyone else that they did.

 

[M4travels]

We're also looking forward to our MR cruise in September. LOVE Cabo (usually go 2 or 3 times a year), miss Puerto Vallarta (haven't been in a few years but now that we live closer we're going in December, too) and HOPE that Mazatlan will be back in the pipeline in the fall.

Michael

 

[Dicecatt]

We did the Mexican Riviera cruise in March, LOVED it, one of my absolute favorite cruises EVER. I would do the exact same thing all over again. Not for a second did we feel unsafe. Annoyed at times maybe, because of being approached by people selling goods and services, but you get that just about anywhere you go. LOVED Cabo. Really enjoyed Puerto Vallarta. We research, take proper precautions, and are always very aware of our surroundings.

 

[momtofour]

We were on the MR cruise that left on March 20th. I too was extremely concerned about the situation in Mexico. I felt very at ease in Cabo and PV and toured on my own in areas close to the port. In fact, I felt much safer there than I did in Nassau! However, if you are going to book any excursions, I would only go on the Disney sponsored ones. We enjoyed this cruise and rebooked for next year, same week for my family. It is very reasonably priced. However, think long and hard about the weather. On embarkation day and the first sea day the weather was absolutely horrible. The second sea day was slightly better but not great at all. Weather in PV and Cabo was beautiful. Sea day back to LA was horrendous. For us weather is important as we are from Chicago and need to get away from the cold. I am thinking long and hard about this cruise due to the weather. We talked to numerous cast members and they said the weather we experienced was typical.

 

[ThePedersonFamily]

We were on the March 13th MR cruise and I never once felt unsafe. I took both of my girls (4 and 9) off the boat and was never concerned.

That being said, we wouldn't chose to do a MR again. We have done both the eastern and western Caribbean cruises and much preferred them. I think the fact that we had only 3 ports and 2 were the same stop. (Cabo twice) As well as very limited hours made it slightly less enjoyable than the Caribbean cruises.

That is just our opinion...however if safety is your only concern I wouldn't worry...it seemed very safe to us!!

 

[skylynx]

Out of our dozen or so Disney cruises, this past February's MR was one of our favorites. We were a bit apprehensive, too, with all the violent stories hitting the wire services, but decided if we felt nervous in any of the ports we'd just stay on the ship.

As it turned out, we felt safer in Cabo and PV than in Nassau! We weren't bold enough to go off into the jungle or wander down streets away from the main drag, but both were delightful experiences. Our interchanges with taxi drivers, servers in bars, and folks at information booths were entirely pleasant. I think in particular, the vendors waiting to swoop down on you in Cabo had been recently coached not to intimidate...they didn't react at all when we said "no thanks" to 22 offers of excursions and many even said "ok, have a nice day."

The marina area around Cabo was expecially magical to us. Hard to not love buckets of seven(!) ice cold Coronas, chips and salso for ten bucks while we sat in the shade and breeze watching all the boats and sea lions and pelicans.

The weather in February was perfect for us...warm in the middle of the day but cool enough in the evening to leave our verandah door cracked for fresh air and an all-night lullaby from the ocean. If you want to bake on a sun lounger in the morning, you'd probably be disappointed. For us, though, after many cruises where it was hot, hot, hot poolside, it was a treat to read next to the adult pool all snuggled up on a lounger in the blankets the crew left out for us!

Part of the attraction of this cruise for us is that it was so different from the Bahamas and Eastern/Western cruises. All cruises have their wonders, but we really enjoyed the constant parade of wildlife (whales, dolphins, sea lions, marlin) going by our verandah on the MR cruise. We felt the same way about our only non-Disney cruise, on the Norwegian Pearl to Alaska.

We consider ourselves very fortunate to have been able to go on a number of cruises, and really appreciate the different experiences each destination offers. I guess I've always believed if you go somewhere expecting to be delighted instead of disappointed, you are more likely to get your wish!

