Ryndam- 11/10 Mexico/Sea of Cortez

[captjohn]

Aloha

Wondering if I could get some help from past experience ?

This is a 11 day cruise and we are wondering how many formal nights to plan for ? The web site says 2/week, so we don't know what to think because the itinerary suggests a more casual attire.

This will be our first cruise on HAL, so any other tips would be appreciated.

 

Mahalo,

 

John & Christina

[cruisinjudy]

On a ten day Ryndam to Mexico we had three formal nights. That was a few years ago.

[SDHALFAN]

Aloha John and Christina:

 

I was on the Zaandam last November for this 11-day cruise and despite the fact that our documents listed two formal nights we did indeed have three.

 

This is a fun cruise with some nice ports of call. If you are interested in doing a tour in Mazatlan check out Mazatlan Frank's website at ...........dot com. He is highly recommended by lots of CC'ers and is a very nice man. He also does tours in Puurto Vallarta now but I haven't tried any of those. I imagine that they will be well worth the money also. When in Loreto, even if you decide against a tour, be sure to tender ashore and at least walk around - it's a lovely little town and well worth the walk.

 

Check out the roll call boards for this cruise as it's always nice to have "new friends" before you even board the ship and also check out the ports of call boards under "Mexico" - you will find out all about Mazatlan Frank there and also pick up a whole lot of other tips.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

 

Valerie:)

 

p.s. I forgot to mention that the Ryndam is my second favorite ship (after the Amsterdam) and you will really enjoy her.

[Maywood4now]

Hi,

We were on this cruise in April and had a great time. I would go again in a minute. Although our brochure indicated we would have 3 formal nights, we only had 2. Never asked why.

As for hints about the trip, we took the long trip to Copper Canyon and felt it was quite an adventure. But make sure everyone in your party is physically able to withstand such a long and tiresome trip. We were exhausted the next day. It is a long day for a very short time at the canyon. But we enjoyed seeing more of rural Mexico and the views are spectacular.

Also had difficulty with getting seats for the shows. The seating on that ship is terrible as very few seats offer a unobstructed view of the stage. Most of the seats were taken by the time we made it over from dinner. I actually didn't go to many of the shows because of the fight to find seats.

Other than that, it was a great trip with probably the most polite and pleasant crew we have ever sailed with. The captain is very engaging and stops to talk with passengers when possible.

We also had a great time on the 18th century sailing ship that was one of the Holland America sponsored outings in Cabo. Great crew with lots of information about the area and if they spot whales they will put a microphone in the water to listen to them sing.

Have fun!!!

[garydm]

John and Christina-We have done this cruise several times and will be on the 11/10 cruise also. It is a nice trip as you get to visit some less touristy spots as compared to just stopping in Cabo, PV, and Mazatlan. We particularly like Loreto and were on the Ryndam when it made the first cruise ship stop there 5-6 years ago.

 

Gary

[Nutrioso]

Have done this cruise twice because we liked the itinerary so much. Believe it or not, one time we had three formal nights and then, on the second cruise, only two. Go figure! PENNY

[Cruise_More_Often]

Are there two shows a night? If we have 8:00 dining, will we have a problem getting to the shows? DH want to buy a tux, so this thread has convinced me it's a good idea.

 

We're so excited about going on this cruise, but we're going to have trouble waiting until Dec 2008 to do it!

[Krazy Kruizers]

captjohn

 

We have done this itinerary a couple of times as well. And we did have 3 formal nights. But times are changing as HAL is doing away with informal nights. So you just may have only 2 formal nights.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Cruise More Often

 

Lately we have seen 2 different times for the late show. There is a show at 8:30 for the 5:45 and 6:15 dinners. On some ships the 8 and 8:30 dinners had their show at 10:30 while on some of the other ships the show was at 10:15. With an 8 Pm dinner you shouldn't have any trouble making it to the show.

[Cruise_More_Often]

Thank you, Krazy Kruisers. I know I'll have many more questions as the year goes on. Thankfully for all of you, I do know how to use the search feature :) , so I'll try to keep them to a minimum.

[Dance2Nite]

Aloha

Wondering if I could get some help from past experience ?

