FANTOME In Mexico

The First Week!!

ANTHONY SIBOL

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.