 

[OC_stacylace]

We were on the April 3rd MR Wonder cruise, and we loved it as well. We were concerned as well about the safety of the ports, and it turned out not being a big deal at all. My husband went off the ship on our first stop in Cabo, just to check it out and see if our 11 and 5 year old boys would like it. Needless to say, our 2nd day at port we all went to shore and loved it. We had one of our best meals ever at Sr. Frogs, and have now convinced our kids that Mexican food is yummy. There is a really clean and neat Mercado to the left as you come ashore in Cabo that we loved. Look for the street performers! You may just see Michael Jackson dancing or a golden pirate "statue" who comes alive as you walk by. I wasn't too impressed with PV, as it didn't have the charm of Cabo.

On a side note, we did see a huge US Coast Guard Ship in the port at Cabo. In PV, there were several Mexican Coast Guard Ships as well. We were not the only cruise ships in these ports, and it made sense to me to have the extra precautions for safety. I say go, and have a good time, and just be aware of what's going on around you.

 

[moomy-san]

We were on the Wonder in early February. Absolutely loved the cruise and re-booked onboard for next year. We have 2 young daughters and other than making sure they knew the rules (ie. stay with us at all times) we felt safe and didn't worry about our safety anymore than when we have driven thru parts of LA at night. To be quite honest, I am more scared walking past the bus shelter in front of Disneyland at night than I was at anytime in either port.

My aunt and uncle have a beautiful vacation home in Puerto Vallarta and visit it many times a year. They, too, say they feel very safe there.

 

[MND]

No for me. The Mexican government is a mess and I do not feel safe bringing my children there. The areas may seem safe, but Mexico is Mexico and the police are corrupt. Maybe one day, but not anytime soon.

I'm curious, do you avoid WDW because of the violence in Detroit, or Boston for that matter?

Mexico is a very big country and the violence is not as wide-spread as many of you seem to think.

Mike

 

[CarolynU]

Ummm very interesting replies, and food for thought. I have to say weather is a major factor, and from reading some posts this is a bit unpredictable in what will be early April, so something else for me to think about.

 

[ALK$Disney]

Most of the trouble is closer to the US-Mexico border. In the tourist areas you will be fine.

 

[crafty91]

We too were on the March 27th cruise and felt the weather was a bit disappointing. We are from the east coast and I like my vacations warm! The departure day and first day at sea were very chilly, and the day we left Cabo made the turn around the horn the temp dropped 20 degrees and wind blew something crazy! The last sea day was not fit to be outside because of the temp. We had a good time anyway but probably wouldn'd do it again. Those on the west coast are likely more used to the weather. I will say the port days were nice for weather.

As for safety my son and I did two excursion very far inland, zipline in PV and 4X4 desert tour in Cabo. (Cabo desert was freezing btw!) We felt very safe the entire time. Violence can happen anytime anywhere just stay where you are "supposed to" and you'd be fine. We were in groups at all times anyway.

As an aside I would highly recommend DCL excurions on the MR cruise. The port day times are a little wacky compared to what we are used to and if you aren't on a DCL excursion and miss the boat you are out of luck! example, Cabo time and ship time were an hour apart so you better remember which you are looking at! My wife and DD did a dolphin encounter and they were on the very last tender AFTER the boat had pulled anchor and turned to head out to sea!

Whatever you decide Disney does it right so you'll have fun even if you stayed on the ship for 7 days!

 

[Señor DonDuck]

We went in Feb. and had a great time. We felt very safe in Cabo and PV.

 

[jetskigrl]

We just spent 7 nights on board the Dream and absolutely love it but when we rebooked, we booked the MR for next year's Spring Break. As much as I would prefer to be on the Fantasy, it made much more financial sense to book the Wonder for next year since we live so close to the port in San Pedro. I am excited about a trip where we don't have to worry about airlines, baggage weight limits, hotels, etc Plus we loved the Wonder when we were on the 2-night Cruise to Nowhere this past January and are looking forward to being on that ship again.

As for Mexico, we are just going to play it by ear. If we have any reason to worry about the ports, we will just stay on the boat and enjoy it instead. If things remain calm there, then we will probably book at least one Disney-sponsored excursion (I trust Disney to keep up with the situation and only allow bookings that are in safe areas).

I know anything can happen anywhere but we will still be cautious.