Ryndam Rules! (A completely unbiased report)

[Vict0riann]

The captain was very good about keeping the bow open - it was wonderful as we headed into the fjords. Teak deck, as you can see.

 

[innlady1]

Oh thank you so much for this thread!

 

I just changed a booking for New Years from the Noordam to the Ryndam. These photos and your experience really help me imagine what we are in for...except the cabin as we are not in a suite.

 

I hope the captain is still onboard as we have a Renewal of Vows scheduled for our anniversary. It would be lovely to know he is that engaging. All 4 of us will be in full highland dress for this event.

 

More photos please!!!!

 

I think you would like Captain Rowland!

[innlady1]

Thank you, Ann, for such wonderful photos. Makes me wonder what the heck we're doing on the NA on our TA Collectors Cruise!

[Himself]

I enjoyed your report. It is over 11 years since I was on this ship but I do remember it being a nice ship.

[erewhon]

Thoroughly enjoying your review.

I appreciate seeing your photos of the Ryndam, we were booked to cruise the Panama Canal on her in 2009, but HAL cancelled the cruise, so it's very interesting to see what we missed!! (We sailed 28 days on a Statendam Panama cruise instead).

[JamesEM]

Thanks for sharing, looking forward to more reports and photos.

[kazu]

Am I allowed to include pictures of the art? It was amazing. I think I'm a little bit psychic - this next just seemed to me to have been painted by someone from Bermuda! It was greatly admired, especially as the Beautiful Ryndam seemed to be in the fjords (or could it be Alaska?)

 

 

Ann, this is one of Stephen Card's paintings who is a regular on the HAL boards:D and, yes, he does indeed live in Bermuda:D

 

great pics - thanks!

[mamaofami]

Ann, your pictures are amazing. I hope there are more coming.

[Alebd]

Ryndam was our first HAL cruise...took the family to Alaska in '95. She was almost brand-new. Along with Volendam, still our favorite ships after all these years.

Thanks for the wonderful review and pictures!

[leonidas]

Thank you very much, love your pictures!

 

Kind regards,

Gina

[hillside]

Thank you for this wonderful post. The pictures are fabulous and I'm enjoying your commentry. The Ryndam was our first HAL ship and we're looking forward to boarding again, Oct. 19, in Athens for the TA ending in Tampa. We won't be in a Neptune Suite, but we'll definately enjoy!

[dvcmember]

This ship looks absolutely perfect for a week of rest and relaxation. Thrilled to hear you had very good dining experiences onboard. Extremely excited about my first HAL cruise. I'm sure it will not be my last. I am intrigued to see white chair covers for formal evening. These are some of the details HAL provides the guest that other lines do not offer.

Let the pampering begin.

[Vict0riann]

Ryndam was our first HAL cruise...took the family to Alaska in '95. She was almost brand-new. Along with Volendam, still our favorite ships after all these years.

Thanks for the wonderful review and pictures!

 

We are going to be on the Volendam in February, we hope. Looking forward to it very much, especially after Lovely Serenity's review of her Alaska cruise. I think the best thing about the Ryndam was the cheerfulness of everyone on board. Even the seamen greeted you on deck, and no matter how busy, stopped to give you a smile. And everything was spic and span. Window-washing was going on continually, which meant it was easy to take photos, even inside. There was a lot of new carpeting, and most of the daily mats in the elevators looked brand new, so evidently those will be around for a while! I'll post a picture, if I can find it.

[Vict0riann]

Here it is!

 

[Vict0riann]

I think the carpeting in the Showroom at Sea was new, too, and some hallways. I didn't pay too much attention to the Lido Restaurant, just concentrated on the food! However, I know the chair legs didn't get caught in holes as they had on Eurodam!

 

Talking about the S-a-S, we enjoyed the shows. The singers and dancers put on 4 shows, I think, in the 2 weeks. They were very good and full of energy. However, the last show was their last on the Ryndam, a very teary exit, as they were disembarking with us in Dover, after nine months on board. I hope the next group will be as good. Here's a snap of the carpeting in the S-a-S.

 

[Vict0riann]

This next is of the seaview pool on the Navigation deck; the level above is the Lido deck. I'm not a swimmer, but this area was very popular, and used for the sailaways - although a lot of people preferred the bow, this aft deck was more sheltered.

 

[Vict0riann]

I have a few more food pictures, mostly from the Pinnacle Grill. We really liked this Pinnacle, mainly because we got to know the staff, as we had breakfast there every morning. (I am NOT a breakfast person, but DH is, and feels very deprived at home - he made up for it on this trip and said the omelettes were the best he had had in his life!) It's not a large room, but panelled and friendly. The maitre d', Roger, was the best ever! This pic is from the Indonesian lunch for suite passengers - it was really well done.

 

[Vict0riann]

My very favourite breakfast! I could eat smoked salmon 3 times a day (and frequently did - the smoked salmon on tiny soft half-bagels in the Neptune Lounge were to die for!)

 

[Vict0riann]

Crab cakes starter - also a favourite! This is the dinner one, for lunch I think it's more crab and shrimp, larger, more of a main course.

 

[Vict0riann]

Main course - steak with prawns. (I had the lobster tail I showed you earlier.) Another night we both had the Steak Diane - so luscious and rich, I need to take a nap after! The lobster was lighter, and I think I will do that from now on.

 

[Vict0riann]

DD had the "Lobster Mac and Cheese". I thought the lobster would be mixed in, but she really liked having it on top, because no one could finish the mac and cheese, as delicious as it was. (I think it was flavoured with all the lobster juices.) Roger told us that very few people manage to finish it!

 

[Vict0riann]

For dessert we had the Pinnacle Baked Alaska, which many people had mentioned on CC. It really was good, quite light, and the meringue was perfect. I can't remember what we had the other night, it can't have been too memorable! I'm not crazy about their creme brulee - but I do have to mention that in the Rotterdam Dining Room there was a wonderful creme brulee on the "daily" menu - I had that at least 3 time during the 2 weeks! I don't think they've done that before; I was happy to see it and hope other ships are doing the same.

 

[Vict0riann]

We ate in the Canaletto once. No one was terribly impressed. We ate there a couple of times, too, on Eurodam, and liked the show - they even did the cotton candy thing, but no more. The antipasto, however, was very good this time - no photo as we gobbled it down too quickly, also they serve you from a big platter, so it hasn't been arranged photographically. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it:)) I enjoyed my cod puttanesca - I can't remember what the others had, I think DD had a vegetarian pasta dish, probably mushroomy, but I think she said it was quite dry. This is my cod:

 

[Vict0riann]

This was one of the Canaletto desserts - I think it's a mille feuilles sort of thing with ice cream on top, DH said it was good. I always have the limoncello mousse, this time it seemed more like a lot of lemon jello on the bottom, so perhaps it needed more moussing!

 

[Vict0riann]

We had dinner in the Lido Restaurant a couple of times - not our favourite, but DD likes the informality, and tasting bits of this and that. We prefer to sit down and be waited on. They also seemed to run out of things in the Lido on occasion. This is how they presented the dinner options - of course you could have whatever you wanted from any of the choices.