Ryndam Review - July 4 Sailing Vancouver - Seward

[Miss Bigglesworth]

Today is my first full day back from our fantastic vacation to Alaska! I would like to thank everyone here for your help in planning this vacation as I pretty much stalked the site for the last six months planning this trip.

 

There is a link to photos at the bottom -- sorry, there are some family ones you may have to suffer through :).

 

 

About Us: A family of 11 from the Cincinnati/Louisville area. Among us were my parents and my brother’s parents-in-law, ages 60-65ish (henceforth known as the ‘adults’). The rest of us, the ‘kids’, range in age from 26-32. For most of us this was our first cruise and for all of us our first time to Alaska. We had agreed earlier that we did not have to do everything together as we all have different interests and wildly different concepts of what a vacation should consist of.

 

Major concerns regarding the trip: There were three areas I was concerned with regarding the cruise. The first was the age of the fellow passengers (sorry if that offends, but it was an honest concern!). As we all know, HAL has a reputation for attracting an older clientele. Not that we have a problem hinging with older people, but we were hoping for some people our own age. Happily, I would say the demographics broke down roughly like this: 10% 70+, 60% 40-70ish, 20% 20-40ish, 10% under 20. Totally a great range. We thought it might have something to do with the week we chose since it fell over the 4th of July and a lot of professionals could take off an extra day without burning a vacation day (that is why we chose the week and it seemed like a few others we spoke to as well). The second concern was smoking; I am super sensitive to cigarette/cigar smoke and thankfully it was not noticeable. The other major concern would be the weather. Reports the week before said there would be a 60% chance of rain all week; the weather ended up being absolutely beautiful with the only rain day when we were cruising college fjord. You could not have asked for better weather.

 

 

Ship: Ryndam

I had only been on one previous cruise, the Carnival Paradise 10ish years ago. Between the two ships, I much prefer the smaller size of the Ryndam. Public places were generally not crowded, even on decks during the scenic cruising. It was nice that you could always find your group if you wanted, or could lose them if you wanted as well :D. We saw some of the princess ships in port and all agreed that they seemed so big and were happy we chose a smaller ship!

Room

I had an outside window cabin which was a large room with a double bed, couch, and desk. Totally reasonable for two people, even better for a single! Good shower pressure (I have long thick hair, so I’m a total water pressure snob). Someone, somewhere on cruise critic suggested bringing a power strip which was a lifesaver for all the camera chargers, hair accessories, laptop cords, etc and one outlet. My parents had a balcony which seemed like the same size room as mine with the addition of a balcony (I think they thought it was going to be significantly larger). If I had to make a recommendation to a friend who was planning a cruise, I would suggest either springing for a balcony cabin or going for an inside. To be honest, my window was really dirty so you really could not see out of it anyway and the sunlight hours are so extreme they really mess with your sleep habits. Those of us in an inside cabin reported better sleep.

 

Food

Overall, not very impressive. Nothing really innovative and very, very salty. The desserts I stopped bothering with after a day or two. But I understand the immense challenge it must be to feed 1500+ people in a short time frame. It was good for what it was: cruise ship food/glorified buffet food. We ate in the MDR several nights and that is where we found the best offerings. Did not eat in the pinnacle. Service was fantastic everywhere we ate.

 

Attire

Pretty casual throughout. After spending so much time reading all the threads about formal nights and what to wear in the main dining room in the end it was a total non factor. Most men wore suits on formal nights; a few tuxes and one kilt, which was GREAT (on a personal note I highly recommend kilts for men as they are the sexiest thing a man can wear) and ladies wore some sort of a dress. Not even a real ‘dressy’ dress, any dress will do. Other dinners were pretty casual; yes, we did see some jeans in the MDR but nothing stood out. Then again, I wore my Cincinnati Bengals snuggie on glacier bay day to keep warm and looked totally ridiculous, so i am not one to pass judgment on what someone else would choose to wear :D.

 

Ports of Call/Excursions:

1. Ketchikan

My dad and I had no plans for Ketchikan, so we walked around Creek Street in the morning and visited Totem Blight in the afternoon. The bus to totem blight only comes around once an hour, so if you go make sure you note the time or you could be sitting at the bus stop for awhile like we did LOL. My mom and some of the kids went zip lining and they loved it. My brother and his girlfriend took the crab fisherman’s tour and enjoyed it as well.

