Ryndam without power!

[Navy_Chief]

We had heard of an engineering casualty from some of the Noordam crew who had spoken to their friends on Ryndam while we were in St Thomas. They had said it was an electrical problem. Nothing concrete and no further details.

[onthegogirl]

1) Power Failure in Tampa Bay. No cabn lights, no elevators, no dinner for the late seating guests but sandwiches, yogurt, free soda and potato chips. Crew doing the best they can.

2) Cruise resumes and lights come on but not in every cabin on every deck. Some toilets are not working. Gale force winds and 12' seas. We rocked and rolled.

3) Captain holds meeting to explain power failure. Almost immediately after meeting power goes out. Blackout is fairly short. We nap.

4) San Juan cancelled, on board credit issued.

5) Disembarking in St. Thomas when opps! crew member hits wrong switch and power goes off briefly.

6) Pipes burst (or leak) flooding the aft end. Many cabins flooded. Carpets and floors wet in Lido and on stairs. Aft elevators shut down.

7) Shop vac type appliances appear to dry carpet. Often towels are found in floors to sop up water. Unpleasant smell in aft stairway. Makes walking to Lido for meals kind of yucky. MOLD????

8) Wake up in early morning to heavy smell of fuel. Believe it's a nightmare and go back to sleep. Husband leave cabin at 5:45 for coffee and finds fire doors closed. They open at 6:00. Explanation for the Front Desk. "It was from the engine"

 

As someone once said "SHIP HAPPENS". We were very fortunate and were not impacted by these major issues. The crew worked long and hard and with good humor to solve the problems. HAL offered fair compensation to us...... BUT

 

I encountered the following that has nothing to do with the mechanical problems.

 

1) Pillow case had blood stains.

2) Beach towel had sticky crud on it.

3) Spa robe for message was stained with coffee and looked dirty even if it wasn't.

4) One day the Hot tub in Thermal Suite was dirty. On one day the sauna was brokern. On one day the shower drain was clogged and the floor flooded. Spa robe was torn from armpit to hem. No hot water in the spa shower.

5) Peeled orange in stateroom and it was rotten.

 

Signature of Excellence? I Think NOT. Hotel department management should be fired. Booked on the Ryndam in March and Hell no I won't go!!!

[hammybee]

1) Pillow case had blood stains.

 

In all the years I have been around this board on an on again/off again basis, this is the second time I have heard this.

 

It seems to suggest that what, people are bleeding from their ears, noses or gums, in their sleep? Whatever. It also implies that 2 cabins were not properly serviced between sailings and obvious short cuts were taken by staff.

 

Given the number of cabins, weekly turnover in the Caribbean, passenger pressure to keep their cabins till dimembarkation and the new passengers to board shortly thereafter, I can see this happening on occasional instances.

 

It should not, but it apparently does happen. I am sorry it happens to anyone.

[cruznon]

We were originally booked on a Feb. Ryndam cruise--thank goodness we switched to Oosterdam. Ok, so the Oosterdam has had a few glitches and a semi-working azipod, but I'll take that over the stuff that's been reported happening on the Ryndam.

[onthegogirl]

If the blood on the pillow case had been an isolated incident, I wouldn't even think about it. What really concerned me was the stained and torn state of the robes. I know...petty, petty....but if you're branding yourself as the "Signature of Excellence" you don't present your guests with robes in that condition. Better no robes than those that look as if they just came off someone elses body. Same for torn bath towels or unlaundered beach towels. I'm wondering if there was a staff cut back we don't know about. Anyway, checked the sailing schedule we find that the only ship doing the Sea of Cortez is this dam ship so we'll be back on board in March for 10 more days. Hope by that time these problems and the major ones will be solved and will be looking forward to seeing old friends among the crew.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Hope you wrote all this on your comment card.

[paulvil]

MJfromCA: Well it seems I'm a day late but I would not cancel if it cost me any money. Just don't leave anything that you like particularly (formal cloths, laptops, ect) out as the people across the hall had a pipe burst in their stateroom. It ruined their formal cloths they had set out for the evening.

 

They had large fans on all the wet areas and the replaced the carpet in the lido elevator area and the stairwell to the Club HAL area.

