When a cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Lines docked at the Mexico resort of Puerto Vallarta, 22 of the passengers on the ship claim they were robbed by locals. The passengers had their passports and their valuables taken from them when docked. The cruise line said that the passengers were robbed when on a guided trail excursion, according to a statement. The statement also said that there were no injuries to the passengers and that the excursion has been suspended on future cruises.
“Carnival is working with guests to reimburse them for lost valuables and assist with lost passports or other forms of identification,” according to the statement.
The announcement of the robberies comes just two weeks after a warning was released by the U.S. State Department. The warning told United States citizens to restrict travel to 14 states in Mexico, including Jalisco, the home of Puerto Vallarta. Other areas mentioned in the warning included Colima, Baja California and Morelos.
The ship, which holds 3,000 passengers, left Long Beach, California on February 19. The cruise was to last seven days along the Mexican Riviera while stopping at Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. The warnings from the U.S. State Department have caused cruise lines to end trips to Mexico or shorten their stops in Mexican states. After an increase in violence, multiple cruise lines removed Mazatlan from their list of stops back in 2011.
The town of Puerto Vallarta still remains a popular spot for tourism, especially for college students on Spring vacations. From December of 2006 to September of 2011, there were close to 47,500 people killed as a result of drug violence in Mexico. The majority of the people killed were those participating in criminal activity but some of the victims were innocent people. A crackdown on cartels began back in 2006 by President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon.