Mexico

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eyephone said:
That's good to know, but I'm still not going there.  ;)

I wish your sentiment was shared by a significant amount of others so that it could drive down fares. However, the opposite has happened. The fare has gone up. Demand seems unhindered. I'm glad I booked early.

On another note, Nationwide has a plan available from InsureMyTrip.com which now includes CDC warnings as covered reasons for Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption as of October (which I think is your concern, going from the earlier posts.)
 
Thinking about going to impoverished Tijuana, Mexico with our church's ministry to build houses for the poor. Since everyone on T.I. is local, I figured there might be somebody who has already done this. I'm just trying to figure out what a good minimum age should be. Might be a few years before I can include my kids. Kids and construction sites generally don't mix. If anyone has already done this,  let me know your thoughts.
 
SoCal said:
Thinking about going to impoverished Tijuana, Mexico with our church's ministry to build houses for the poor. Since everyone on T.I. is local, I figured there might be somebody who has already done this. I'm just trying to figure out what a good minimum age should be. Might be a few years before I can include my kids. Kids and construction sites generally don't mix. If anyone has already done this,  let me know your thoughts.

Not as many people visit TI on the weekends so I am bumping this for the Monday Morning folks. It doesn't have to be T.J. If you have any experience doing this in any other country, let me know.
 
SoCal said:
Thinking about going to impoverished Tijuana, Mexico with our church's ministry to build houses for the poor. Since everyone on T.I. is local, I figured there might be somebody who has already done this. I'm just trying to figure out what a good minimum age should be. Might be a few years before I can include my kids. Kids and construction sites generally don't mix. If anyone has already done this,  let me know your thoughts.

Have a friend that does these sort of projects on a frequent basis (every few weeks) with his church. According to him, most of the folks are older, i.e. 30+, but on few occasions he has seen younger kids (teenagers) come along with their parents.
 
Well, I am back and although I got to do many fun things in Cabo San Lucas, unfortunately, we were forced to miss a Mexican Fiesta plus tour of the tequila factory and Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Puerto Vallarta. Not to mention the famous Malecon, which we were really looking forward to seeing. Sadly, 16 people - mostly local police - were killed in an ambush style shoot-out while driving down a highway in a part of Jalisco, Mexico - the state in which P.V. lies. The captain didn't want to take any chances so he cancelled our shore excursion plus several others, which were due to travel down the same highway this occurred on. It was a long way to travel to end up doing basically nothing. But we stayed at the pier and made the best of it. P.V. looks like a beautiful city. Very green with beautiful hills - a jungle atmosphere. Very different from Cabo. Maybe we will go back one day and try again.
http://www.usnews.com/news/world/ar...t-killed-15-police-in-western-mexico-a-rarity
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/07/us-mexico-violence-idUSKBN0MY1GT20150407
 
That's why I don't go to Mexico. At some point I'd like to go to Mexico city, maybe when my kids are out of college :-)
 
qwerty said:
That's why I don't go to Mexico. At some point I'd like to go to Mexico city, maybe when my kids are out of college :-)

Imho, there's no problem going. The cruise line cancelled out of "an abundance of caution". They told us officially that the shootings took place 50 minutes away from where we were going to be. However, when I got back and was no longer isolated from the internet, I looked it up. It wasn't 50 minutes. It was nearly 4 HOURS away. I was pretty upset when I read that. That's what I would call more like "paranoid schizophrenic". I guess it depends on which one you believe but also which direction you are travelling. They could have made adjustments to avoid that highway and just done a shorter version but for some reason, that didn't happen although they local taxi drivers offered to take me on their regular route which would have sufficed. A lot of people re-booked their cancelled excursion through the company itself privately. They all went and came back fine. When I spoke with guest services they said in all the years they had worked this itinerary, they had never heard of any crime happening in P.V. It is a beautiful, relatively small, and peaceful city. They said they wouldn't be terribly surprised if it had happened near Cabo or, more accurately - Mazatlan, but not Vallarta. Mazatlan was actually removed from the port of calls for approximately 2 years due to violence. I kind of wish I had rebooked privately but was left with very short notice. Then again, next time I go on a trip, I'd probably pick a place where the people customarily use toilet paper. Oh my God. The stories I could tell about THAT!  :o  :(
 
Btw, Qwerty, do the major companies in Mexico put toilet paper in the restrooms? For example, there is a giant Walmart near the pier in P.V. I was wondering what they do. Because everywhere else I went, they had a Mexican person sitting outside the entrance to the restroom with a box of lunch napkins(!!!) wanting a tip from Americans who want to wipe their tushies. I didn't go for that, I just held it until I got back to the ship. There was this one lady who went before me at Senor Frog's in Cabo. There was no TP. I was waiting in line with a wad I picked up from the next stall. She came out with her shorts and underwear around her thighs (yeah, butt naked in front of me) telling me there was no T.P. I said I know and held up my stash to show her I was prepared. She goes, "I just shake it off like this" and started shaking herself. I was liiiiike... OmG, No. No. No. Next thing I know, I look and she shook urine all over the seat I was about to use. She pulled her pants up like nothing ever happened. Ugh! I told my husband, I got a new business idea from this. I'm sure Europeans think we are disgusting because we wipe and don't use a bidet. I can sit at a table outside the restrooms in the Port of Long Beach saying, "Squirt bottles! Eight dolla!"
 
qwerty said:
That's why I don't go to Mexico. At some point I'd like to go to Mexico city, maybe when my kids are out of college :-)

Oh, btw. I thought I had read something about you going to France. If you feel that way about mexico, then avoid France. If you keep up with world news then you may want to re-think the timing of a visit to France or going at all. It is definitely on my short list of places to avoid.
 
