MS Ryndam Review September 16-October 4

[Funsun60]

We have returned home and are getting back into the normal routine after having a wonderful 18 day Mediterranean Collector Cruise on the Ryndam. Not having sailed on a HAL ship before, this is not a review of what used to be compared to what is; rather it is a review of our first time experiences with the ship, the services and the tours we took.

 

We arrived 1.5 days before boarding time, so took one day to walk around downtown Barcelona. This included a 3-hour guided walking tour of the Barri Gotic through Runner Bean Tours. This is a free service; guides are paid via tips. It was a small group, and we learned much and had a great guide. We would highly recommend this company. We also took a half-day tour to Montserrat when we arrived back in Barcelona half way through the collector cruise. We toured with Barcelona Day Tours and again, we would recommend this company.

 

Embarkation was in Barcelona. The ship was docked at the end of La Rambla. We arrived around 11:30 am and literally walked through the required procedures in 5 minutes and were on the ship within 15 minutes of arriving at the port. Our room was ready and as we had given our carry ons to the porters as well, we went to the Lido for lunch. The buffet was not crowded and we had a great meal. We spent the next while walking around the ship, and by mid afternoon luggage had arrived and we were unpacked before the lifeboat drill. The drill was delayed (it appears this is usual) because several passengers did not show up on time…seems human nature sometimes prevails. This delay happened again on the second drill we attended as part of the Collector Cruise.

 

THE SHIP: we found our cabin and the ship in general to be clean and well maintained; the room stewards were excellent and accommodated our requests; the unlimited laundry worked great; the library was extensive with books to meet a variety of tastes and interests; DVD access easy and quick; room services on time; we had bought 100 minutes of internet use for the 18 days and had minutes left over at the end of the cruise, so although service was slower than what we are used to, it met our needs and we were on the computer everyday to check/send emails and review the news back home; the food was very good to excellent (we never experienced a bad meal); we had early fixed dining and the wine and food service was timely (about 1.5 hours start to finish which we find is normal for a dining out experience); the staff were very friendly and approachable and we received excellent service no matter the venue. The small size of the ship was great; no huge crowds getting off/on, easy to get around, easier to run into the same people and strike up conversations.

 

THE TOURS: We were in various ports for 14 of the 18 days. We did a mixture of ship tours, private tours and seeing things on our own. The ship tours were the least satisfying mainly because these are large groups and we felt the guides were very time conscious and in a rush to get back to the ship, even though we always arrived back well before the on board time (sometimes 2-3 hours ahead of time). In Morocco, one member of the tour was severely limited by a physical handicap, so much time was spent waiting on him. We didn’t see everything that had been advertised as part of the tour, but we did manage to make it to rug factory for a 30-minute stop. Go figure. If anyone is looking for private tours, we can recommend, Tours by Locals (for various locations). We were unable to go to Tunis, so the ship went to Naples instead. Although we were disappointed we would not see Carthage, we were able to tour Heracleum. It is very different from Pompeii, so this was a great opportunity. Tours by Locals refunded immediately the tour cost for Tunis as the cancellation was beyond anyone’s control.

 

OVERALL OBSERVATIONS: The weather was great, the ship experience was wonderful, the port visits were very interesting and rewarding, and the crew who interact with and provide services to the passengers and who are in large part responsible for making and retaining the HAL brand were exceptional. The ships officers and crew supervisors, not so much. If passing them in hallways, sometimes even an “hello” did not elicit much of a response. The exception was the Maitre de Gus and the Executive Chef Orly who were friendly and always seemed interested in engaging us in conversation about their homes, and families and our lives in Canada. We even had a private tour of the kitchen galley. The only rudeness and bad manners we saw on board were exhibited by some passengers towards the crew or towards other passengers, as they made sure they made their way to the front of every line-up.

 

As we were early to bed and early to rise, we cannot comment on the evening entertainment, although the Adagio Strings did play in the dining room on a couple of formal nights and they were wonderful. We had an inside cabin on the Lower Promenade Deck; we liked the cabin location and the room was spacious and more than adequate. We spent our time on ship outside on the Navigation Deck by the sea view pool reading, having some liquid refreshments, visiting with other passengers and enjoying the wonderful weather.

 

We took the latest disembarkation time; we left the ship at 9 am in Barcelona and we were back at our hotel by 9:30. We spent this last day in Barcelona doing the Hop On/Off Bus and also visited Sagrada Familia Church. We had pre-bought admission tickets before our trip, so we avoided the long line-ups to go inside the church. I would highly recommend a visit to this church if you are in Barcelona: Gaudi has brought an exceptional new dimension to the design of cathedrals.

 

This was a great holiday, and HAL did not disappoint us. We would certainly sail with HAL again. Thanks again to everyone on this board who gave us such good information as we planned our trip.

 

MS RYNDAM: ****+

[portofrome]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Thanks for the review.

[aliaschief]

Thank you for sharing your cruise experience with us.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for posting the very nice review of your cruise on the Ryndam. Sounds like you had a great time.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome Home

 

Glad you had a wonderful Med cruise.

 

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

[GeorgesGal]

Thanks for the Ryndam review. Based on what you have said, I think I'll look into a future cruise on her. I had been hesitant due to her age, but I guess she has aged beautifully!

 

Donna

[kazu]

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your experiences with us. Sounds like you had a great time - happy to hear it:)

 

and welcome home:):)

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review, glad it was a great time!

[BonVoyage1]

Great review. Beautifully written. Glad you enjoyed your cruise. We sail on Ryndam in January, so your comments about her were welcome.

[startwin]

Excellent review, thanks for sharing. The Ryndam is a perfect-size ship, IMO.

[hal lover]

Thanks for taking the time to share your cruise experience. Sounds lovely and glad that you enjoyed it.

[Aruba]

Since I'm going to be on Ryndam in 4 days (but who's counting?), your review was especially welcome. :)

[erewhon]

Enjoyed reading your review.

Thank you.

[Bluwater7]

Thanks for your review - we spent 3 weeks on the Ryndam in June and could not have had a better cruise. Glad you enjoyed your time on board. We like the smallish ships.