Return from Ryndam 10/30-11/6-Review

[tjcletsgo]

Well, I've spent a few days debating whether or not to post a review and decided to go ahead, with a major disclaimer.

 

This is MY OPINION ONLY, based on MY EXPERIENCES and MY TASTE. It's TOTALLY SUBJECTIVE.

 

We arrive at the San Deigo pier at 11:30, excited as all get-out! Unload luggage and park the car. MAJOR SECURITY CHECKS. Big time! I've never seen anything like it. Might have been because of terrorist concerns and the election. Security seemed a little lighter when we got home.

 

Go to the suite line and get all checked in. Get our number and have a seat. They didn't start boarding until 12:30. Where is our white-gloved steward who will wisk us away to our lovely suite??????

 

Never saw him. Not for us, nor for anyone else. No stewards came to greet us or tell us where to go. A huge bottle-neck occured by the Deck 5 elevators. We decide to walk up the stairs (come on, it's only 5 floors), until we find the Neptune Lounge. We enter and introduce ourselves to the conceige, Katrina. I immediately ask her about the sommelier dinner. After several tries, it seemed like she said it was no longer served in the Pinnacle, but was served in the Dinning Room, any night you choose. Oooookay. We'll think about it then. (Never went).

 

We left our carry-on luggage and went exploring. I said we HAVE to go to the Crow's Nest. Okay, guys. Turn the flames on cuz you're gonna roast me alive.

 

I thought the "new" Crow's Nest looked like a page out of an Ikea catalogue. It had colors of tangerine, grape, gold and these "funky" Ikea-type lamps! I didn't like it! Sorry! Those neat little cut glass thing-ees in the ceiling are gone, too.

 

We left and went back down to Deck 10 and the aft pool. Just beautiful! That's where we spent most of our "outside" time. Quiet, relaxing, pool water is ICE COLD! But, that's okay, it was warm out so the pool was invigorating!

 

Rooms are ready! We walked into our suite and IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! Huge, roomy and THAT VERANDAH! Simply breathtaking, I couldn't image how wonderful sailing for 7 days in that suite would be.

 

Unpacked and went down to check out the dining room assignments. We got table 165 but where was it???????? We booked the upper deck at 8:00, but it wasn't on the upper deck. It was on the lower deck, in an area called "opera seating". Turns out that's a small section in the middle of the LOWER dinning room. We would be eating dinner all by ourselves in this little section, while tables around us were being cleared and set up for the 8:30 late supper. NO FLIPPING WAY! I booked this cruise 8 months ago and an S suite to boot! We went to the Maitre'd to have it changed and the entire room was filled with people with similar requests. It was a 2 1/2 hour wait. Instead, we went to the Neptune Lounge and explained the situation to Katrina. She said the ship was really full and she would try to get it changed. Would we just go to our regular table tonight? Okie-doaky.......It was changed in an hour. Thank you, Katrina (she turned out to be our fairy godmother).

 

Down to check out the ship. My opinions.......The new Exploration Cafe is lovely. Cozy, comfortable and just wonderfully decorated. I really liked the room and the huge selection of books. Over the course of the week, many people found a quiet refuge in this lounge. Ocean Bar okay, no opinion, really. The Explorer's Lounge was the nicest bar on the whole ship. Very soft lighting, very intimate. Casino Bar was nice but really smokey. Our favorite server, Richard, worked in this bar. He was the only server I saw who "hustled", and when my daughter was in the casino, he sought her out to see if she needed a cocktail or soft drink. He told us at the end of our cruise he was being transferred to the Crow's Nest and was very unhappy about it. He said it's "very quiet" up there. I think he was sad at leaving the tips. What a waste of a good server.

 

About this time I used a public restroom in the casino area. It was a single room set up for men/women/handicapped. I went in and noticed the lock was loose but no worries. Went to flush and noticed the "handle" on the back was taped on with scotch tape. Now, that's just plain tacky, I thought. Went to wash my hands and the water faucet was hanging by a thread. No water (not a good thing if they're fighting Norwalk and all the other viruses). OOOOOkay. I went to leave and couldn't get the loose lock to turn. I was locked in the bathroom! I tried for what must have been 5 minutes and finally freed myself! Stopped an attendant to let him know about the problems......he stood and nodded and didn't understand a word I said. I would find that to be a MAJOR PROBLEM on this cruise. Continued.........

