ryndam 833

[xeena]

do NOT book this cabin......the mind numbing screeching from the winches during docking are awful. what was i thinking when i booked this cabin? i guess nothing.

 

otherwise we enjoyed the cruise on the ryndam nov 25th.

[mamaofami]

Sorry about your cabin and the noise. Could you please say a bit more about the service and condition of the ship. She's next up for me. Thanks.

[dag144]

Returned from a 15 day TA on the Ryndam on 11/10. Wrote a review. Please have a look.

[luv2travel06]

Sorry about your cabin and the noise. Could you please say a bit more about the service and condition of the ship. She's next up for me. Thanks.

 

No time to do a full review/report yet, but I can provide some more details about our cruise in addition to my response to your other post.

 

We were on the 7 day W. Carib. cruise, Dec. 2-9. They started doing 3 shows per night on some days, 6:30, 8:00, and 9:30. Our service in the MDR at the late seating was fast enough to allow us to get to the 9:30 show if we quickly finished our dessert and sped off. (Only speculation, but maybe the earlier show was initiated in response to many complaints that MDR service was so slow that diners could not even make a 10:00 show.) But there seemed to be a lot of empty seats in the MDR. For example, a table for 4 next to us was empty all week, one couple at a table for six had no dinner companions all week until staff started sitting with them, and another table for 6 by us always had 2 empty chairs. Now, at least 5 people were taken away by ambulance at the various ports, and their traveling companions also disembarked, but I can't say that those people would have been sitting at those tables.

 

Our dining room steward was not overly friendly, but he was efficient. After the first night, his assistant always remembered to bring DW her tea, and promptly supplied refills. Our wine steward was quite animated.

 

We used to enjoy the freshly made waffles and toppings, but on this cruise, they had been made in advance and stored in a bin in most cases, and much less fruit topping was applied. The chocolate chips that we used to enjoy have not been available as toppings for the last several cruises we have been on. There used to be a specific waffle station with one person assigned to it on our previous cruises. That was not the case on this cruise.

 

No champagne toast by the Captain at the beginning of the cruise.

 

The Cruise Director, Eric, is very professional. I liked his style.

 

Daily repairs/maintenance from painting and varnishing, to sealing between the teak boards on the Sports Deck.

 

Daily happy hours after embarkation day.

 

The alternative menu items are still available (steak, chicken, salmon, Ceasar salad and French onion soup), but they are no longer listed on the menu in the MDR.

 

Dessert extravaganza on last formal night. Not as many offerings, but there always used to be so much wasted. We were happy to see the chocolate covered apples again.

 

We had a plumbing issue, but it was a part failure in the toilet, not a system failure. The part was replaced, the carpet was dried, and the front desk was duly apologetic, leaving us a followup message on our phone and offering us a free dinner in the Canaletto restaurant (which now charges $10, but used to be free.)

 

We got the impression that our cabin steward was new. He never introduced himself, did not remove empty drink glasses from the cabin that we had brought down from the Lido, sometimes did not refill the ice bucket, and one time did not reinstall the soap and shampoo dispensers in the shower after refilling them.

 

On another post, someone referred to one HAL ship as a floating assisted living facility. There were a lot of elderly people 20+ years older than us aboard with many scooters, wheelchairs, walkers, and canes. But we prefer the "vibe" of a HAL cruise over that of a Carnival cruise. So we signed up for another future cruise deposit.

 

We are low maintenance kind of people, don't set unrealistically high expectations, and pretty much take things as they come. We did not disembark thinking that we had had the best cruise ever, but we met some nice people and enjoyed another pleasant week sailing with HAL. :)

[vicocala]

Thanks for taking the time to share.

[feathersandnananose]

We were in 829 for a Panama Canal cruise - the noise is from the thrusters (we called the front desk and asked!), and was annoying, but short-lived. Ships built later have azipods, which aren't so noisy. But the earlier ships have the thrusters.

 

We took it as proof that we were actually ON A SHIP. We're not interested in being on a floating resort - we actually WANT to be on a sea-going vessel.

[xeena]

we were on the nov 25th sailing. this is our 10th HAL cruise and we enjoy the smaller ships. my choice of 833 was unfortunate due to the proximity to the winches and thrusters but we still had a great time (despite several cloudy/rainy days).

