FANTOME In Mexico

The First Week!!

ANTHONY SIBOL

BWDF98A @prodigy.com

11/11/96

This is a trip report of the first (10/27/96) Mexican voyage

of Fantome. 

I had just completed the two week voyage from Antigua to

Mexico. I was making use on the pool at the hotel next to

the dock the ship uses ... the hotel has an arraignment with

WJ'er to let pax. use their facilities. I walked over to the

dock to catch the 4 pm tender back to the ship. While I was

waiting, I talked to some of the "inaugural cruise" pax.

Their first question was, "Why was the ship so far out?" The

reason was that you have to go out two miles to find more

than 15 ft. of water at Cancun. At four I got on a tender

with two 150 horsepower outboards and was back on the ship

in less than ten minutes.

The new pax. found, except for the Mexican snacks,

everything was pretty standard WJ'er. The pax. mix was about

the same as the reposition - 75% couples; 25% not traveling

as couples. There were three people in their 80's. One new

thing we all found in our cabins was a loose leaf binder

describing the 17 shore tours what would be available.

(Shades of the big steam boats.) You are asked to select the

tours you will take by Monday morning.

I took no tours in the three weeks I was aboard (we had

them on the reposition too.) The feedback from others

indicated that I didn't miss much; but you must read the

descriptions and decide for your selves. The most praised

tour was the "Indiana Jones Adventure" which featured a tour

through the jungle and snorkeling in caves with guides and

hand held lights. The "Jungle Jet Boat" tour was said to be

fun. The "Chichenitza Tour" was popular; but you only got

two hours at the site and 6.5 hours on a bus. But they did

show a "Ace Ventura" movie on the bus!

Two of the new pax. were Gary and Sheila, a couple I had

sailed with on Flying Cloud the week of the famous, and near

deadly, "shootout at the Bath & Turtle Pub". They both

remarked that things were never dull when we sailed

together. How right they were.

We sailed for Isla Mujeres that night and ran aground at

8:45am. A reef/sand bar extends several miles off the

northern tip of this island. Hurricane Lilly had shifted a

lot of sand around in the vicinity. The charts became

useless; but we didn't know that. We went aground early in

the morning and strong wind and seas from the East made it

impossible to back off. Shortly after running aground, I was

talking with some people sunning on deck and one asked when

we would get to Isla Mujeres, I replied, "We have been there

for 15 minutes.<G>" The seas were washing onto the lower

deck and the pounding on the sand bar became unrelenting. I

went to my cabin and got my wallet. The only things I wanted

to save from the ship were in there. A number of things

might have happen, and most of them were bad. If we had

encountered rocks as we were pushed further onto the bar,

the holing or cracking of the hull were possibilities. If

the ship began to turn sideways and the waves hit us broadside,

things could have gotten very uncomfortable ...

reminiscent of Yankee Clipper in Hurricane Klaus. After

three hours, a shrimp boat pulled us across the reef. (The

reef/bar was about 300 meters wide, and we only had 100

meters in front of us.) We were afloat and anchored off Pt.

Norte and were free to explore the Island ... but how we

would get to our next stop was very much up in the air.

This was our only wet landing. Bicycles and mopeds were

available and there was some shopping. I found a trip to the

southern end of the island by bicycle was fun. (14 pesos per

hour) There was the ruins of a Mayan temple and a light

house. Lots of things to see and places to stop in between.

After returning the bikes, we had a pleasant swim at the

beach where the launches picked us up.

I write this as if I were doing these things alone, but

actually I was always with other people from the ship and I

enjoyed their company immensely ... I seldom sailed with a

nicer group of passengers in my 63 weeks of WJ'in.

The next morning we were still at anchor. We were to be

led by a small boat to another opening in the reef later

that day. There were many rumors about problems with the

Mexican government and damage to their reef. Some of the

rumors involved fines or payments in significant $ amounts.

I asked Captain Sean what was going on so my report could be

accurate. Hr replied "It was company business and just

business as normal in Mexico" At first I wasn't happy with

the answer; but then realized that it was the only answer he

should have given. If minor Mexican officials had any hint

that WJ'er might pay them off in some way to avoid

inconvenience, the line of people with their hand out would

form on the left.

30 hours after running aground we picked our way back

across the reef, with a small boat leading the way, and out

to deep water. At 3:15pm the sails went up and we were on

our way to Playa Del Carmen. I imagine "Amazing Grace" never

sounded better to Sean and his fellow officers! Just after

the sails went up, Captain Paul Maskell (I call him WJ'ers

Captain of the Captains) walked up and said "Hello Tony". I

said "How did you get here?" It seems WJ'er Miami had Paul

on his way shortly after we went aground.

Wednesday found us in Playa Del Carmen. While many

went off on their all day tours, I did some shopping. This

was by far the best shopping of the trip ... Bargaining for

price is the name of the game. I found it fun and easy. The

stores are mostly in a six block area which is closed off to

traffic. The street is Avenida 5 (fifth Ave). After shopping

I went back to the ship for lunch and then spent the rest of

the day at the beach. A very nice beach is located next to

the ferry dock, which the ship's launches use. That night I

ate on the ship and went into town for the evening. I had a

snack at a restaurant and heard a report (Favorable) about

the Chichenitza tour. Most folks came ashore at night, shops

stay open until about 10pm.