 

2. Juneau: We had a full day in Juneau which we spent hiking the west glacier trail in the morning and a whale watching tour with harv and marv in the afternoon. The kids left the boat at 8am and caught the city bus (bus 3 or 4) and were dropped off at the Montana Creek bus stop. From there you can walk up Montana creek road to skeeter’s cabin road and to the trailhead. Pretty easy, takes about an hour to get there in total. Beautiful trail that winds up the west side of the glacier and overlooks the icefield. Our thought was to take the unofficial trail to the ice caves and I am unsure if we took the wrong trail or if the glacier retreated from when the directions were written but we never did find them. Harv and Marv agreed to pick up our group in two locations: my parents at the red dog saloon and us at the trailhead for our tour which was very nice. The afternoon whale watching was a great time on a private boat for the 9 of us. Several in our group said it was the highlight of their vacation.

 

3. Skagway

I was going to go rock climbing, but it was canceled as I was the only one who signed up. So my parents and I rented a car through Avis ($120 for the day) and drove to emerald lake. It was nice but a long time in the car (about 8 hours total). Overall I’m glad I did it but would not do so again. We did not see any wildlife as the day was too hot and sunny (the guy at Avis said that nobody did) which was disappointing as the wildlife viewing was the main reason we went up. Everyone else stayed in town and walked around; my brothers hiked over to Deya to see the graveyard and waterfall and they said it was a good time.

 

4. Cruising Glacier Bay National Park/College Fjord: Glacier bay was one of the reasons we chose this particular cruise and it was fantastic. The best part of the day for me was entering/exiting the park. Getting up early (on deck by 5am) and being able to see whales in every direction was one of the best mornings I think I ever had. The afternoon saw many pods of humpback whales breaching. Great good times. The only day it rained on the whole trip was the day in College Fjord.

5. Seward

This was the best part of the trip for me. My parents and I elected to stay an extra night in town. The first day I did glacier climbing with Exit Glacier Guides. It was the best day of the entire vacation! There is a mile and a half hike up to the glacier which was totally exhausting, but being able to walk and climb up the glacier was worth it. The guide (Julian) was outstanding and totally patient with me as I am totally out of shape and the hike was a bit of a struggle. The second day in Steward I took a daylong kayak trip to Aialik Bay through Kayak Adventures Worldwide (you can book a combo trip of ice hiking & kayaking through either company) which was great. Again, the guide (Nick) was very knowledgeable and made the day enjoyable and fun. Amazing to paddle close to the edge of the glacier and watch it calve all around you. They agreed to drop me off at the train after the trip to make my way to anchorage. I highly recommend both companies as they were great to work with and provided great experiences.

 

Camera:

I had my DSLR and rented both a wide angle and 400mm telephoto lens for the trip which turned out to be excellent. It’s really hard to imagine the scope of the landscape and just how small really big things (like moose and bears) appear. Bring the biggest lens you have and the farthest distance binoculars and you should be set.

 

Overall:

We had a blast! The weather was great, lots to do, and had so much fun hanging with the family. I would totally recommend a cruise to Alaska to any of my friends and would love to go back and explore the mainland (originally we were going to stay an extra week and go to Denali and Barrow, but we cut that out of this trip). I am unsure if I will necessarily ever take a cruise again, but if the destinations make sense (like in Alaska) I would not hesitate to do so.

 

Pictures are posted here if interested: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=229947&id=587573454&l=7324c1d301

Let me know if you have any questions! Again, thanks to all on here who helped make this cruise a fantastic experience!

[cruiznLYNN]

Great review, Miss Bigglesworth! I'm on HAL Oosterdam 7/25 and its my first cruise and like you, the first time in AK. After reading your review, I'm getting real excited.

 

Lynn

[colomom]

OMG...the pictures of Marty on the iceberg and Marty whale watching are GREAT!! Also tell the people that went down in the crevasses that I think they are very brave!

 

Actually all your pictures are really good and I am curious what type (brand name) DSLR you took.

 

Thanks for your review and pics....I am seriously excited now....

 

~I need to find a "Marty"~

[Miss Bigglesworth]

LOL -- Marty is my brothers 'creation' -- he goes with him on every trip. it can get ridiculous at times but is normally very hilarious.

 

The descents into the glacier was the high point of the trip -- we spent so much time viewing glaciers it was surreal to get to explore & walk on one. I believe there are helicopter/glacier hiking trips out of Juneau that was a bit out of my price range but if you can get yourself onto a glacier safely (as in a tour or with a guide with correct equipment) i highly recommend the experience.

 

I have a canon Xsi, but i think the lenses make the difference. I rented a Canon EF 100-400 (telephoto) and Canon EF-S 10-22 (wide) for this trip. You can get longer lenses but they did not have image stabilization which i found crucial.

[skierT]

absolutely love the pictures

[colomom]

~snip~

I have a canon Xsi, but i think the lenses make the difference. I rented a Canon EF 100-400 (telephoto) and Canon EF-S 10-22 (wide) for this trip. You can get longer lenses but they did not have image stabilization which i found crucial.