[elmorejj]

Very interesting so far, anxiously awaiting the rest of the review.....jean :cool:

[LAFFNVEGAS]

tjcletsgo, you have me sitting on the end of my seat anxious for the rest:D

Especially since we leave this Saturday for the Sea of Cortez like you did.

[CanSail]

Great review so far...you are sharing with us your true feelings and observations, can't wait to read more. Very interested in this ship and your experience as a suite pax.

Thank you, please tell more.

[tjcletsgo]

We went back to our Suite (God, I love saying that) and opened a bottle of champagne for sail away. Except we weren't sailing. Something was going on and I never did find out what it was.

 

The Swap Team was inspecting our ship below! They were carding the crew getting on and were also on our deck in the Staff area. They were obviously looking for someone! Excitement! Alas, they gave up and we were on our way, late. We were always late, wherever we went. No worries......Didn't matter to me!

 

Away we go. Great weather, great people, great ship. Except, our ship kept stalling and our captain sometimes had a hard time restarted it. We noticed this at dinner, when we were observing a landmark. All of a sudden it was gone. According to a fellow passenger, we were having engine problems, and the ship drifted around the other way. When he got it restarted, he did a major turn to right it and we almost fell out of our chairs.

 

Back to dinner. Most of us didn't see anything interesting on the menu so we had the sirlion steak listed at the bottom.

 

Now, I'm a majorly good cook and I have the spare tire to prove it. I was less than thrilled with most of the dishes. My steak was 1/2 inch thick and appeared to be baked, except it had grill marks on it. Hmmmmmmmm. It was edible. Period. On lobster night, I ordered lobster and it was "watery", which to me means it's not cooked enough. I sent it back and our waiter returned with a cooked one that was awesome! Thank you very much.

 

Dinning room food: Loved the chocolate mousse, lobster and baked potatoes. Salads were okay, the one on Dutch Night was yummy. Funky bleu cheese dressing.....One of my major complaints (as the rest of my group) was the food was never hot. It was always tepid. Even the coffee..........that coffee in the Neptune Lounge was amazing, but never really hot. Are they afraid an elderly person will spill it and get burned??? Continued.....

[tjcletsgo]

Speaking of the elderly........make no mistake about it. This cruise line is geared for the elderly. Period. When we went into port, 40 people called the front desk to say they were napping and didn't want to be disturbed by the bingo (and other) announcements. All kinds of irate people were at the front desk complaining about missing bingo and the front desk explained about the nappers. "If it hadn't been so many people, we would have made the announcement but........" Why couldn't they just turn off the speaker in their rooms?????

 

I was almost run down I don't know how many times by people in the carts. I got stuck behind 2 women in walkers, who were going a half a mile a year, for I don't know how long. I've got nothing against the elderly and am going to be one myself someday, but I'm going to hurry on about it! Conversely, I loved watching the elderly couples cut-a-rug in the Ocean Bar all dressed for dinner. God, it was great to watch them seemlessly glide along together, outshining all the younger couples! Good for them!

 

The new area for teenages was really neat and totally empty. No night life. We went lounge cruising and no one was up at 11:00. Okay, I need my beauty sleep anyway.

 

Next night was formal night, the welcome dinner. We ordered appetizers for the room to be served at 6:00. Room 6 got them. In the meantime, where were the corsages? I went to Katrina and asked when we might expect them. "You don't have them"? Nope. "Your steward should have brought them to your suite." Well, poor Roland, there was a lot of things we never got (at the beginnning). Like daily Dinning Room menus, and room service menus. I finally got a weeks worth at the Neptune Lounge. I don't know if Roland was overworked or just unhappy. He never smiled, didn't engage anyone in conversation and I don't believe understood most of what we asked for. He kept the room very clean. As long as I could get what I needed in the Neptune Lounge, that was fine with me. Things picked up later in the week and everyone in the room started receiving a copy of the Daily Program. The last day as we were getting ready to go home, he came to the door and barked "gotta do the beds"!!! Get me outta here........Continued...