 

Attached are pictures from decks 8 and 9 from the night of the flood. This is just a small sample of the pictures I have.

 

I ran out of room on my comment card.

[MJfromCA]

Thanks, Paulvil, Onthegogirl, et al, for your reports and advice. This is the really helpful part of CC boards. It sounds like HAL at least tried to correct the major problems, and I hope they don't have any more.

 

I tried to call just after noon on Christmas Eve to cancel, but their reservations line was already closed, so we are going on the 29th. We'll board early to be sure we have working A/C in the cabin, since that is a necessity for us. I'm also expecting, with 160 kids on each of the Christmas and New Year's cruises, that Club HAL and the Loft will be back in business, as that is another big concern. It sounds like the Lido is OK now.

 

I'll post here when we return about the current conditions on board. I will be cautious and keep everything off the floor and in the closet, Paulvil, thanks. I'm pretty excited to still be going, though. Hope 2007 is a better cruising year for you and everyone, the Ryndam included!

[Copper10-8]

MJ, have a safe trip to FL and enjoy Ryndam and her crew! Good to hear you're going with an open mind! If this is your first time, you will love New Year's Eve on HAL - they do a great job! Have some "oliebollen" (A Dutch New Year's Eve tradition - looks like a donut with raisins and powdered sugar - you can't miss them). Have an awsome cruise!:)

[LAFFNVEGAS]

MJ, I too want to wish you a wonderful cruise:) Despite what has happened recently on the Ryndam I am sure the crew has been working very hard to repair everything and that you find things in much better condition. The Ryndam is a beautiful ship I have sailed her twice and plan to again later in 2007. I feel extremely bad for what has happened on the previous cruises for passengers as well as crew. The crew have it especially rough they are away from their families over the holiday while they are trying to make us happy for our holiday, then things break and they have to work twice as hard and passengers complain. I am not saying that we as passengers should not complain if it is something that HAL did wrong but when it is out of their control I am sure they are working as hard as possible to make things right.

Go and have a wonderful time and a very Happy New Year:)

[jwitt2]

Of the many problems aboard the Ryndam the problem that knocked out the aft elevators was the fire system sprung a leak in the tween section of Club HAL. The water came down the stairs into the lido, flowed into the lower decks and down the elevator shaft (salt water and elevator electronics don't mix.) The elevators were (as of the 22nd) working with some minor defects. One of the elevators did not stop at the Main Deck. The elevators also need a good cleaning. The Loft was also closed.

...

jwitt2: The A/C did not work in my stateroom the entire cruise (lukewarm air.)

 

Which deck were you on? I think our cabin is on main deck, midships, will that be okay?

[Gary & Judy]

Well we will be on the ship on the 29th. We will be on the Veranda deck.

 

Hope we all have a good time, At least I think we will. See you there.:)

[flapr]

'

Of the many problems aboard the Ryndam the problem that knocked out the aft elevators was the fire system sprung a leak in the tween section of Club HAL. The water came down the stairs into the lido, flowed into the lower decks and down the elevator shaft (salt water and elevator electronics don't mix.) The elevators were (as of the 22nd) working with some minor defects. One of the elevators did not stop at the Main Deck. The elevators also need a good cleaning. The Loft was also closed.

 

I was on this cruise and it was horrible. Not just ship problems but the crew seamed to hate the 5 teenagers on board. I'll most likely be writing a full review when I finish writing to Holland America.

 

I would suggest that if you were planning on booking on this ship to wait till she has go through dry dock. If you have already booked, well good luck, when we were adrift in the storm she had her rear end handed to her.

 

jwitt2: The A/C did not work in my stateroom the entire cruise (lukewarm air.)

 

IMHO -- Sprinkler system that operates with salt water just doesn't sound right!!

[sfwoody]

I had an inside cabin on deck 6 during the troubled sailing. At no time did my A/C fail except the first night when the weather was cool anyway.

Since I had late seating, my first dinner was sandwiches and several cold appetisers from the Ledo.

There were no lights in my stateroom the first night and the toilet would not flush until the next morning. I had a nightlight that did work in the electrical plug though.

One night around midnight there was a bad smell in the cabin from the A/C that cleared up in 20 mins.