The next day we were at Cozumel. This had been our first

port on the reposition cruise, so I was familiar with it and

liked the Island. My favorite beach was Chankanaab a park

on Cozumel. A cab cost $8 (for the whole cab) and entrance

fee was $7 plus $1 for a locker. (Yep this is not the Flying

Cloud) The park was beautiful and the snorkeling was

excellent. My underwater camera only focuses down to 1 meter

... I had a hard time getting the fish to stay that far

away. You get a "S" shaped lounge to use on the beach and

waiters serve you drinks on the beach ... of course they are

expensive ... a Corona costs just over $1 ... $1.50 with

tip!<G>

That night I returned to a great restaurant, "Prima". It

is small, has great pasta and seafood (Try the whole king

crab - get there early because they only get about 20 per

day.). It is located on a side street (109 A. Rosado Salas),

but everyone knows where it is. It also features strolling

musicians, an owner from Chicago - a real character, and

parrots that will sit on your shoulder if you want them too.

One person who dinned there called the dinner "Magical".

After dinner it is a short walk to "Carlos and Charlies".

Always loud, hot, and lots of fun. Most people on the ship

who come ashore, end up there.

The next day we sailed to Puerto Aventuras. This is a

private resort, but allowed us to use their facilities;

expecting people to shop, buy drinks, and lunch ... which

many of us did. I spent most of the day on their beach. Bar

service was very reasonable. Snorkeling was poor and the

sand was mostly ground shells - hard on the feet. The launch

ride is about 0.7 miles and the anchorage is very exposed.

Got drenched on the launch back. (My guess is that if the

winds had picked up during the day, they may have had to bus

the pax. still ashore to Playa del Carmen and pick them up

there. Two pax. who had taken the "Indiana Jones Adventure"

tour missed the last launch. They had stopped for a massage.

We sailed without them, but put into Playa Del Carmen to

pick them up. At about this time we started having

electrical problems. Associated with the electrical problems

were A/C and water pumping problems. I guess they needed the

generated power to run these also. The bottom line was that

we spent the night there and I carried a flashlight with me

as the problems came and went through the evening. There was

some dancing that evening, (no where near the amount we did

on the reposition cruise.).

The next day, plan "A" was to sail to Cancun, but a

weather disturbance might have made the anchorage there

untenable. So plan "B was to sail to Cozumel, where the

cruise would end and we would be taken to the airport by

ferry and bus. More electrical problems (I think that was

the reason.) made us switch to plan "C", which was to stay

at Playa Del Carmen.

That night a group of us decided to go ashore for a

Mexican dinner as a way to extend the vacation one more

night and get away from all the "good byes", Captains

farewells, and flambeaus. It was a pleasant night ashore and

I did some packing and made it an early evening.

The next day I took a launch ashore and after a one hour

bus ride and one bottle of Corona I was at the Cancun

airport. The flight home was very uneventful ... cleared

customs in Charlotte NC. I thought I might have a problem,

because I was traveling alone, on a one way ticket, and I

told the immigration officer I had been to 7 countries and

the form only had room for four. He asked me what other

countries I had visited. I told him and he took a red china

marker and put a "1" and circled it in the right hand

corner. I was ready for a through search of my luggage ...

but the customs officer waved me by after asking if I had

any liquor.

Here are some general notes:

"Senor frogs" or "Carlos & Charlies" ... One or both of

these are located in most ports and are lots of fun. They

make a good place to end an evening ashore, or a place to go

after eating on the ship.

Peter, the Food and Beverage manager, was in Mexico

lining up produce for the ship when we arrived. He was also

at work in the galley making salsa and other wonderful

Mexican treats. The Mexican food on the ship was very good.

Looking back over this report, it sounds like a disaster

... but why did I have such a good time? The answer is the

people you meet on a WJ'er are the kind who just know how to

have fun. We went ashore at Isla Mujeres not knowing what

the rest of the cruise would be like or if we would ever get

away from this Island. But we had a great day and no one

seemed to care if we were stuck there for 30 hours or three

days. As I have said in many of my reports ... "The people

you meet on a WJ'er are different and really great!"

In conclusion, I would recommend that anyone/everyone

should sail the Fantome in Mexico. But don't try to compare

it in "ANYWAY" to the Eastern Caribbean. It's as different

as goings to to Paris or Tokyo. The people are great ... I

could not imagine a more tourist friendly place.

I would be glad to try to answer any questions anyone

might have. For those reading this on an internet WEB page,

I can be reached at BWDF98A@PRODIGY.COM

I will be writing a report on the reposition cruise

(10/13 - 10/26) shortly. I have written them out of order

because of the high interest in the Mexican Itinerary.

Tony in Del.