Just off the Ryndam 1/03/10 -- 1/10/10

[pseudochicken]

I'll write a review when I have time later in the week. Feel free to ask any questions in this thread if you want.

 

Overall the experience was positive. A much older crowd than anything I have experienced on a cruise, but at the same time a much friendly crowd. Nothing rowdy which was enjoyable. Service was very good. MDR food was good. Lido food was mediocre. Did not eat at Pinnacle. Smallest ship I have ever been on, with a very easy lay out to navigate. I definitely feel the aft pool area and the outside promenade are the ships best features. I like having a domed main pool in inclement weather but I felt it was still poorly designed.

 

The only true negative about the vacation was the weather, and that's not HAL's fault. So I would say the experience just considering Holland America was very good. Unfortunately, we had only 2 warm days (Belize & Costa Maya) and 1 cool sunny day (Key West). We had two other days which started out cruddy and cloudy with rain that ended being kind of sunny and warm (First Sea Day and Roatan). By mid afternoon it was actually hot in Honduras: the only day to break 80 degrees. Tampa has the best facility by far I have ever been through, but the weather was just abysmal there (but it was cold up the whole east coast). It was around freezing on embarkation and disembarkation. The last day (a Sea Day) was in the 40s and choppy seas with showers. Kind of fun for a while (the ship was rockin and rollin') but it gets tedious on such a small ship. By the end of the day I was a bit queezy.

 

I liked the ship, but I think I will try to steer away from a ship that size again in the mainstream market. I must say though the ship was kept up very nicely considering her age. Even better than the Celebrity Millenium just after its dry dock!

 

I had an ocean view room near on the bottom deck, port side at the very back. Good to feel the waves (too much on the last day). It can be a bit loud for the 30 minutes leading up to docking, but on most days we were up before the ship came into port.

 

I will have a more detailed review by the end of the week. :)

 

Feel free to ask any questions!

[jessemon]

Sounds great. I will be on the Ryndam for the 3 night to nowhere after the drydock and the partial upgrades....Can't wait......

[Overtime4me2]

Looking forward to your review. I was on the Ryndam last August in Alaska.....wonderful crew. Did you by chance meet Dani in the Lido? We all fell in love with him. He had our names and cabin numbers down by the first day and always asked how we were and what we were going to be doing/going! :)

[imae39]

Looking forward to a more detailed review. We are going on the Ryndam in March. Been several years since we were on Ryndam. Last two cruises on HAL were on the Noordam (Thanksgiving 2008 and March 2009) and we just cruised on the Emerald Princess for Christmas. I wonder how we will like the smaller ship after cruising on larger ships.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome Home.

 

Looking forward to your big review.

[mountainmare]

Looking forward to your review--we are on the Jan 31 sailing.Could you tell us something about what you did in port and approximately what time you got to Key West and Belize? What time did the tendering start in Belize? We are hoping to beg our way onto the first tender and catch the 9am water taxi--as I said hoping (but not counting on it).

Welcome back and thank you for reporting.

[pseudochicken]

Thank you all. Sorry I won't be able to write my review sooner. I will be quite busy this week.

 

To answer some questions:

 

Looking forward to your review--we are on the Jan 31 sailing.Could you tell us something about what you did in port and approximately what time you got to Key West and Belize? What time did the tendering start in Belize? We are hoping to beg our way onto the first tender and catch the 9am water taxi--as I said hoping (but not counting on it).

Welcome back and thank you for reporting.

 

We arrived in Key West at 1:00 PM and set sail at 6:00 PM. Too short a time in my opinion. But then again, I really don't like Key West. It is really gimicky with a bunch of expensive pawn shops, tee-shirt shops, expensive bars and 3-week tatoo parlors, filled with with 40-year old women with suicide blond hair hanging on to bear-bellied, leather jacketed motorcyclists revving their engines as ego trips and annoying store clerks yelling obsenities to entice you entire the shops. And if I see just ONE more Del Sol shop or whatever they're called I'm going to puke.

 

As for Belize:

 

We started navigating the reefs before sunrise. We were actually anchored around 7:30ish, I believe? We had a private excursion with Major Tom Cave Tubing (which was very good, btw) and were told by email that we should try and get the first tender possible. HAL reserved the first tenders for HAL excursions, but we had went to the Purser's Desk to see if we could be tendered early as well. We inquired about this several days in advance as well as the day before. Initially the guest relations people were a bit clueless, but they finally told us to come at 8:00 AM to the Purser's desk to see if they could fit us in. We went there and we saw the other excursions lining up and getting ready. Then around 8:05 an American woman officer came to us (and another group of people who had booked a private exursion to see Mayan ruins) and escorted us down to the very first tender. We were actually probably one of the first to board that first tender, so you can definitely get the first tender with a private exursion so long as you are persistant.