This is a 11 day cruise and we are wondering how many formal nights to plan for ? The web site says 2/week, so we don't know what to think because the itinerary suggests a more casual attire.

This will be our first cruise on HAL, so any other tips would be appreciated.

 

Mahalo,

 

John & Christina

 

 

John & Christina,

My DW and I just returned from the 4/22 10 night Ryndam cruise to the Sea of Cortez. We had two formal nights. Maywood4now is right about the obstructed viws in the show lounge, but we had an 8:15 sitting for dinner and most of the time found seats on the lower level (unobstructed) without much problem. The Ryndam is a great ship - very intimate and easy to get around on.

 

The itinerary is one of the best that we have experienced. We give five thumbs up (we only have four, but we'll find another one!) to Loreto. It is clean and sleepy - zero pushy vendors vying for the almighty tourista dollar. We took the two-hour one-way van tour back up into the high desert to visit the second oldest Spanish mission on the Baja - San Javier. We would do it again in a minute - beautiful rugged scenery - and our tour guide Rodrigo was the best! Few places call us back for an independent visit, but this is one of them.

 

Keep up with the message boards. They are a great source of information - just listen to the majority and take the minority reports with a grain of salt. They have valid information, but a different perspective and expectation. One 'old salt' was complaining about how threadbare the Ryndam had become several cruises before ours. I specifically looked for the gaps in the carpet, etc. and didn't see them. We did have some problems with some waterlines on our Lower Promenade Deck being replaced in two adjacent passageways by the Maintenace Department on two different occasions during the cruise, but we were notified in advance and told that these repairs could not wait for the September drydock visit. When on a trip like this you go with the flow! You cannot direct the wind, so you adjust the sails. The only down side to that experience was that we failed (our mistake and it only happened once!) to change out of our suede-soled dance shoes one evening and on our way back to the cabin walked through a very wet area on the carpet. Needless to say, the hairdryer got a workout and we were able to re-condition the soles, thanks to my trusty Swiss Army pocket knife.

 

You will enjoy this trip!

[captjohn]

Thank you all for your reply. Looks like it's either 2 or 3 formal nights, we will roll with the flow. We did select this cruise because it's not too far from us and also the itinerary. The Copper Canyon is a must for us.

 

Gary, we should try to meet up during the cruise ?

 

John & Christina

[joyous]

My other post must be in cyberspace. We are on 11/10 Ryndam and doing the Copper Canyon tour. This is our first HAL cruise as we mostly do Crystal, but really wanted the Copper Canyon. We are "older" kids and expect to be wiped out by the 18 hour day. We have a couple from NC going along also and we all have aft verandah cabins, which I hope is going to be great. Appreciate the info about the show room. I believe the ship will be fresh out of dry dock and some of the mentioned problems fixed. Any tips about HAL will be appreciated. I know we can't bring liquor aboard, but can wine. We will have an extra sparkly top for me in case we have three formal nights. My husband wears a tux, so an extra cumberbund will take up little or no space. I'm glad to see others posted on this trip. joyous

[joyous]

I just called HAL and asked about this cruise ( I have clients booked on this one also) and HAL says there are 3 (three) formal nights on this cruise. Don't know which days but doubt it will be Nov.l5 as that is Topolobampo and the train trip. There are three sea days and I'll bet that's when the formal nights are. joyous

[PathfinderEss]

Aloha

Wondering if I could get some help from past experience ?

This is a 11 day cruise and we are wondering how many formal nights to plan for ? The web site says 2/week, so we don't know what to think because the itinerary suggests a more casual attire.

This will be our first cruise on HAL, so any other tips would be appreciated.

 

Mahalo,

 

John & Christina

Hi John and Christina

We were on the Ryndam about 2 months ago doing the Sea of Cortez cruise and the book said 3 but in actuality they only had 2 formal nights. First full day at sea and second to last day.

[joyous]

Well, HAL said 3 when I talked to them today. So whatever you care to plan for, do so. I've never been on HAL so what do I know??? I am just a travel agent and call the cruise line and they advise me. By....

[CrystalLady]

I've done the Sea of Cortez/Mexican Riviera twice on Ryndam - 10 nights, with 3 formal nights.