Help - I need updated info of PV

Hey girls, I know there was some discussion on this, but I need specific PV info on it!

so I was just starting to relax and get excited that all my friends were booked! And then I get a phone call.....

My friend called me just today all freaking out because her parents said she was stupid for going to Mexico at a time like this "with all the violence." etc etc. Now she said even if she went, she would have an anxiety attack because she wouldn't be able relax. Her mom told her that people are going into resorts and killing people etc. Now, I'm afraid my friend is not only going to cancel her trip (oh well), but scare other people to cancelling!!!!!! (my biggest worry...)

Let me start off by saying, I posted an article on my wedding website about "don't worry about the violence" but I need concrete stuff here! I'm sure resorts/vendors on here don't want to lose business and say anything negative, but this is important! Any detail from past brides/recent visitors/people who live down there (Mishka...?) I just need some concrete info to pass on to my friends to put them at ease before this gets out of hand.

I know there have been other posts but I didn't see anything in the PV section...thank everyone! I hope this helps my friends because I just went from super excited to depressed

i am so sorry to hear this! before going on our site visit in PV, my mom definitely gave us a lot of crap for all of the violence, as did my boss...but we just ignored it, thankfully, because there was nothing to fear while we were there.

past brides will be able to give you better advice, but i just want you to know that i hope it all turns out alright and i hope you don't stress about this too much.

you might want to think about talking to your friend to keep her opinions to herself and not go around scaring others...

good luck!

Hi Jillian, I have been following this very closely and so far nothing has happened in PV. The incident your friends mom is talking about was in Alcapulco and it was a shoot out between drug dealers. I too have friends and family who have mentioned concerns about crime and this is why I posted a similar concern on this site a few months ago. Right now I'm totally confident that PV is safe. But if you feel the need to check the news, check out this site daily: Latin American Herald Tribune - Welcome and look at CNN.com in the World news section. I hope this helps.

My daughter got married in April at the Riu Vallarta. We had 38 people along, and none of us experienced any kind of problem with violence or intimidation whatsoever. We went into town several times and nothing there was any different than it had been. We all felt perfectly safe at all times. Put your guests' mind at ease.

Yeah Jill - NOTHING in PV - it is getting bad press for no reason. Let me see if I can find the article I have and I'll post it here.

ok this isn't that helpful - but it says drugs is the only problem in PV but they never involve anyone else but themselves

Free Article for Non-Members | STRATFOR

I'll see if I can get the other one

a few more:

NO drug violence in Puerto Vallarta & area. No worries! - Puerto Vallarta Forum - TripAdvisor

Drug crimes of little concern in the resort areas of Mexico - Caribbean Travel - MiamiHerald.com

Never Mind Drug Wars: Mexico Urges Tourists, Meetings to Travel South

My Weblog: What's REALLY Happening In MEXICO? - Day 5, PUERTO VALLARTA (SCROLL DOWN to view TODAY'S VIDEOS)

These are ALL great girls!!! Thanks! I'm putting all this info together in an email for my friend to look at. Honestly, not sure if it will help at this point (I think her parents freaked her out too much beyond repair), but how do I ask her to please keep her thoughts to herself and not scare others? this is a touchy one...not sure how to ask? or just see if other girls ask me?

I feel the more I say, the more it looks like I'm trying to defend something (that doesn't need defending...)you know what I mean? I feel if I just stay cool about it, it will show everyone that there is nothing to worry about!

Try not to worry. People know that there have been some problems in Mexico, if some of your guests are really scared or uncomfortable they will talk to you about it. I had one friend's mom make a point to mention in front of me that there were "lots of cases of be-headings (sp?)" in Mexico. I had to correct her and let her know they most of these cases are near the border towns due to drug wars and yes there were one or two cases in Cancun BUT Cancun is NOT PV. The people who are comfortable with traveling will come. The people who generally don't travel anywhere outside of the US OR they go somewhere and stay on the resort the whole time probably will be scared. We have a few of those types in our group and I'm suspecting they wont come and thats ok-its probably for the best!

I like this website for PV info. This is a link to a specific article, but it tends to have current local news and events too.

Mexico: One Journalist’s View

The US governments site for travel warnings, etc.

Mexico

The US consulate in PV

Vallarta Consular Agency - U.S. Consulate General Guadalajara, Mexico

IMO: The best advice is to tell people to use common sense. Don't talk to strangers, don't flaunt your money, don't go anywhere that looks sketchy. Same thing they would do if they were visitng NYC or San Fran or Dallas or New Orleans or Toronto or Paris or Lodon....