1st time cruiser with questions on ms Ryndam

[vml_1]

My husband and I are going on our first cruise on April 2. Well it's my first cruise ever and our first one together. We're doing the 14-day Caribbean on the ms Ryndam leaving from Tampa. I'm super excited but I do have some questions that I'm hoping you folks can help out with.

 

1. We booked the cheapest room to save money and also because my husband says that you never really spend any time in your room. Do you think that's going to be a problem? We have the N class room unless we get bumped up.

 

2. Is there ever a problem booking tour activities once you're on the ship rather than in advance? I just wonder if anyone has run into the situation where their activity was booked up.

 

3. What's the weather like on the ship? We have 5 days at sea in total, how warm it is during the day vs. the night? I tend to get cold easily so I'm wondering what type of clothing I should pack for the evening.

 

4. Is there anything I should know or prepare for before we go? We're in our early 30s so if you have any advice for ship activities please let me know.

 

Thanks to everyone who responds :) . If anyone else has been on this cruise I'd also love to hear what you thought of it.

 

Less than two weeks to go and then we'll be sailing :D !!!

[2Xayear]

I too remember our first cruise!!

My husband and I are going on our first cruise on April 2. Well it's my first cruise ever and our first one together. We're doing the 14-day Caribbean on the ms Ryndam leaving from Tampa. I'm super excited but I do have some questions that I'm hoping you folks can help out with.

 

1. We booked the cheapest room to save money and also because my husband says that you never really spend any time in your room. Do you think that's going to be a problem? We have the N class room unless we get bumped up.

 

Your husband has one school of thought. You booked it so now go and enjoy it. Nothing wrong with the cheapest room but don't count on an upgrade.

 

2. Is there ever a problem booking tour activities once you're on the ship rather than in advance? I just wonder if anyone has run into the situation where their activity was booked up.

 

Many many people don't book until they board the ship, but if you know of a tour you REALLY want to take, book in advance to ensure you get it.

 

3. What's the weather like on the ship? We have 5 days at sea in total, how warm it is during the day vs. the night? I tend to get cold easily so I'm wondering what type of clothing I should pack for the evening.

 

My wife would wear a sweater or very light jacket on some evenings. She's particularly found of those $10 scarves sold aboard your ship, for a formal eveing accessory.Personally, usually just shirt and slacks/shorts. Occasionally a sweatshirt or something might be needed.

 

4. Is there anything I should know or prepare for before we go? We're in our early 30s so if you have any advice for ship activities please let me know.

 

Prepare to have FUN!! Enjoy the ship and all HAL has to offer. Visit the ports (and read about them in advance) Try some different food, order room service, book dinner in the Pinnacle Grill one night but most important of all....put on the biggest smile you can muster as you board the ship and I suspect it will still be there when you get off.

Thanks to everyone who responds :) . If anyone else has been on this cruise I'd also love to hear what you thought of it.

 

Had a great week aboard Ryndam last Sept - Vancouver to Alaska. Had a great time but I do prefer the larger ships.

 

Less than two weeks to go and then we'll be sailing :D !!!

[sail7seas]

Hi.......we'll be 'shipmates' and DH and I are also on this cruise. :)

 

As to whether your cabin may be too small, not much you can do about it now so don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll make out fine. Seeing as we have cruised a lot, we tend to spend more time in our cabin than people who are new to cruising. The chances are good you will want to be out and about and mostly use your cabin for sleeping, showering/dressing.

 

Weather in the Caribbean should be glorious. Plan on beach weather (shorts and swimsuits during the day) for our entire cruise.

 

For evening, if you are wearing dresses with 'lots of skin showing' :), you probably should bring a light wrap of some sort. If the dining room or lounges are cool feeling for you, you can put it over your shoulders. I often am cool when others are warmer and I find HAL ships to be comfortable. I'm not often really chilly on the ships. I'm bringing two formal dresses that are bare armed and one is low cut so I'll bring a light wrap in case I want it.

 

As to your question about tours. They often fill up early and the most popular ones can be sold out before we get to the ship. If you go to the HAL site, you can pre-book. I'm not sure the time window but I would look very soon in case we are too close to sailing date for you to reserve on the HAL site. If you book there, you pay by credit card at the time you book and the tour vouchers will be in your cabin when you board.

Only thing I can think of you should bring is the standard most people say:,fewer clothes than you probably are planning and more money. :)

Bring your smiles and your excitement and your expectation of having a great time.

 

Hope it possible we meet aboard.

Any more questions....ask away.

 

 

 

[gizmo]

Hi vml_1,

 

Sometimes tours do fill up. It is hard to tell before hand.

 

Have you looked at the Ports of Call on this site? There are many recommendations for tours especially non ship tours. Many times non ship tours are better and can also be cheaper. What kind of things are you looking to do?

