Cruiser Safety in Mazatlan

In late January, three of the major cruise ship lines — Disney, Norwegian Star, and Carnival Spirit — announced they were pulling out of Mazatlan because there had been three incidents involving cruise ship passengers.

Gil Diaz, the Mazatlan Port Director, said Mazatlan had welcomed 526,000 cruise ship passengers in ’10 with no incidents, but there had been three "very minor ones" near the cruise ship terminal this year, and that’s what caused the cruise ship lines to pull out.

However, as of early February, Norwegian Star and Carnival Spirit announced that they would be resuming service to Mazatlan because of promises of increased security. Disney, on the other hand, said they would not return until the fall.

Since late October, we have personally stopped and spent time at Turtle Bay, Bahia Santa Maria, Cabo San Lucas, Punta Mita, La Cruz, Nuevo Vallarta, Puerto Vallarta, Chemela, Tenacatita Bay, Melaque, Barra de Navidad, Santiago Bay, Las Hadas and Manzanillo. There wasn’t one occasion during this 90-day period that we sensed even a whiff of danger, and we went everywhere we felt like going. Furthermore, we didn’t hear a single report of a cruiser, RVer, or ex-pat having any incidents. Everyone we talked to said they felt as safe, if not safer, than back in big U.S. or Canadian cities.

That said, we haven’t been to Mazatlan, so we’d like to hear how cruisers there feel about their personal safety. Mazatlan is unfortunately located in the state of Sinaloa, which has been home to some of the greatest narco violence in Mexico. However, we’re willing to bet a nickel that the overwhelming majority of that violence is inland, away from American and Canadian cruisers, RVers and others tourists. But since we have no first hand experience, we’d appreciate hearing from you cruisers in Mazatlan or who have stopped in Mazatlan. Email Richard.