The water leaks had no impact on me, but I'm sure ruined the cruise for those few whose rooms were flooded.

The cruse line supplied free drinks the first night, free wine with dinner the next and an extra reception later in the cruise; plus $100 per person credit and a 25% credit to apply towards a future cruise. Those persons from the flooded cabins were to get something more.

My biggest worry was that the ship would have to return to dock,

The food was great and I had a wonderful time and would cruise on this ship again.

I feel fairly certain the software problem which supposed caused the engines to be out of sync will have been corrected.

I've been on perhaps 40 cruises and enjoyed them all.

[Krazy Kruizers]

sfwoody

 

Thanks for your side of the story.

[FeliciaLee]

The Ryndam is my favorite ship. I have 41 days on her and am scheduling another 10-day cruise to the Sea of Cortez in April. If the east coast doesn't agree with her, then let her come back home to us on the west and we will cherish her :)

 

This is no flame to the OP, I believe every word and am sorry for your experience, I'm just happy to have the Ryndam coming home after a year's absence.

 

Happy Holidays!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Felicia, Hi :) I have missed you, you have not been around lately. Hope all is well. Glad to hear you are returning to the Ryndam again.

[FeliciaLee]

Felicia, Hi :) I have missed you, you have not been around lately. Hope all is well. Glad to hear you are returning to the Ryndam again.

Thanks, I missed you and so many other posters, too. I was extremely busy this year, and things have just now started to slow down again. I lurked a little here and there, but was unable to take a cruise again until December 2nd.

 

I almost gave in and went on your Thanksgiving cruise with you, but in the end I stayed home. I did, however, cruise on your Oosterdam. I think that ship is not for me, but I got to see some of my favorite crew from the Ryndam there, and had a fabulous time.

 

I hope you are doing well. I read your latest trip report and saw all of the pics!

[J and J Cruisers]

I have to say that I was very concerned about our sailing after reading so many of the negatives on this board. However, being in the hospitality industry I know that when you are dealing with people, mechanical issues and computers = things break. The key to a great line is that the problems stay behind the lines.

 

Our cabin was not something we normally would have booked - but it was priced right and it was available for a last minute - lets get away for Christmas - sailing. The noise level was horrendous, but at all times the a/c worked - in fact sometimes too well - the plumbing was fine until the final morning. One elevator was out of service the entire week and the only leak we saw was at the Explorations Cafe and yes the smell of 'moldy wet stuff was pretty bad. However in many parts of the library it could not be noticed.

 

This is our second trip with HAL, first on the Ryndam and probably our last on the Ryndam if it wasn't for the staff. This staff truly believes in their ship and each other. They know it is time for dry dock but according to some employees - HAL isn't ready for it.

 

There was an oil leak in one of the engines one night during a show. We all looked at each other after hearing the 6 short horns - expecting to hear the final one that sends us back to our cabins for the life jackets! But thankfully that didn't happen.

 

We were thrilled with the experience in the Dining Room. Less than impressed with the Lido deck, pretty happy with the guys on the grill outside the Lido deck. Not happy with our cabin steward. Which is such a shame, usually I just want to bring him home with me. But stuff happens and it was Christmas, bless them all for working when all I wanted to do was play.

 

Holland America is a wonderful line but the reason for it is simply the people. Trust me in saying if the management level wasn't good - the front line staff would be bad. So while we all would like everything perfect perfect perfect. This is a real world we live in and realize that it is up to you to make your vacation wonderful, so don't sweat the small stuff.

[MJfromCA]

Just back from the Ryndam New Years sailing and had a good cruise. They had corrected most of the problems with the A/C, wet/musty floors, etc, before we boarded. Some of the elevators still never worked during our whole cruise, but we actually appreciated the encouragement to take the stairs more often, to counteract five meals a day! I also believe there must be some lingering problems with that engine, because a 'small technical difficulty' with it (slowing us down from 20 knots to 17 knots) was one of several things that made us late coming back to Tampa.

 

There were little glitches here and there (as always), but not the ones I was worried about from this thread. The ship is spotless, the crew is unfailingly friendly and helpful, the food was good and the shows were great. I'll post a longer separate review later this week. Thanks to all here that encouraged us to go and not cancel.