Another excellent Ryndam cruise!

[Beth Y]

Just back on Sunday from a great week on the Ryndam. It was my 22nd cruise, 3rd on HAL. I did this same cruise as a solo a year ago, and this time I brought three other ladies along (we range in age from 61 to 78). We had a big problem at check in, because one of the ladies arrived without a passport (she just found it in the back of her car yesterday). HAL said that they would accept an enhanced driver's license (5 states have them, but not PA) or an official birth certificate. A neighbor went into my friend's Pennsylvania home, found her birth certificate, and faxed it to the cruise terminal. My friend was able to board the ship with just minutes to spare. And the ONE thing that I told her that she had to bring was the passport ...

 

The four of us were in 829 and 831, both large oceanview modified accessible cabins, which have step-in showers and lots of storage space and are conveniently located near the aft elevators. We appreciated the nice clear hallways on HAL -- no housekeeping carts, laundry bags, and vacuum cleaners in the halls every morning, which often create an obstacle course on other cruise lines. Two of our group had mobility issues (one rented a scooter, one was temporarily in a wheelchair) and both had no problems getting around the ship.

 

The passengers were an older, mostly American crowd (more than 1,000 of about 1,300 onboard) with only about 100 under-18-year-olds. We had a nice Cruise Critic get together at the pool bar at sailaway. We sailed from Tampa and the ports were Key West; Trujillo, Honduras; Santo Tomas, Guatemala; and Costa Maya, Mexico. One of our group took two accessible shore excursions; three of us did the Old Town Trolley tour in Key West on our own, and just shopped at the other ports. Our favorite port was Santo Tomas, which has an excellent craft market just steps from the ship and where we found some wonderful handmade items.

 

I really liked the food in the Main Dining Room. My favorite dish at dinner was the parmesan crusted veal with a delicious gravy, which was one of the best entrees I've ever had on any ship. We weren't thrilled with the International Dinner menu, but we each found something that night that we liked. The lobster tails on the second formal night were a good size and really delicious. The breads and pastries were excellent. The service at our table of eight at early fixed dining was a little slow. I think that the servers are just stretched too thin. Ours were in constant motion and did their best.

 

Breakfast in the dining room was great -- what an extensive menu! We ate at the Lido for one breakfast and one lunch, and liked the variety there. We enjoyed the afternoon tea four times (instead of having lunch). The regular Afternoon Tea was the best, with a nice variety of sandwiches, scones and desserts (the creme-filled peanut butter cookies dipped in chocolate were fantastic!). We didn't care for the menu at the Indonesian Tea. At the Cupcake Tea they offered only mini cupcakes, but they were good. We used room service several times, and it was always fast and accurate.

 

I was a little disappointed with the entertainment, since both the first song and dance show and the comedian’s show were exact repeats from my cruise of a year ago, but we enjoyed the singers and dancers, Adagio, and Eddie the piano bar player.

 

I thought that the staff and crew were really outstanding on the Ryndam. They seemed very happy and worked well together. I’m disappointed that the Ryndam is being sold later this year, since it is one of my two favorite ships ever (the other is the Celebrity Reflection). I hope that the Veendam, which is replacing it in Tampa next year, will be just as good. HAL does so much right, and it is now my favorite cruise line.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

Sounds like you all had a good time.

What excursions did you do?

[StartrainDD]

Beth, thank you. We loved Ryndam and would dearly like to find a way to sail her one last time before she leaves HAL. We have outstanding memories aboard Ryndam.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your review, glad you ladies had a good cruise.....we're all sad that the Ryndam and Statendam are being placed with P&O.

[tidygirl]

We were on the same cruise! I would like to do a review as a 1st timer with Holland but am still catching up and trying to unpack.

I would definitely check into Go with Gus tours for Guatemala the Humanitarian tour and you can take stuff to school children.

One of the most rewarding tours of my life and we have quite a few under our belt. I already told my young adult kids to get saving the $ so we can go back and take a bunch of supplies!

[Caribbean Chris]

Thank you so much for your review! We are sailing this itinerary in a couple of weeks, and really happy to return to Ryndam one more time (and back in the same stateroom we loved before, with fast access to the wonderful Lower Promenade Deck again.)

 

I am sorry to see her go, too.

 

I was glad to hear that Reflection is your other favorite, as we are booked on her, too, this December!

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.

Glad you had a good cruise.

We'll be on the Ryndam in June, can't wait.

[CathyK2]

What a great review. We too love the Ryndam and took her transatlantic. It was an amazing cruise. So we too are sorry that she will be leaving the fleet. I haven't been on the Veendam since it was less than a year old, so can't really comment on how she is holding up at this point. Time for you to start planning your next cruise. :-) Happy Sailing!

[Beth Y]

Thank you for your review.

Sounds like you all had a good time.

What excursions did you do?

 

My friend did two accessible excursions through HAL -- the Historical Trujillo tour in Honduras, and the Old Town Trolley Tour in Key West. Both went well using her scooter, but there was a lift failure on one of the trolleys which meant quite a wait at one of the stops. Finally they sent a replacement trolley, exclusively for her.

[eilmary]

Just got off the Ryndam. Thoroughly enjoyed

[Ky Colonel]

... we are 3-time Ryndam veterans and loved every minute of all 3 ... like the rest of the posters, we will miss "our" Ryndam ...

 

Rod