Ryndam Review - 8 Day Mexican Riviera

[jbobst]

Ryndam 8 Day Mexican Riviera Cruise – April 25th San Diego

Background

A brief cruising background on my family: My wife and I are 34 years old and we have two children…ages 7 and 10. This is our fifth cruise overall and first on Holland America. Each of our previous cruises have been on different cruise ships and cruise lines. Our first was the RCL Monarch of the Seas; our second was on the Grand Princess; our third was on the NCL Star; and our fourth was on the Carnival Elation.

On our last cruise, we didn’t really care for the Carnival ship atmosphere and we were really looking forward to a more subdued, elegant cruise. We knew that we would be among the minority (age wise) on the Ryndam, but that would be a plus for us (we really enjoy the older generation and do not enjoy the party, drunkenness type of crowd that was present on our Carnival cruise).

We typically take a cruise for the ship experience and are not typically interested in the ports of call very much…especially the Mexican Riviera ports. We really enjoy port days as a way to enjoy the ship even more than on sea days (less people). We did get off at all the ports for a short while (sometimes VERY short), but I will not go into any of the port details in this review.

Embarkation/Debarkation

Embarkation was very easy. We flew into San Diego early in the morning (7am arrival) and waited at the airport for a couple hours, playing games and such at one of the airport restaurants. We arrived by taxi at the cruise ship terminal around 9:45am. They weren’t quite ready to accept bags yet, so we waited in the first waiting area for about 10-15 minutes. Around 10am they started accepting the bags, and we went through security into the check-in/waiting area. The security check and check-in was very quick, and they had a sign posted saying that embarkation would start at approximately 11:30am. We waited for about an hour in the main waiting area, and right before 11:30, they started to call the boarding groups. We were on group 1, and went right on board.

Debarkation was also very easy. We were concerned because there were a total of three ships in port that day, but other than a little traffic congestion, we were off the ships in a matter of minutes, after they called our group number.

Overall Impressions

The Holland America style of cruising, and the Ryndam in particular, were right up our alley! We really enjoyed the smaller and older type of crowds on the Ryndam. There we never any drunks, or rowdy parties or loud games. Everything was much more elegant and relaxing. This was our favorite cruise yet!

The Ryndam is a much smaller ship than most of the major cruise ships. However, once you are on board, it still seems to have that “big ship” feel…minus the crowds. We loved the low number of people on board and it seemed like we got to recognize and know many people very easily throughout the cruise. The crew also got to know you very well, and many remembered our names (especially our kid’s names). They ship was very easy to navigate, and laid out very nicely. I LOVED the fact that there were very few public rooms that smelled of stale smoke. In fact, the only room that really had a musty smell was the “Crow’s Nest” lounge. Even then, it wasn’t that bad. The piano bar and explorers lounge (two of our favorite places) were apparently smoke free. People smoked at the Ocean Bar, but it was large enough that the smell really didn’t bother anyone.

The Explorers Café/Library was a wonderful place to play games, read, or just sit by the window. What a nice and cozy place this was! It was like having a big living room on a cruise ship and the pace and ambiance of this area was very nice!

Getting on and off the ship in ports was a breeze and I fell in love with cruising on a smaller ship. The crew was very gracious and helpful. We were travelling with my elderly grandmother, and they were always there to help carry a tray in the buffet or assist us in other parts of the ship.

Cabin

We had a “large inside” cabin on the Lower Promenade deck (deck 6). The Lowe Promenade deck seemed to be THE BEST deck to have your cabin on, as there is a complete walk around outside deck on that level. Our cabin was just a few steps from the outside deck and everything was very accessible. We were the very last cabin in the aft of the ship (423), and it was a superb and quiet location (except for the VERY loud reverse thrusters…more on that later). Our cabin was a perfect size and nicely appointed. Plenty of closet and drawer space for the four of us. The beds were very comfortable as well. Our DVD player was broken, and the replacement one was broken too…but the third one seemed to work just fine. My mother and grandmother had an aft cabin on the same deck, on the Port/Aft side of the ship. The only difference was they had a window in their cabin overlooking the wake of the ship. Their cabin was also a little wider than ours, had a bath tub, and of course had the window. It did seem like our cabin was a bit longer than theirs however, as we had one extra closet than they did.

Dinning

We had AYW dinning. We normally prefer fixed dining as we seem to always enjoy getting to know our waiters better by having the same one every night. But, the fixed dinning was all full, so we tried out the As You Wish style. We ate in the dining room the first four nights of the cruise and then switched to eating in the buffet for dinner the remaining nights. We found that they had the same food in the buffet as they did in the dinning room, but we didn’t have to dress up, and we could “customize” our food a little easier in the buffet too. I have never had dinner in the buffet on any previous cruises before, but the dinning room service took a little longer than I would have liked (with two kids and elderly grandmother, we needed something a little quicker). In addition, while our waiters were very good in their service, there wasn’t that personal touch like we have experienced with the other cruise lines when we had fixed seating. Overall, the “personal” service wasn’t quite as good as previous cruise lines in the dinning room, but the service was still good…just lacking in the “personality” factor.

