Wilde Adventures

Mexican Riviera & Sea of Cortez Cruise: December 10 — December 21, 2024

Text by Marney Wilde

Although this was a port-intensive cruise, leisure activities were offered daily. We selected this cruise not for the port calls; we’ve visited each port on several prior cruises, but as an easy getaway at a time convenient for us. Thus, there was plenty of time to investigate at least some of what was available to enjoy on our own.. We did not attend trivia contest events or the sports activities (pickleball seemed to be a favorite) this time.

Because this cruise preceded Christmas Day by just a few days the ship was beautifully decorated with trees, garlands, and on Deck 2, a long table adorned with a charming gingerbread village. It was easy to take photos of it or to just stand in front of it to admire the craftsmanship that went into its construction. There was seldom a crowd so large as to impair enjoinment of this feature.

I just loved the new library set-up. The last time we were on the Konigsdam the library was housed in a small Crow’s Nest corner; COVID restrictions were still in place. The space was not really separate from the usual activities that take place in this area. Upon investigating the ship, just a couple of years later, such an improvement! There’s now a dedicated space; a little tricky to find, but well-marked on the deck plan posted by the elevators and very accessible.

This seems to have been an underutilized area previously housing the Microsoft Studio. Approaching from the World Stage’s entry starboard on Deck 2, a beautifully-lit area can be seen through the glass door marked "Library." Its hours aren’t posted, but the lights were on even late into the evening and the daily program mentions that paper copies of the crossword puzzle of the day were available from 8 am on, so that’s probably the opening time. Inside, alongside the windows, very comfortable chairs with adjustable pillows await; chairs are close enough to the window edges that feet could be propped there and I saw several people taking advantage. There are only about a half-dozen chairs; plus a couple more elsewhere, and maybe because this was a port-intensive cruise attendance was less than usually expected, but I never found a time when I’d arrive and not be able to utilize a window-facing chair. The room is well-lit; books are very attractively arranged around the room in well-labeled categories, and the space is silent—no piped-in music. There is a nicely-sized space for the "take one, leave one" feature that so many cruisers enjoy. The library isn’t staffed but someone must be tending to it because more books were added to previously-empty spaces noted on the previous day, and the only time I saw books piled up haphazardly was the final day of the cruise when the area around the book return space was overflowing. I don’t know what the check-out process involves; my method was to peruse the shelves, start reading anything that looked interesting and then open my home library account on my phone and load that title into my library ebook app. I found everything I wanted to read later using this system; I know that I’m very fortunate to have access to one of the largest public library ebook collections. The ship’s library also seems to have a connection to Audible’s audiobook system; there are "take one" papers next to the crossword puzzle with a QR code entitling the user to a brief free trial of the Audible system.

My assumption is that libraries are being returned to HAL ships in whatever space is available, so where the library might be located could vary on different ships. Since a HAL library has always been one of the features that has most endeared me to this cruise line choice, I’ll continue to mention it in my evaluations to show support for this area of the ship.

An interesting feature that seems to have expanded recently is the dedication of a room off the Crow’s Nest for craft classes. The selections include such activities as watercolor, adult coloring, origami, greeting cards, and such. The daily program shows multiple sessions each day and the room is staffed with an instructor. I found time to visit a coloring session where a drawing taken from typical Aztec art was available for each participant, and each of us were given a box of colored pencils and a hand-operated pencil sharpener. Passing by the room at other times I noticed that the instructor was actually providing a lesson, but for coloring you were encouraged to use the time and materials as you wished. It was fun and participants felt free to move around and admire each other’s work. I don’t think anyone finished coloring the very intricate pattern we were given, but there was encouragement to bring it back to another session and continue working on it. The tables in the room were spacious and well-lighted; it would be helpful if after each class the staff took the boxes of used pencils to an electric sharpener and returned the contents to the boxes ready for the next user; I spent a lot of time just sharpening the pencils in my box.

Sadly, the lounge-style chairs in front of the large windows in this space have been replaced with upholstered chairs. I found the library seating to be much more suitable to leisure activities while watching the sea outside.

We were fortunate on this cruise to have one of the cabins where there is a verandah that has a straight view as well as a brief angle that looks out to the side. These verandahs are slightly bigger but still have the traditional two chairs and no lounge chairs. Each is enhanced with a very convenient footrest that stores under the chair’s seat. We found this area to be very comfortable; there’s a small round table suitable for drinks and such but not large enough for food service.

Despite being technically "retired" both of us still have clients who rely on us for cyber-work, so we purchased an internet plan. It’s greatly improved. Once you’re set up, there shouldn't be issues with bandwidth or access speed; there were staff to assist with any problems. We were not loading videos or photos; I can’t comment on how those transfers might go. Everyone has on-board wi-fi access (for your Navigator app) and there were no issues using it.