Socal - every place I've been to in Mexico had toilet paper. Kind of crazy.

Not sure if we are going back to Europe this summer. Not sure we want to deal with a two year old in Europe. Our inlaws offered to take care of her but they are in their late 60s and tire quickly so don't want to burden them. We weren't going to go to France anyway, we have already done paris, I don't care to see any other part of the country.
 
qwerty said:
Socal - every place I've been to in Mexico had toilet paper. Kind of crazy.

You are KIDDING ME!!! I can't believe you found ANY toilet paper. When I was at a fairly nice shopping center in Cabo, an armed guard who had been guarding the perimeter, escorted me through the center to the bathroom with his rifle out. Unfortunately, I couldn't use it because at that time I did not understand yet what the table and box of lunch napkins were for. The person collecting tips was absent. But I went in and saw 2 ladies using it -- again, with no T.P.! Sometimes it sucks not being a dude because you can't even simply pee without toilet paper which apparently nobody has unless you are in a very corporate type of place. All I had to do was pee! I told him it was "broken". A stranger - an older Mexican man who was earlier trying to get me into his shop - said, "Honey, I'll take you to a bathroom upstairs". I was like no way, Jose! Are you kidding me? For all I know, maybe there wasn't even really a bathroom up there. I was all alone with a sack full of cash and valuables. What could possibly go wrong, right?! Earlier, I purposely blended in with a group of other American tourists from a different ship that I followed so I would be safe. They were long gone by then. It was just me. I had to take the tender alllllll the way back to the ship to use the bathroom. This was AFTER they had no T.P. at Senor Frog's where the butt-shaker was, after I drank a yard glass of Coke, two bottles of water, and one Bahama Momma! Everywhere I went -- no T.P. Same thing at the pier in Vallarta! Since paper lunch napkins aren't exactly septic tank friendly, who knows if the so-called toilets even work. Maybe it's a hole in the ground like when you go camping. My Indian friend says they don't use T.P. in her country. They wipe with their left hand. Either it's a cultural thing like that in Mexico OR they are twisting our bladders arms for tips. Next time, I'm taking my own roll to shore.
 
SoCal said:
She goes, "I just shake it off like this" and started shaking herself. I was liiiiike... OmG, No. No. No. Next thing I know, I look and she shook urine all over the seat I was about to use. She pulled her pants up like nothing ever happened."

Sometimes its the unexpected moments that make a trip truly memorable. 
 
The California Court Company said:
SoCal said:
That's what I would call more like "paranoid schizophrenic".

haha the irony.
just like everything else in life, you get what you pay for.

Nothing lost. The shore excursion was automatically refunded. Had a lot of fun, got nice pics, glad I went. 
 
Happiness said:
SoCal said:
She goes, "I just shake it off like this" and started shaking herself. I was liiiiike... OmG, No. No. No. Next thing I know, I look and she shook urine all over the seat I was about to use. She pulled her pants up like nothing ever happened."

Sometimes its the unexpected moments that make a trip truly memorable. 

So true. I didn't expect to get so "emotional" saying goodbye to the people of Puerto Vallarta. My stateroom was port side. As the sun set, I saw 1 local man standing on the pier with his two kids and a camera. They were taking pictures of the ship. I happened to bring a flashlight with me that has 9 LEDs in it. I decided to stand on the balcony and began waving back and forth to them with my flashlight on. He took his phone out and waved back with the light. Then more people came. They took out their phones and waved to us. More pictures taken. Then came a whole group of security guards! They all took out their flashlights and began waving. It drew a bigger crowd and then a second one near the very end of the pier with a lot of children and adults. As our ship was sailing away, everybody was waving with any lights they could find and whistling as I waved my flashlight. We all did this for a long time in the dark of the night until we all disappeared from view. It was kind of touching!  :'(
 
after visiting Hidden Canyon today, I need to visit Foothill Ranch again to remind myself we are still doing OK. Foothill Ranch residents....there is always Mexico.
 
The California Court Company said:
after visiting Hidden Canyon today, I need to visit Foothill Ranch again to remind myself we are still doing OK. Foothill Ranch residents....there is always Mexico.

Hey, that reminds me. Attention, everybody! I want to send my congratulations to California Court. His wife just delivered a brand new, beautiful baby! Let's all give him our well-wishes. Yup... He has been overseas on a business trip for the past 16 months straight without visiting home. He is really looking forward to meeting his new child. Congratulations!  :)
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