 

I did a similiar 14 day cruise this past Nov. It was fantastic.

 

You asked about weather. It is going to be hot. The ship can be cool for some, so bring a sweater and a wrap if you tend to get cold. (I always think the ship is too hot, but others don't)

[vml_1]

Thanks everyone!

 

2Xayear, I'll pack a wrap or cardigan. Or maybe I'll just buy one of the wraps on the ship that you said your wife buys.

 

sail7seas, hopefully we will meet on the ship. It's always exciting to know that other people will be on this cruise too :) . You said you're bringing 2 formal dresses, how formal are they? I was thinking that something you would wear to a wedding should be fine. What do you think?

 

gizmo, my DH and I are interested in activities that are somewhat active but we're not generally really active people so we don't necessarily want to do that all the time. Snorkeling is good (although I'm scared of the ocean), so is rafting and hiking. Horseback riding is one thing we've tried once and our bums would never let us do it again ;) !!

 

Taking everyone's advice, we've booked one HAL shore excursion for San Juan:Bioluminescent Bay Kayak. Hope it's fun! My DH will probably end up doing most of the rowing so it shouldn't be too exhausting ;) .

 

I'm still open to suggestions so please keep them coming. Thanks again.

[sail7seas]

Actually, I'm bringing four formal dresses and they are very formal. Long, very dressy. Formal. (I only mentioned the two that are quite 'bare' in response to your question about how chilly it is.)

 

The documents say three formal nights but several people here said that when they got aboard, they found there to be four formal nights. I really expected that many. DH will wear his dinner jacket or tuxedo. We love dressing up.

 

Happy you got an excursion booked.

[K&K]

We took this cruise 2/19/06 and we had four formal nights even though the docs. listed three. If you are not going to snorkle at all of the islands I would try to go in Bonaire and Dominica. In Dominica we took the kayak/snorkle tour and it was some of our best (take the first one of the day) if you take this one. If you know what you want I would book it prior to boarding. Most of the active tours on our trip did not fill up it was mostly the island or low activity type tours that did. Have a great cruise

Kevin

[Himself]

I have never taken your cruise as such. I have cruised on the RYNDAM and she is a nice ship. I have been to most of the ports of call you sail to.

 

The last time I was in the Western Caribbean, I was on the Zuiderdam--a much bigger ship--and "Sting-Ray" city on Grand Cayman was sold out. I would book that one through the ship, if you are going to do it. Sometimes various tours sell out. Some just stay on board and enjoy the amenities of the ship.

 

Have a great cruise and may you have many more.

[K&K]

VMl_1: I would also say that this is the first ship we have been on out of 16 that you could go out on the bow. I really think it was the first on that is designed to do so with the teak deck and all. On sea days I suggest you check this out!! Does any one know if the bell at the bell ihas some function or is mostly ceremonial (for looks)?

 

Kevin

[HalFan]

We just back from this cruise last Sunday (3-19-06) and had a fabulous time.

 

There were 3 formal nights and 3 informal nights. One of the formal nights included a black & white ball with the ship's officers (all ages) in the Crow's Nest. It was quite popular and lots of fun.

 

We booked several excursions on line in advance. There was only one sold out excursion that we saw posted on the board at the shore excursion office - sorry I don't remember which one it was. As someone else said, if there is something you really want to do, book it in advance. We found a couple of excursions that were available on the ship that weren't available on line - we ended up switching one with no problem.

 

We went on the Samur Sail and Snorkel Adventure in Bonaire and would really recommend it. We had never snorkeled before. They provided all of the equipment (including life belts) and it was easy to learn. We saw lots of coral formations and beautiful fish. The sail over to Klein Bonaire island (where we snorkeled) was lovely. Bonaire was our favorite stop on this cruise!

 

We did not stop in Dominica due to rough surf. The captain felt that it was too risky even to tender. We heard that this often happens in Dominica - there isn't a sheltered harbor. We did stop for several hours offshore and sailed slowly along the island and Martinique during the afternoon.

 

We also hired taxis to take us on tours in several of the ports. They ranged from $20/pp to $35/pp for tours that lasted 2 to 3 hours.

 

We found the weather in the ports warm but not too hot or humid. We had rain in Margarita and Aruba, but not all day either place. I found the dining room and showroom chilly, depending on where we sat, so I brought a light sweater and shawl.

 

Since it's a longer cruise, the average age on the cruise was older (mostly retirees), but they were widely traveled and we enjoyed sharing travel stories with those that we met.

 

This cruise had several activities that we hadn't encountered before that we enjoyed: dance classes (line dancing, ballroom, swing), cooking demonstations by a guest chef as well as the executive chef and the Pinnacle chef, and an afternoon wine tasting that included food pairings from the Pinnacle Grill.

 

Have a wonderful time!