[tjcletsgo]

Day two we want to take a bubble bath in the jacuzzi/bathtub. But, the plug didn't work. They had our bathroom torn apart most of Monday. We just used public restrooms, except the one in the casino (still broken).

 

Bingo in the Vermeer Lounge.............this lounge is beautiful. I'm the unluckiest gambler alive so it's nice to lose money in a pretty room.

 

Greenhouse Spa: booked a water day on Monday. Had breakfast in the Lido (good breakfast but cold food, again), changed into our suits, got our books and water, all ready for a day of leisure. Went and checked in, got locker keys and entered the room. It was really pretty but had one major problem. No water. The spa was broken! Went back to the desk, told them we'd booked a "WATER" day! Why didn't you tell us there was NO WATER??? She quiped "these engineers are killing me"!.........Oookay.....

 

I'm getting really tired of typing so I'm gonna cut to the chase and give you my likes and dislikes.............Continued...

[tjcletsgo]

Likes:

 

The S suite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Morning Raisin Buns in the Lido

The Pinnacle-EVERYTHING

The aft pool

The S suite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Explorer Lounge

The Neptune Lounge

Coffee in the Neptune Lounge

The cheeseburgers at the grill=YUM!!!!!

The man who rings the dinner chimes. Way cool!

The S suite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pulling into port (any port) before daybreak

Katrina in the Neptune Lounge

Continued...........

[LAFFNVEGAS]

tjcletsgo, can I ask you which suite number you were in? We will be in S043 just curious if we will be stuck with Roland. This will be our first Suite so needless to say we are extremely excited and want it to be perfect but.....something tells me not to expect perfect. Luckily while cruising we get extremely relaxed and let things just slide because it is still better to be cruising (in a suite no less) than any day at work:D

[tjcletsgo]

Dislikes:

 

The watery cocktails. Watery and inconsistant.

The language barrier

The ratio of elderly vs middle age

Pools and spa close at 9:30

No nightlife

Cold food and even worse, cold coffee

 

 

Would I sail on Holland America again? Only if I were willing to pay a fortune again for an S suite (which I'm not). Many, many passangers were grumbling about the crappy food, crappy service and how disappointed they were with HAL. Most were Mariner's who talked about the "old" days, and how they thought this was their last HAL cruise.

 

I think I would be happier on a less beautiful ship that had a little more diversity and a lot more nightlife. This was a dead ship, and everyone I talked to complained about it.

 

Now, different strokes for different strokes and you all might have given it a huge thumbs up. Not me. It was a very nice cruise but it wasn't the "trip of a lifetime".

 

Bon Voyage, everyone!

 

Janie:o

[dakrewser]

I would react the same way to the changes in the Crow's Nest and to the other things you mention.

 

 

There appears to be a definite lack of quality control, with the hope that a new mattress will impress the heck out of people so they won't notice the decline in service.

 

Well, since they seem to be trying to attract cruise rookies, they've nothing to compare the service to (except, perhaps MacDonald's) so they don't see it as a decline.

 

I'm starting to not look forward to my January cruise...

 

-dave

[OCruisers]

Well, I've spent a few days debating whether or not to post a review and decided to go ahead, with a major disclaimer.

 

This is MY OPINION ONLY, based on MY EXPERIENCES and MY TASTE. It's TOTALLY SUBJECTIVE.

 

So glad you decided to go ahead with this review!!!! THANK YOU! We've enjoying reading both the good and the bad! Looking forward to reading the rest ....

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[elmorejj]

Well I guess all I can say is so much for the new Rhyndam and its SOE features.....jean :cool:

[gizmo]

Thanks for taking the time to write your review. I enjoyed reading it.

 

 

It is beyond me how they could have removed that beautiful ceiling in the Crows Nest.:rolleyes:

[sabaka]

Thanks for taking time to do the reveiw. Ditto on enjoing reading the good and bad every bit helps people!

[tjcletsgo]

Hi, Lisa!

 

I was in suite 11. Suite 43 is kinda a long way from suite 11. I think you'll be fine. I think Roland tried to tell us he was going to San Diego, or else that we were (we knew that).

