Posted on 02/26/2012 4:04:25 PM PST by BenLurkin
LONG BEACH (CBS) — Nearly two dozen passengers aboard the Carnival Splendor are back in the Southland Sunday after being robbed at gunpoint during their seven-day voyage in the Mexican Riviera.
The cruise line pulled into the Port of Long Beach around 5:30 a.m.
As they disembarked from ship, passengers talked with CBS2’s Kristine Lazar about last week’s incident.
Passenger Ladean Hilgenberg described to Lazar in detail another tourist’s account of the ordeal.
“One had a mask on hanging over his head and he said, ‘you see my automatic gun’ and a knife in his belt and he said it in Spanish. He wanted everything he had.
“One fellow pulled his money out of his wallet and he said, ‘no, I want everything… backpacks and all.’ And he raised his gun up. And they dropped everything — backpacks, everything.”
Hilgenberg, who was not robbed, said she was told the ordeal took “three minutes or less.”
Other passengers told Lazar they don’t plan to return to the Mexican Riviera by cruise and one man said he planned to cancel two future cruises.
On Thursday, 22 passengers were on a bus returning to ship after a guided nature trail excursion in Puerto Vallarta when a gang of masked assailants stopped the bus, according to Mexican media reports.
The armed robbers made off with the passengers’ valuables, including money, jewelry, cameras and passports. No one was hurt.
In a statement, Carnival called the incident “unfortunate and disturbing” and said it is working to reimburse for their lost valuables.
Meantime, CBS Travel Editor Peter Greenberg tells us this is an isolated incident. According to him, this kind of violence is normally not seen against Americans in the Mexican Riviera
” Who in their right mind would be going to Mexico on vacation? It’s not worth the risks. “
There are still mindless Americans out there, oblivious to anything but their pleasure, and the cash on hand to promulgate that pleasure for the “Mexican Riviera”. Gag. Honestly, they are blessed their throats weren’t cut!
“This was reported over most of the civilized world. Pretty hard to have missed it...”
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I quite missed it also, but then I don’t watch FAUX, CNN.
Coverage all over the world, my foot.
Just on FR the same story has been posted from CNN, MSNBC and CBS. It got wide coverage in Canada and the UK as well.
My husband and I are taking a cruise to the Mexican Riviera on the Disney Wonder in November. We are thinking of just staying on the ship. Scarry!
!
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