Just back from the Ryndam, and have converted DH to a "cruiser"

[CowPrincess]

This was DH's first cruise, and I wanted him to love, love, love cruising. HAL and the Ryndam have converted him -- we even booked a future cruise deposit on board (at his insistence) and are going to be buying stock :) I guess we're gonna be cruising again.

 

The ship is lovely (as others have said), the staff was great, the passengers delightful, and the food was good. As soon as I recover from six time zone changes in 8 days, I'll do a review.

 

DH's comments? "What a great way to vacation" -- that is high praise from him :)

[Mary Ellen]

Congratulations! I know it was hard for me to get DH on a cruise, 28 years ago, but not since then.... :D I'm so glad we discovered cruising when we were young.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

How Great!!!:) I know the feeling. The Ryndam is a beautiful ship. It really was not that long ago that DH and I went on our first cruise (March 2002) we were sure we would both hate it and never return:eek: Oh My were we ever mistaken, with our next cruise only 4 weeks from today after that cruise we will have 120 days at sea of which 112 will have been with HAL:D

[RuthC]

Congratulations, CowPrincess! It's so nice that you were able to "convert" him to the true path. :D Atta-girl.

Enjoy all your future cruises.

[greener]

cow princess i am going on the ryndam alaska cruise in three weeks. please tell me about the entertainment on board, were there shows on the nights you stayed late in port? how cold was it on deck during glacier bay cruising?any late night buffets? did you bring and use binoculars? looking forward to your report on your cruise.

[CowPrincess]

Hi greener, I really need to get readjusted to land before I can do justice to the Ryndam with a review. However:

 

We didn't attend any shows, but I'm pretty sure there WERE shows every night, even when we were leaving port late. Our tablemates went to a couple and thought they were "okay" one night and "great" the other night.

 

It was chilly in Glacier Bay, but not "freeze your b*tt off" cold. Chilly. We were dressed for it -- I wore a silk base layer, long sleeved t shirt, fleecy, and a 2-part jacket (shell and liner). Blue jeans, good socks, and hiking boots. Didn't need a hat or gloves and probably would have been fine without the base layer. Could have had sneakers instead of the boots. There was NO wind, and because the ship was virtually stopped, no wind from movement either. Everyone on deck looked pretty comfortable, temperature-wise. Even cruising through Glacier Bay wasn't terribly cold. Chilly.

 

However, DO take warm clothes and a waterproof coat. You just NEVER KNOW with Alaska what the weather will be like. Better to have the ability to be warm and dry, and not need it, than to WISH you'd brought warm/dry stuff.

 

Glacier Bay was FABULOUS :) We had probably 10 large calves, some of them so big the waves they created rocked the ship. "Capt. PJ" got us within a couple hundred yards of the face of Margerie Glacier, and we stayed there for a long time.

 

Every night there's a buffet from 11 pm to midnight in the Lido, with a different "ethnic" theme each night. One night was the Chocolate Extravaganza by the pool, so only a few savoury items that night, mostly sweets.

 

DH took binoculars and didn't EVER have them when he really needed them :) (like when the brown bear swam by in Glacier Bay).

 

The Glacier Bay naturalist was great, really added to the experience.

 

The food was good, not fabulous, but given that they feed 6000 meals a day the quality was always reliable, tasty and enjoyable.

 

It was a pretty congenial, mannerly, well educated group on board. The Crows Nest was hopping the nights we stopped in. There's a lounge on deck 8 that has a cellist, pianist and violinist -- we aren't big fans of classical music, but the violinist brought tears to our eyes -- he was wonderful. Didn't try the piano bar or the bar by the Lido pool. After spending hours on deck and on excursions, we usually retired by 10 or 11 pm.

 

I'll check back later and see if you have other questions.

[savannahgirl1]

May I also offer my congratulations on the new "convert". I took my husband on his first in 1998, our honeymoon and really hoped he would like it. Now I have trouble keeping him off a ship. I feel very lucky for it. My dad hates cruising and I feel so bad for my mom. Anyway, I'm glad your husband liked it. :D

[scopewest]

It took me a year and a half to convince DH to take a cruise back in 1995. He claims he did it because his mother told him to!?! Now all I say is "cruise" and he says "yes."

 

So many ships, so little (vacation) time.

[richnorto]

I cruised for family vacations growing up. I talked my DH into a cruise on Carnival in 1995. It was so bad, he refused to even try it again for about 10 years. We finally booked another for the family in 2006. He had so much fun that we are regular cruisers now! We've never been back to Carnival, but love Holland and Princess! We are looking forward to doing a Hawaii cruise over Christmas!

[greener]

thank you so much for your account of your ryndam experience. i really appreciate hearing from someone who has just "been there and done that".

[Mistletoe76]

That is great! Congrats! DH and I love it ourselves though we've only taken 2 cruises up to now. I am booked on the Eurodam in November along with my parents and my sister's family. DH is deploying to Iraq and is unable to join us.

 

We've been trying to convince my In-laws that cruises are amazing and even shared our video's and pictures from our previous cruises to encourage them.

 

They are booked on a cruise in July to Alaska and I hope they love it. DH and I have only been to the Caribbean so I'm not sure if they'll love the Alaskan Cruise or not.

 

I'm glad that your hubby LOVES cruising as much as you do now!

 

Melissa

[CowPrincess]

Greener -- I've posted my review -- not sure when it will show up.

 

Mistletoe76 -- get your in-laws reading the "Alaska" board -- there's LOTS of great info there. (As an aside, and not to de-rail, it is unfortunate that there's any need for anyone to be deployed, but a blessing that there are people such as your husband to do it.)

[Mistletoe76]

Mistletoe76 -- get your in-laws reading the "Alaska" board -- there's LOTS of great info there. (As an aside, and not to de-rail, it is unfortunate that there's any need for anyone to be deployed, but a blessing that there are people such as your husband to do it.)

 

Thank you so much! We truly appreciate your words!

 

Melissa

 

PS. I am going to email my FIL with links to the boards and more specifically the Alaska based ones. I'll have to find out which cruiseline they are sailing.

[mamaofami]

Congratulations on your entry to the world of cruising. It wasn't that long ago that DH and I discovered this wonderful way to vacation.