Maybe he was having a bad week, but I don't think most of them are happy. I think they got a "talking to". Thursday morning when we went to the Neptune for coffee, Katrina stood at the coffee machine and got it for us. The same thing with the pastries. I heard her tell her assistant that they were supposed to "get" things for us now. Same thing at the Lido. Coffee had always been "self serve", which is fine with me. And all of a sudden, a steward was getting coffee for everyone. What do you think?

 

Ask me anthing you want to know. I spent 2 hours here at the terminal and only got to Tuesday morning!!!!!

 

Janie

[tjcletsgo]

Lisa,

 

Also, check out the weather before you go. I just checked out the weather for the ports, all sunny. However, for 3 days we had major winds, which cancelled all excursions on the water. For Loreto and La Paz, which was the main reason we were taking this cruise. I tried to make lemonade out of lemons and did. Loreto was...........haunting is the best word for it. We made our way into town about 8:15 (port was supposed to be 7:00) and what seemed like the whole town was out sweeping the street for the visitors. Women brought their babies outside to see us. It is a simple town, narrow streets but loaded with Old Colonial Mexico culture.

 

We got a taxi and had him take us on a "tour" of the town. Lisa, read up on some basic spanish. I couldn't communicate with most citizens and it's our responsibility to learn to speak their language. It makes things a lot easier!

 

Anyway, our taxi took us to see the local elementary school, the middle school and the high school. I don't know what he said, but he was really proud of them. Continued.........

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Janie, I really appreciate you giving your review. I am at work and getting ready to go home but of course will be on Cruise Critics tonight after dinner. While I am driving home I am sure I will come up with lots of questions. The only ones that come to mind at this moment are. Did you take any excursions? We are taking the afternoon Cabo Boat Tour (forgot what it was called) It sounds like it could be a mini Booze Cruise. 2nd question- How were the seas as far as waves as motion? Did the Ryndam handle it well? What night was Dutch Night was it on a casual or informal night? I noticed you liked the Pinnacle, what night did you go? Well, I better leave so I can go home.

 

Thanks again for all the posting I know it can get tiresome but since you are the first CC member that has returned the the Ryndam you are the one in the KNOW:D

[tjcletsgo]

Anyway, he took us to the town cemetary. It was "Day of the Dead" and alters were everywhere in town, La Paz, too.

 

It was incredible! This huge cemetary with "cabana's" built over the graves, painted in bright colors, and all the families are there with food, flowers and just visiting and eating and laughing!! I've never seen anything like it. I asked if we could stop to take pictures, and asked him if it would be okay (jeez, don't wanna be an "ugly American" here). I'll never forget that town and want to go back another time to snorkle. Go to McCaws when you get there for cocktails or Cafe Ole.

 

Anyways, I digress!! Check out the weather in California. There was a minor storm in California that didn't give us clouds but did give us 4 ft swells! The boat was rocking and heaving and they put barf-bags out at the elevators. Two out of four of us got seasick (not me, I have a cast iron stomach). Another pax said the stablizers were shot, we shouldn't be rocking that much for 4 ft. swells, but 4 ft. was what the travel board thingy said. If you get seasick, be prepared to bring some medication. The ship does give seasick pills out that seemed to work (my daughter).

 

Janie:p

[Ziggy7]

So glad you decided to write this review!!!! Thank You for sharing the good and bad! Welcome home! :)

[tjcletsgo]

Lisa,

 

 

We were at the Pinnacle on Friday night. All ordered the filet and it was perfect, absolutely amazing. Sides were asparagas (yummy), scalloped potatoes (many, many thin layers-delicious), sauteed mushrooms. All were yummy. I had the salad, it was to die for! The bread in the Pinnacle was the only bread I had with dinner. Just too much food and I didn't want to waste my "full" on it! And, thanks to this forum, I had the chocolate volcano cake. Almost did a "Meg Ryan" Sally thing (YES, YES).....oh my. We wish we had gone there more.

