Cruise Chronicle

Family,

I just wanted to give you a quick heads up about my trip to Cozumel, Mexico and the scam that I was involved in. My family and I was taking a 7 day cruise with Carnival cruise line and one of the ports was Cozumel. I was involve in the scooter scam and I’m sure some of you have heard of it before. I was hesitant at first about renting the scooter, but my mind was put at ease when the sales men told me that if I purchased the insurance I would be protected for liability of any damages (I asked a second time to confirm it). So that’s what got me. Shortly after we rented the scooter my wife fell off and there were some minor scratches on the fender, side and mirror, but no problem because we purchased the insurance. After we turned in the scooter the guy says we need to pay for the damages (which was a few scratches). I said sir you informed me that if we purchased the insurance we would be covered if any damages happened to the scooter. He then replied that was liability that only covered you if you hit someone, but I was still responsible for the damages. I told him I wasn’t giving him any more money and we left. He says he’s calling the police. They kept my wife’s ship card as collateral because we didn’t have a credit card for them to keep.

After we left the rental office we returned to the shopping area right outside the dock that leads back to the ship. The scooter guy contacted the tourist police about what was going on and we had a talk. To make a long story short, the city police, tourists police, and immigration were all in on it together. My account of the story fell on death ears and I was told that I had to pay for the damages or would go to jail. Thanks to my dad, brother-in-law and family for negotiating with he crooks, they let me go for $130 which is cheaper than spending the night in a Mexican jail and missing the rest of the cruise. But for those of you who travel to Mexico I would advise you not rent anything, regardless of what they say. Because if the police get involved you don’t stand a chance and will have to pay up. I just wanted to share my experience so hopefully no one else would have to go through the same thing. They wanted money at the end of the day and knew they were going to get it.