[Rosethorn40]

How did Open Seating in the MDR work for you?

[jeffs55]

We sail on Sunday.

[pseudochicken]

I cannot stress enough how nice the passengers were on this cruise. They may have been old, but more people would smile and say hello than I have ever experienced before on a cruise. Even despite the so-so weather! :p

 

How did Open Seating in the MDR work for you?

 

It worked great. We only had to wait one for a seat one day with open seating (the first formal night). I'd highly recommend this option if you want to be flexible. Two nights we sat with others who were all very nice. The other five nights we sat by ourselves, either by choice or because that was the first available option. They have PLENTY of two-person tables. The service was pretty good typically The waiter, Pandu, was by FAR the best. I would request him if you can. :)

 

 

We sail on Sunday.

 

Have fun! Looks like the weather will finally warm up down there for you, so enjoy! We had some cold days for a Caribbean cruise... I will hopefully finish my review before you leave. :o

 

 

Keep the questions coming! :cool:

[suse]

Thank you all. Sorry I won't be able to write my review sooner. I will be quite busy this week.

 

To answer some questions:

 

 

 

We arrived in Key West at 1:00 PM and set sail at 6:00 PM. Too short a time in my opinion. But then again, I really don't like Key West. It is really gimicky with a bunch of expensive pawn shops, tee-shirt shops, expensive bars and 3-week tatoo parlors, filled with with 40-year old women with suicide blond hair hanging on to bear-bellied, leather jacketed motorcyclists revving their engines as ego trips and annoying store clerks yelling obsenities to entice you entire the shops. And if I see just ONE more Del Sol shop or whatever they're called I'm going to puke.

 

As for Belize:

 

We started navigating the reefs before sunrise. We were actually anchored around 7:30ish, I believe? We had a private excursion with Major Tom Cave Tubing (which was very good, btw) and were told by email that we should try and get the first tender possible. HAL reserved the first tenders for HAL excursions, but we had went to the Purser's Desk to see if we could be tendered early as well. We inquired about this several days in advance as well as the day before. Initially the guest relations people were a bit clueless, but they finally told us to come at 8:00 AM to the Purser's desk to see if they could fit us in. We went there and we saw the other excursions lining up and getting ready. Then around 8:05 an American woman officer came to us (and another group of people who had booked a private exursion to see Mayan ruins) and escorted us down to the very first tender. We were actually probably one of the first to board that first tender, so you can definitely get the first tender with a private exursion so long as you are persistant.

I might be one of those suicide blond babes hanging onto those motorcycle dudes. Want to make something of it

[seaproponent]

We're HAL regulars and have a preference for their smaller ships (including the Ryndam) as we feel they provide better food and service without compromising the number of activities available on larger vessels. Would be interested in reasons you'll likely not sail on this class of ship again. Thx.

[Joannel1958]

We were on the 12/27 Ryndam. I guess we had the same crummy weather. We are usually Disney cruiser but my boys 21 & 24 wanted to go somewhere different. We had a great time. The ship is smaller so yes we felt the motion alot more, first time I ever took dramamine. The food was much better than DCL, the lunch choices in the lido got boring but they were still good. The staff was very friendly esp in the Crows nest!! The boys made good friends with some of the crew since they were closer in age. The two headliner cast members were fabulous, we really enjoyed the shows.

 

We went to trivia and happy hour every day and had so much fun. Never won but we were close a few times.

 

Our servers were not the greatest, we were a group of 9 and we always were wating for our main course. he kept telling us he had to fight with the downstairs staff to get what he needed. The wine steward was slow also, We were fast to get the bottle, but took him another 20 minutes to come back and open.

 

We would definatly sail Hal again, going New years week we had a lot more families so the older crowd was not the majority eve though there were lots of them. The ship could use some work at least three elevators were down at all times, we took the stairs but felt sorry for the ones waiting.

[Father of 3]

Hi we're on this sunday's cruise, the weather forecast for the ports looks a little rainy, does anyone have info as to whether the excursions still go forward, we aren't afraid of a little rain, but thunderstorms during the airboat tour in Belize might be interesting. Were there any/many kids on board, we are travelling with our three sons and figured there won't likely be too many as it is just after Christmas holidays. We are looking forward to a break from the cold weather and starting our family on cruising.

thanks

[Joannel1958]

Hi we're on this sunday's cruise, the weather forecast for the ports looks a little rainy, does anyone have info as to whether the excursions still go forward, we aren't afraid of a little rain, but thunderstorms during the airboat tour in Belize might be interesting. Were there any/many kids on board, we are travelling with our three sons and figured there won't likely be too many as it is just after Christmas holidays. We are looking forward to a break from the cold weather and starting our family on cruising.

thanks

In Belize the cave tubing were cancelled. In Costa maya it took us 90 minutes to dock due to rain and high winds and rain. Our excusions went but some were late and the other Holland america ship had theirs cancelled.