 

Dutch night is Monday night. Lobster is Thursday. As I said, all water activites were cancelled for us so no excursions. You should be fine in Cabo, it's a triple decker boat and you'll be protected by the bay. If you're looking for something to do in Cabo, take a taxi to "The Office" and tell me what you think. Beautiful beach, we really enjoyed it! Try Carlos and Charlies in La Paz, along the malacon. Order guacamole and check out the neat malejete it comes in. I fell in love with it and asked the waiter if I could buy it. He said no, but gave me directions to the Super Mercado where I could get one for my son-in-law (a fellow foodie). Off I went, nearly giving my daughter a heart attack. No worries, I felt really safe there. All the people looked a little surprise to see this middle-aged blond in there midst but were very polite and helpful. Again, little spanish but we seemed to communicate. La Paz means "the peace", and indeed, it was a beautiful city! As we were pulling into port, I noticed (from the verandah) a leaping mantis! Oh joy!!!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Thanks so much Janie, I have been reading everyone's reviews to Tom (DH) I asked him if he had a question for you. He did:) He wants to know if they offered Lobster in the Pinnacle? When we were on the Oosterdam in May they offered Lobster for an addidtional fee. OK here are some questions from me.

In regards to the Pinnacle, Krazy Kruiser has been writing their review of the Statendam and they mentioned that the Pinnacle was opened for lunch for a $10.00 fee, was it opened for lunch on the Ryndam?

 

Also I do get motion sickness but as long as a take my Bonine I am usually pretty good, was the stabilizer problem for all 7 days or just one day? Did it seem that they fixed the problem? I take it there were no air conditioning problems on the Ryndam. You said they started to board at 12:30 because you were in a Suite did you get to board right away when they started? We land at the San Diego airport at 10:05 I figured by the time we get out luggage at get a taxi we would get there at about 11:00 to 11:15 we were hoping to board right away:o

 

On the formal nights did you see many men in tuxes?

 

Then about the Greenhouse Spa do you know if they ever fixed the water facilities? I am celebrating my 50th B-Day on the cruise and planned to splurge and do a day at the spa, but if most of the stuff is not working they should be giving a Big discount.

 

It really surprises me the Dutch Night was on Monday, that was probably a casual night right?? What night was informal night?

 

I think that is all the questions I have for right now but may ask more later, Thanks so much for answering, it does sound like you did have a fairly good cruise especially the Suite:D We are really looking forward to our first Suite too and looking forward to meeting Katrina in the Neptune Lounge.

[tomc]

Janie...

 

Thanks for the thorough review -- taken as given (subjective, based on your experience). I just got off the Rotterdam and, for those who might say HAL is going down the drain, I did not experience any of the negatives you did. Possibly of the various elements that can go right or wrong on a given cruise, you hit a big combination that went wrong. Next cruise, things might all go right. I'd love to hear a review from that one just to see if it's chronic or if the Ryn was having a bad week.

[kruzkeen]

Thank you Janie for your up-front assessment of the SOE Ryndam.

 

Question: On the Lido deck what is the new space configeration for the Gym now that the new GreenHouse Spa is installed?

 

Is there a free steamroom and sauna that can be used by passengers after they have worked out in the gym? I am talking about 10-15 minutes in there.

 

I have always done this in late afternoon on the other ships. I was a little annoyed that the steamroom/spa it was part of the GreenHouse Spa package on the Oosterdam last spring and would cost $15/day.

 

If one wants to hang out in the GreenHouse Spa all day $15 is a fair price, but not just to get the kinks out after a work out.

 

Thanks Ken

[Sail With Me]

Hi Janie,

 

Thanks for your assessment of the Ryndam. After 81 Royal Caribbean voyages we are finally sailing on Holland America's Ryndam on November 27 and are looking forward to our S Suite as well. We are in 14 so it sounds as if Roland will be our steward as well. Did you not have butler service too?

 

We have a cruise business and were invited to tour the Ryndam and have lunch in the Rotterdam dining room on October 30 and we found the ship to be gorgeous and the food excellent. We thought the Neptune Lounge was great and had the pleasure of meeting Katrina while we were onboard.

 

We are booked n the Prinsendam next August for the England and British Isels itinerary and are looking forward to sailing on a ship with 793 passengers instead of thousands.

 

Will let you know if our experience is the same as yours after our November 27 sailing and thank you for your review.

 

Karen and Bob