 

dining: we requested a table for 2 and found ourselves assigned to one for 4. a visit to the maitre'd prior to sailing got us a wonderful table for 2 at the late seating. great!

as stated above the alternate dinner choices were not listed and had we not been on HAL before we probably would not have known this. selections were a bit different than lst few cruises...but we found our choices to be pretty good. we missed the dates on the yum yum table...and also missed that on several days...no one manned it. we were disappointed to find that Canaletto now charges an up-fee and ate in the MDR every night. the lido was fine for breakfast and lunch. the final night's menu was very confusing and we overheard other passengers also complaining about the selections that night.

 

entertainment: a new show was added and the cast of the production shows were really good ! last cruise we did not attend one show after seeing the intro show. the comedian and musician were also great. A+ on entertainment. we enjoyed the cooking demos in the culinary arts center.....movie selection was poor and the screen blurry....it was better to sit by the 2 tvs as their picture was clearer than the pull down screen. with several "not sunny" days a movie would have been a nice diversion.....we did attend one and enjoyed it...."exotic marigold hotel" (i think that was the title)

 

cabin service: after the second day our steward Denny had the ice delivery down and the supplies were replenished without fail. some days the room was still not made up after lunch....but no worries, other things to do as we spend little time in our cabin

 

we enjoyed each port....mainly walking thru town and getting internet access and then heading back to the ship. we had been to each port several times already and the weather was not cooperating. we finally had sun in costa maya.... we did an independent snorkel tour there. we were the only people on the tour and our guide swam with us pointing out lobsters etc. what a wonderful trip...only $25pp. we had a great send off in santo tomas....we have never experienced such friendly entertaining local shows in the "welcome" center right at the pier. and a grand farewell as our ship sailed off.....they had the musicians sing and dance, taxis and mini vans all beeped their horns while they sang.....it was quite special and unexpected.

 

in general we felt that HAL is cutting back in many areas..... also at the VIP cocktail hour we listened to others extol celebrity line for how they treat past passengers....giving extra perks frequently. one thing i would like HAL to do is provide some free internet minutes to those with many cruises under their belts.....in my opinion, HAL does little to reward loyalty.

 

we did not book a future cruise this time and may try celebrity just to see what the difference might be. we like the style of HAL and the demographic......but change is also nice at times

[SueRose]

We just got off the Ryndam this morning. Don't have time for a full review but this was the worst cruise that we've been on - and we've been on many. This was our 4th HAL cruise. Most recent was 2 years ago on the Noordam. We loved everything about that cruise.

 

Our biggest complaint was the air conditioning - or lack thereof in our cabin. The cabin was very warm when we embarked but we figured it was something similar to how airplanes can be warm before they take-off. We asked our steward to look into it - and he said he adjusted the thermostat. We noticed no difference. We complained every single day - and then finally on Thursday - we got an oscillating stand fan. So now we're in a tiny cabin with a fan in the middle of the floor -that could only be plugged in by using an extension cord. Had to deal with an obstacle course which was especially crazy during the night for quick trips to the bathroom! We probably wouldn't have minded the thrusters - which woke us up 3 mornings - if we'd had a good night's sleep to begin with. But the combination of the heat and the noise was a bit too much for us. For the amount of money we paid for the cruise, we should have been able to get a comfortable night's sleep.

 

The only place where the temperature seemed comfortable was in the MDR. The Lido (inside) was usually unbearably warm on one side and slightly more comfortable on the other. The outside part of the Lido was stifling! It felt like there was no ventilation at all. During the chocolate extravaganza, servers were sweating - how appetizing is that? And ice sculptures were melting far too rapidly.

 

Food and service in the Lido was hit or miss. It was difficult to get a glass of ice water - since water was no longer self-serve - and the glasses used were juice glass sized. Servers up there did not have a good enough command of English to be working directly with passengers. It was difficult to get a glass of ice tea with a lot of ice. It's not like I was asking for anything too complex. And frequently if I ordered a food item from the little sign "I'd like the barbecued tofu with cheesy grits, please" there was no comprehension of which dish I wanted.

 

We also had an issue in the casino. My husband realized the slot machine he was playing wouldn't respond when he touched the screen in bonus games. He called over an attendant who would not call over the casino manager for my husband to report the problem. When the assistant manager came over, he told my husband he had to finish the bonus round so he could see what the problem was. If my husband had been able to push the part of the screen he wanted, he could have won 600 coin. Instead he won 40 coin. Big difference, even on a penny machine! My husband suggested that the machine be put out of service and when the assistant manager - and the manager - refused to do so, that's when my husband said he had enough of that casino. He wasn't asking for them to pay the difference between what he should have won and what he got. He asked for them to take down the machine until it was properly working. The casino's response was rude and inappropriate.

 

Those were our biggest complaints but we did have several others. I do plan to complain directly to HAL. Was just not happy.