Just back from Ryndam

[FlaPapa]

Just back from our cruise on the Ryndam. It is our second cruise overall but our first in 10 years so we consider ourselves noobs.

We joined some friends to celebrate their 50th anniversary. There were 10 of us in our group. The couple celebrating their 50th selected the cruise. We live in the Tampa Bay area so we had friends drop us off and pick us up at the port.

Embarkation: We arrived at the terminal at approx. 11:15 am. Boarding was fast and efficient with us being in the Lido having lunch by 12:30. We were in our room by 1:00 pm. Where we met our steward Santos.

The Ship: A bit dated but well maintained. We loved the smaller ship and found it easy to get around and find quiet seclusion when we wanted it. Our ocean view cabin (809) was large comfortable and had plenty of storage. We stored our empty suitcases under the bed (14” clearance) which added to the uncrowded feeling. Only issue was out toilet not flushing for a few hours on Friday. Not good when you are having over active bowel issues. We adapted and used a public one on another floor. Did have to contact the front desk twice before being told ours was not an isolated issue.

Dining: We ate breakfast except for one morning on the Lido. We found plenty of variety but almost impossible to get crispy bacon. The one breakfast in the MDR was great and to order.

Lunch was on the Lido and again we found plenty of variety but we were disappointed in the quality of some of the dishes. Sushi is grocery store quality at best. My secret for lunch was getting two scoops of brown rice from the normal line and going to the nacho counter at The Dive. I would make me a burrito bowl ala Capolte. Pasta station and sandwich station were both quite good when you customized the offerings.

Dinner was in the MDR with the exception of our last night which was at the Pinnacle Grill. We had early traditional seating. We had no problem finding something tasty to eat every night. Our waiter Budi was at the top of his game dealing with our party of ten. We would order multiple deserts to pass around the table to everyone got a chance to try something new.

Formal nights: Sorry folks you’ve lost me. Definition of formal was either a tie or dinner jacket. It’s time to pull this terminal tradition off life support. I dropped over a grand to have suits for the MDR and frankly it was wasted money. I have a closet full of ties that would have sufficed.

Pinnacle Grill. Wow! Two and a half hours of amazing food and outstanding service. Well worth the surcharge. Don’t miss the Baked Alaska.

Entertainment: (Lifted from tidygirl’s review and edited)

1st night- Hold’em tournament casino. First place. $100.00

2nd night-Rich Purpura "He knows what you’re thinking sometimes"- Parts of it were funny. Our group enjoyed it. Could have been the alcohol.

3rd night- Passed. Feeling under the weather.

4th night- Ditto

5th night- Paul Pappas Fast Flying fingers and fun- Was okay but got tired of watching him launch himself from his piano bench after each song to take a bow. The best part of the show was saying “Ta Da!” to myself every time he did his piano bench launch.

6th night- Crows Nest

7th night – Crows Nest

Pool entertainment: Brittiney and the Halcats. Was basically a high school caliber band where the singer for the group would be the bandleader’s girlfriend. She was the weakest part of the group and the only reason she was singing was the rest of the band didn’t.

Conclusion: Great cruise overall. We would sail HAL again. Loved the smaller ship. HAL needs to do something about entertainment. It’s the weakest part of their venue.

[kazu]

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your experiences with us.

 

Sounds like you had a good time overall.

 

Many thanks again for the review and welcome home :D

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome Home

Thank you for your review.

Glad you had a wonderful cruise.

[Vict0riann]

What a great review - I don't agree with you about the bacon, however. I don't like crispy! And normally, they hide the "English" bacon, and you have to know that and ask for it!

 

Thanks for letting us know all about it. (I love that Baked Alaska in the Pinnacle, too, it's so much better than the one in the MDR, and it's really the lightest dessert on the menu!)

[FlaPapa]

What a great review - I don't agree with you about the bacon, however. I don't like crispy! And normally, they hide the "English" bacon, and you have to know that and ask for it!

 

Thanks for letting us know all about it. (I love that Baked Alaska in the Pinnacle, too, it's so much better than the one in the MDR, and it's really the lightest dessert on the menu!)

 

I don't think we disagree on the bacon. We just have different tastes.

As for the Baked Alaska. The MDR was the first time I had ever had it and I loved it. The Pinnacle was just that much better. Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia included!:D

[FlaPapa]

We did truly enjoy our cruise. I am sure we will be doing many more now that we are retired. We are so lucky to live where we do in Florida which gives us access to so many ports of departure within a 4-5 hour drive.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post the review of your Ryndam cruise. Sounds like you had a good time celebrating your friends 50th Anniversary. I agree with you about the entertainment.

[pmjnh]

Thank you for posting your review. I am looking forward to experiencing HAL and the Ryndam for the first time this summer. i do hope they vamp up the entertainment as I have read several recent reviews from people who were disappointed with the entertainment.

