Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Security concerns have caused one cruise line to cancel upcoming calls at two popular ports on Mexico's Pacific Coast. But local travel agents said that Mexico's tourist areas continue to provide a secure spot for a vacation at a great price.

"As the safety and security of our passengers and crew is our highest priority, and based on the continued violence in these areas, we've made the decision to cancel our calls to Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan," Karen Candy, a spokeswoman for Princess Cruises, said in an email to The Dispatch.

Other cruise lines have also eliminated stops in Mazatlan, but Princess is the first to end visits to Puerto Vallarta. So is Mexico too dangerous to visit?

Not at all, said local travel agents yesterday. "I don't understand the cruise line's thinking on this," said Mary Stephan of Allons Travel in Powell.

No other cruise line has canceled stops in Puerto Vallarta, she noted. "I've taken my children to resorts there, and I would again," she said.

Mexico is a huge country, she said, and the areas that have experienced violence recently are mostly along the U.S. border, hundreds or even thousands of miles from the tourist hot spots.

The U.S. State Department regularly issues travel warnings for Americans traveling abroad. The last travel warning for Mexico was issued on April 22, said Andy Laine, a State Department spokesman.

The travel warning cites violence along the U.S.-Mexico border and advises tourists to avoid several border cities including Ciudad Juarez and Nuevo Laredo.

The alert notes that almost 35,000 people have been killed in narcotics-related violence in Mexico since December 2006. But it also notes that more than 150,000 U.S. citizens cross the border to Mexico every day for business or tourism.

"Resort areas and tourist destinations in Mexico generally do not see the levels of drug-related violence and crime reported in the border region and in areas along major (drug) trafficking routes," the alert notes.

The alert also notes crime and violence in other parts of Mexico, including Mazatlan and the state of Jalisco, home to Puerto Vallarta.

More than 300 narcotics-related murders occurred in Mazatlan in 2010, according to the State Department. Visitors "are encouraged to visit Mazatlan during daylight hours and limit the time (they) spend outside tourist centers" there.

Official U.S. government employees are prohibited from traveling to the cities of Colotlan and Yahualica in the Mexican state of Jalisco. But the travel warning notes that most of the violence in Jalisco is concentrated in areas of the state far removed from Puerto Vallarta.

"We always encourage travelers to do their homework before they travel," Laine said.

Laine said he didn't know of any new advisory planned for Mexico.

"If new concerns were to arise, we'd take appropriate steps to update the travel warnings as soon as possible," he said.

Avoiding the entire country of Mexico because of violence in places such as Ciudad Juarez would be like avoiding the United States because of violence in New York City or Philadelphia, said Fred Kerner of Grandview Travel.

"Occasionally we'll get a client who says, 'We'll go anywhere all-inclusive but Mexico,'" Kerner said.

Kerner said he tries to put Mexican violence into perspective for customers. "Sometimes our explanation satisfies them."

But sometimes it takes a bargain to erase the fear - and for travelers looking for sunny, all-inclusive beach resorts, "Mexico always prices out the best," Kerner said.

Contact the writer at sstephens(at)dispatch.com.