 

Say hi to Matt and DJ Rob!! and the servers in the Crows nest- Steve esp!!

[RuthC]

... we aren't afraid of a little rain, but thunderstorms during the airboat tour in Belize might be interesting.

This ride is so much fun! I had a blast doing it, and would love to do it again. I hope your tour isn't canceled; you'd miss a real treat.

[pseudochicken]

I might be one of those suicide blond babes hanging onto those motorcycle dudes. Want to make something of it

 

It's up to you on whether or not you find it offensive that I shake my head when I see you because I have seen 10 instances of a suicide blond woman hanging onto one of those dudes in the past 3 blocks.

 

We're HAL regulars and have a preference for their smaller ships (including the Ryndam) as we feel they provide better food and service without compromising the number of activities available on larger vessels. Would be interested in reasons you'll likely not sail on this class of ship again. Thx.

 

I admit the service was very good, but I have not been on a larger HAL ship so I cannot compare. I'd also say the smaller size meant less people in port, and very empty decks, which was nice. But I think the ship didn't really have a "pulse". No, a pulse is not dictated by the captain, or the CD. The ship just had a small, uninteresting atrium with no single gathering spot. The biggest thing to me is that the ship felt the waves a little too much for my liking. Maybe I overreacted. I DID like MANY of the features of the Ryndam because the ship was smaller. I just think next time I cruise I will probably pick a larger ship before I pick one that small again. :)

 

We were on the 12/27 Ryndam. I guess we had the same crummy weather. We are usually Disney cruiser but my boys 21 & 24 wanted to go somewhere different. We had a great time. The ship is smaller so yes we felt the motion alot more, first time I ever took dramamine. The food was much better than DCL, the lunch choices in the lido got boring but they were still good. The staff was very friendly esp in the Crows nest!! The boys made good friends with some of the crew since they were closer in age. The two headliner cast members were fabulous, we really enjoyed the shows.

 

...

 

We would definatly sail Hal again, going New years week we had a lot more families so the older crowd was not the majority eve though there were lots of them. The ship could use some work at least three elevators were down at all times, we took the stairs but felt sorry for the ones waiting.

 

Yes, the ship was a lot smaller and I agree you could definitely feel the motion of the ocean much more than other ships I have been on. I think lunch was alright but sometimes the only thing I found appealing were the sandwiches or the sushi. I agree about the friendly staff in the Crow's Nest. Rummel and Jonathan in particular.

 

I too would definitely sail HAL again. At the beginning of our cruise, 7 of the 8 elevators were operating. By the end, only 5 were. We ended up taking the stairs a lot...:rolleyes:

[pseudochicken]

As promised. Here is the first part of the review:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1124129

[Lard Greystoke]

I wonder how we will like the smaller ship after cruising on larger ships.

 

If you're so inclined, it's easier to keep tabs on other passengers when everyone isn't getting lost in the 3,000+ crowd.

[moniquet]

We were on this cruise too, we chose it because of it's smallness and wasn't disappointed. Excellent food, service. Staterooms a little tired but very spacious and comfortable. Far superior to our cruise on QM2. Our only let down as you say....the weather, awful! We stayed on for another week in Naples Florida and there was only two decent days. First time in 12 years that we have had bad weather at this time of the year:(

[Louie Martin]

This will be our first cruise. We purchased one raffle ticket for $10 and are now scheduled to sail to the Western Carribean on the Ryndam in April. :p What kind of activities for kids do they offer? We have a 12 year old daughter that is an only child and is happy hanging by the pool. Any suggestions for excursions?

[alcpa1]

Louie,

As you probably know the Ryndam should be in better shape by the time you board. It is going in for drydock and it really needs. it. We sailed 11/29/09.

If you are sailing during a holiday week there may be some youth on the ship. On our sailing there were 16 children from 3 months to teens.

Check out the excursions on the Ports of Call Boards for your stops. You can book excursions independently via the recommendations found here. A few might appeal to your daughter.

If she enjoys the pool she might like the man made area at Costa Maya. Ship pools are small but there should be an adequate number of lounge chairs. The pool on deck 10 aft is a good place to sun.

I hope you enjoy your cruise.