 

Cool! I have a Canon Rebel XS with a EF 75-300mm telephoto and I too, have image stabilization. Renting a lens is interesting, thanks for the idea, a wide angle lens would be neat.

 

This trip we will not get on top of a glacier but when I take my kids, next time...

 

Once again, thank you very much!

[FurryPetMom]

Thanks for the review and pictures!

You were very lucky to see breaching whales and to get pictures!

Glad you had a good trip.

[prohacvice]

Ms. Bigglesworth,

 

I'll be sailing on the Ryndam August first with the family for a 50th wedding anniversary trip. Similar family make-up as yours (although a bit older, but not hardly mature, honorees and older generation 70-73, myself and cousins 38-44 and some teens) along with cruise experience. We've arranged a post-cruise Denali trip as well.

 

Whilst I enjoy the family immensely, I'm looking forward to meeting some new people and hanging with a younger crowd as well. I appreciate your demographic breakdown and attire review.

 

Any tips or advice regarding onboard activities? I share your sensitivity to smoking. Glad to hear it wasn't much of an issue. Are there designated smoking areas on ship? I'm also a bit of a coffee addict. Do you happen to know if the regular service will suffice or does one need to splurge on the coffee card?

 

Best tip of all is the early on-deck for the whales. I look forward to it.

 

I compliment you for an informative and thorough review.

[Miss Bigglesworth]

prohacvice,

 

I spent much of my time on deck just watching the scenery go by. As a redhead it is rare that i can spend 10+ hours a day outside in the summer and i took every advantage of it. As for indoor activities, we had a lot of fun with the trivia events throughout the ship. There is also a mid-day Wii sports competition which seemed fun. There are electronic tables in the mix area with games pre-loaded -- think a giant iPad with checkers/chess/other games as a table in a bar. The crows nest took a few days to get hopping -- my theory is the time change took a few days to get over for those of us on the east coast. And, of course, there was a Rhydam Idol contest; i did not see the finals but the earlier rounds were freaking hilarious.

 

As for smoking (as well as demographics and attire) i think it is luck of the draw. There was smoking in the casino and on deck, and i think in some of the bars, but again it was so little i didn't notice.

 

Meeting people was easy on the ship and everyone seemed really friendly. we wear a lot of college/pro-sports apparel so it was easy for people to strike up conversations with us.

 

I do not drink coffee so i cannot speak to that, though there was a coffee bar in the explorations cafe and i believe you could request some after meals. Others on this board would know more than i would and hopefully they can help answer your question.

 

 

s

[jhowdy]

Ms. B,

It was a little spooky looking at some of your photos since we were on the same cruise and captured a couple nearly identical images. Your mention of your attire and equipment (Bengals snuggie and 100-400 lens) was a clue even I could catch. I was the guy on the back deck in Glacier Bay also with a 100-400 shooting from a tripod probably in your way most of the time. Again, great images and a very nicely detailed report. You got some great images of Marjorie Glacier calving, I was moving sides when it went and took a couple circus shots, but no where near as clear as yours, great work.

[Miss Bigglesworth]

pure luck. i was full extended taking pictures of that exact area when it went. i didn't even know it happened until afterward LOL.

 

I figured if someone reading this was on the same cruise they would know who the idiot was in the bengals snuggie. it elicited alot of comments. i have a wonderful picture of my attire i have decided NOT to post :).

[cbg]

My wife and I will be on the Ryndam on Aug 1 as well. Part of a group from her consulting firm. So, she will have somewhat of a working vacation, I'm just along for the ride. Really looking forward to the cruise. This will be our first with HAL, previous cruises on Carnival and NCL.

 

Ms. Bigglesworth,

 

I'll be sailing on the Ryndam August first with the family for a 50th wedding anniversary trip. Similar family make-up as yours (although a bit older, but not hardly mature, honorees and older generation 70-73, myself and cousins 38-44 and some teens) along with cruise experience. We've arranged a post-cruise Denali trip as well.

 

Whilst I enjoy the family immensely, I'm looking forward to meeting some new people and hanging with a younger crowd as well. I appreciate your demographic breakdown and attire review.

 

Any tips or advice regarding onboard activities? I share your sensitivity to smoking. Glad to hear it wasn't much of an issue. Are there designated smoking areas on ship? I'm also a bit of a coffee addict. Do you happen to know if the regular service will suffice or does one need to splurge on the coffee card?

 

Best tip of all is the early on-deck for the whales. I look forward to it.

 

I compliment you for an informative and thorough review.