Mexico

Bob & Nancy on March 13th, 2012

Over a group lunch on Sunday, we eavesdropped on a conversation in which one person’s daughter was going to Mexico for spring break. “Isn’t your daughter worried about going to Mexico?” someone asked. This week, the Mexican Tourism Board is at the Cruise Shipping Miami 2012 trade show, trying and hoping to sell their towns [...]

Continue reading about Mexico’s Inside Waters Rocky, Too

Bob & Nancy on March 5th, 2012

A few days ago, a friend called to inquire about going on an Alaska cruise. He and his wife had been on cruises but always on smaller ships. Now they were planning a cruise with friends, with Alaska as their chosen destination. As we all learn in life, recommendations can be dangerous. Okay, tricky. What [...]

Continue reading about Princess to the ‘Alaska’ Rescue

Bob & Nancy on February 27th, 2012

The cry that you hear from people who love cruising and who love Mexico — that would be us — is this: “Somebody do something!” News on the weekend that 22 Carnival passengers were robbed, at gunpoint, while on an organized shore excursion in Puerto Vallarta, has taken violence in Mexico to another level. Until [...]

Continue reading about Mexico Robbery the Latest Blow

Bob & Nancy on January 30th, 2012

On Friday we happened to see our family physician, who has since left with his wife on a Caribbean cruise. Naturally, we were all ears. This week they’re en route to Honduras, Grand Cayman and Mexico, from Fort Lauderdale, and since we’d been in all these places during the past six months we shared some [...]

Continue reading about Cruising: A Chance to Escape

Bob & Nancy on December 21st, 2011

Maybe we’ve just been fortunate, but in many years of visiting many places in Mexico, we’ve never had a problem. In fact, quite the opposite. So it’s understandable that we would have a soft spot for Mexican cruise ports, most of which we have visited at least once. That, of course, includes the beleaguered Mazatlan, [...]

Continue reading about Star Re-Born on Mexican Coast

Bob & Nancy on October 25th, 2011

We just have one question about cruises to the Mexican Riviera: Why is everybody going back? Holland America…Princess…Carnival…Disney…all of them pulled their ships or modified their itineraries on Mexico cruises leaving Southern California, at the height of the reports of theft and violence in Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. They all said they were abandoning one [...]

Continue reading about Cruise Lines say ‘Si’ to Mexico Again

Bob & Nancy on October 20th, 2011

Maybe there aren’t strange things happening at Cunard, but what’s been happening is “unusual” for sure. A few weeks ago, Cunard floated the idea of changing the registration for one or all of its ships. This was to allow the fancy cruise line to sell “weddings on board” — which isn’t allowed on a British [...]

Continue reading about Cunard coming clean…er

Bob & Nancy on June 27th, 2011

During the weekend, a close friend who regularly keeps track of Cruising Done Right alerted us to more never-ending tourism fears about Mexico. In digging a little further, we found what we always seem to find — the fear factor is being blown out of proportion. It started with Mazatlan, a year or so ago, [...]

Continue reading about Puerto Vallarta No Fit for Princess

Bob & Nancy on March 19th, 2011

The Right Price………………………………………………………….$329 Ship: Carnival Fantasy, Eastern Caribbean, 6 nights Departure: December 3, 2011, from Charleston, SC Ports: Nassau, Freeport, Key West Contact: Carnival Cruise * * * Have you ever wondered why ships don’t spend more time in ports, as in overnight?…We always assumed it was an economic issue, that port taxes for doing [...]

Continue reading about Cruising Notes on the Boats

Bob & Nancy on March 8th, 2011

Mazatlan is being treated more and more like a leper colony for tourists. Yesterday’s news was that the latest cruise-ship company to take a pass on the Pacific Coast resort is Carnival. It all comes from the perception — real or magnified — that Mazatlan is not a safe place to be, for anyone. Okay, [...]

Continue reading about Misery Magnified for Mazatlan