 

I LOVE this idea:My secret for lunch was getting two scoops of brown rice from the normal line and going to the nacho counter at The Dive. I would make me a burrito bowl ala Capolte.

 

Chipoltle at sea!

[portofrome]

Thanks for the review.

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.

We will be on the Ryndam in June, so glad to hear she is in good shape. Sorry that she is leaving the fleet.

Glad to hear you had a good cruise.

[taxwiz]

We were also on this cruise. I agree with most of your helpful review. I would add that HAL was very good on embarking and having cabins ready. We also appreciated the nice upgrade we got. Entertainment was a bit weak, particularly Brittany, the lead singer of the Halcats. She was just very bad. The band would actually have been much better playing instrumentals without her!

[gerryl12]

Re; Entertainment on Ryndam

Because the Ryndam is a smaller ship (in todays terms) the is less money in total for entertainment budget. That is why the five thousand passenger ships have big budgets or 4 times the money of the Ryndam.

We love the Ryndam for the size not the entertainment, even though it is not bad.

It is just too bad that it will no longer be with HAL for much longer.

[FlaPapa]

I am also sad that it is being sold. Really enjoyed the personalized feel of the service. I understand the budget constraints of a smaller ship. Just think there is enough talent out there looking for a break, there should be no problem keeping passengers happy.

[erewhon]

Thank you for reviewing your Ryndam cruise.

 

Baked Alaska is an easy dessert to make at home:D

[Himself]

Thank You for a balanced review.

[summer slope]

Thank you for your review.

[FlaPapa]

Thank you for reviewing your Ryndam cruise.

 

Baked Alaska is an easy dessert to make at home:D

 

I looked up the recipe. Making it for the grand kids this weekend.:D

[idiebabe]

The Ship: A bit dated but well maintained. We loved the smaller ship and found it easy to get around and find quiet seclusion when we wanted it. Our ocean view cabin (809) was large comfortable and had plenty of storage. We stored our empty suitcases under the bed (14” clearance) which added to the uncrowded feeling. Only issue was out toilet not flushing for a few hours on Friday. Not good when you are having over active bowel issues. We adapted and used a public one on another floor. Did have to contact the front desk twice before being told ours was not an isolated issue.[/font]

 

 

We sailed the Ryndam the week of March 8th. We also found the Ship to be very well maintained except had major problems with the Plumbing! We were in 199 and 201 and my Daughter was in 654. She had no problems with hers for the week at all but was on Port side of the Ship. It seems the Starboard side appeared to have the issues with the Vacuum System.

 

We awoke on two mornings to non-working toilets. We had issues throughout the week as well. I know exactly what you mean about the stomach thing and I woke up the one morning that it was a Port day to a non-working toilet with a hurting belly. Called my Daughter at 6:40 a.m. and woke her up asking her if I could come use her toilet. My Husband called Front Desk for a Plumber and was told they didn't come in until 7:00 a.m. :eek: I asked my Husband "where are they coming from...Guatemala"! It was nearly 8:00 until it was working again!

 

The first morning ours didn't work was the first Sea Day (the morning after Embark). A room a few doors up flooded and had blowers going for several days drying the carpets.

 

The night before Debark we returned to the room after the Show and hoping to get to sleep by 11:30ish. No toilet working! Waited well over an hour for a Plumber to come and didn't get to sleep until after 1:00 a.m. with a wake up call set for 6:00 a.m. for a long drive home! My Mother (88 yrs old) was in 199 and had issues all week as well. She woke up on the morning of Debark to a non-working toilet. My Sister called for a Plumber and it took almost 1 1/2 hrs. to come. Meanwhile, they were trying to get ready to Debark waiting for someone to show up, etc. Luckily, ours was working at the time after being serviced the night before. It is a nightmare not to have a working toilet! :eek:

 

This Ship has a major Plumbing problem and I don't think they want to spend the money to fix it! :eek:

Edited March 31, 2015 by idiebabe

[fla_sunshine]

We also live in Central Florida and can take advantage of cruise bargains from any of the several Florida ports. We were on the Ryandam the first week of March, and agree with much of your review. We did like the violin/piano duo that performed in the lounge just outside the MDR across from the library (and on our cruise they also got a chance to perform on the main showroom stage when we had a malfunction in two of the ships engines that caused us to miss a port stop). We also had a starboard side cabin (interior), and had one plumbing malfunction for which we called maintenance. Fortunately, that happened as we were leaving our cabin for breakfast and was fixed before we returned later in the day. On our departure day from Tampa, we did have significant fumes from fueling as if there might have been a spill aft on our hallway (A deck). We allso noticed it on the way to our lifeboat drill station.

[amomx5]

Thank you for the review. There are not many posts about the Ryndam and we will be on in June:)