Food is a very subjective thing, so I’ll try and say just a little about it here. We thought all the food was just fine. We really loved the breakfast buffet and the fresh waffles and omelets. Dinner was also great in the dinning room and buffet as well. Food quality seemed very good at all times, and the vegetarian options seemed much better on the Ryndam then on previous cruise ships (my grandmother is a vegetarian and liked the food the best on HAL). Often they would have additional food options around the pool area (besides the many options at the buffet and pool grill). All in all, food was just fine for us!

We didn’t eat at the Pinnacle Grill, as the regular dinning room and buffet were very good already. The Pinnacle Grill was very elegant and a gorgeous restaurant.

Dessert extravaganza

I have been to a few other “midnight chocolate” buffets on other ships, but the one on the Ryndam was by far the best! In addition, it wasn’t held at midnight, but rather at a more reasonable hour at 10:30pm. It was done up beautifully and the choices were fantastic. My personal favorite was the two crepe stations at the dessert buffet. I love crepes and they also had many crepe dessert options on the ship it seemed even during regular dinner times.

Pool areas

There are really only two pool areas on the Ryndam…the freshwater pool on the Lido deck and the open air saltwater pool on deck 10 aft. We spend a lot of time in the pool, and the main “dolphin” pool as we called it on the Lido deck was the best pool I have ever been in on a cruise ship (except for some cleanliness issues). On our previous cruises, none of the cruise lines ever heated their pools and they have always been ice cold. I don’t know if this is the norm or not, but that has been our experience. In addition, most ships only have saltwater pools. The Lido/Dolphin pool on the Ryndam was heated and was simply a fantastic temperature for the duration of the cruise! It was perfect! It was also freshwater, which is our preference. There are two very nice hot tubs next to the pool and it was simply a very pretty area. It was a little crowded on the days at sea, but with the retractable roof, it was always a lovely place to be. On our last sea day, the ship was rocking pretty good and the waves in the pool were a blast to experience! We had a great time in the pool. There is a very nice pool side bar area as well. With the buffet and pool side grill right next to the pool, there was always food close by. The only complaint I had about the Lido pool is that it needed to be cleaned very badly. They green tile in the bottom of the pool gives the pool water a very pretty color, but there is debris all over the bottom of the pool and the water needed a complete change badly. They should have drained the pool or at least vacuumed it, but that was never done on our cruise. On the last day of the cruise, they did drain the saltwater pool and clean out the bottom. I was chatting with one of the pool maintenance guys and he said that they don’t drain the freshwater pool because it is on a filter system. But they do drain the saltwater pool every cruise.

There is a small third pool area at the “Oasis” area on the top of the ship. This pool is about 6 inches deep and has a very pretty waterfall. However, the water here is not heated, and because of the waterfall, the water was VERY cold the whole cruise. It was a pretty area (especially at night with the constantly changing LED lights), but not very conducive to children who would want to play in it because of the cold temperature.

** As a side note, I have read in previous posts and reviews that the aft pool is adults only. This is not the case and no where does it say adults only. In fact, both pools have the same guidelines regarding children, which is that if they are under 13 they must have adult supervision. Also, no where does it say that the Oasis deck is strictly for teenagers only. We saw a few adults up there at one point, but it is also an “all ages” area it seems.

Entertainment

This is one area where I thought things could be a little better. We aren’t really big fans of the big production shows on cruise ships. We did go to one of the big shows and it was just ok. I enjoyed the magic show, and my kids were able to go up on stage for a couple of the acts as “assistants”. We do enjoy the smaller entertainment venues, but the Ryndam was a little lacking in this area as well. We spent one evening listening to the classical trio, but I didn’t enjoy their musical style as much as I did on other cruise ships. However, they were still enjoyable. We spent most evenings at the piano bar, and really enjoyed our time there. We got to know Sonja and other passengers very well and had a fun time there. The Entertainment wasn’t bad by any means, just not quite as good as some other acts on previous cruises. The main theater by the way was VERY attractive in my opinion. Not the best sight lines at times, but very pretty décor!

Club HAL (Kids Program)

While Holland America doesn’t seem to be a real family orientated sort of cruise line, I thought their Club HAL program was top notch! The kid’s areas…teen areas…and game rooms were all very good! The counselors were great and our kids couldn’t wait to get back to club HAL each evening. We have been on other more “kid friendly” cruise ships but the Club HAL program on the Ryndam has been the best so far. I think there were only 17 kids on the ship (below age 13) and it was nice because my son and daughter didn’t have to get split up into different age groups. They had them all together, and they all got to know each other and build good relationships with the counselors and the other children.

A few negative observations

1) I’ll go ahead and mention a few things that could have been better on the Ryndam, but keep in mind, these things did not ruin our cruise in any way. First, the elevators were simply awful. My family and I almost always take the stairs to keep up some sort of exercise on the cruise, but my 90 year old grandmother had to take the elevators. There were frequently elevators that were broken. There were times that you had to wait, and wait, and wait for an elevator to get to your deck. The elevators were very small and were “overloaded” frequently. In short, they really need to get the elevators to work more efficiently. They were really bad.

2) There were often very few public restrooms open it seemed. I didn’t need to use them all that much, but it seemed like the first half of the cruise that they were always closed for some reason. Not sure why this was, but it would have been nice to have the pool side restroom open more often.

3) I already mentioned that the main Lido pool needed to be cleaned very badly, but my other complaint about the pool is that it closed at 7pm each day. The hot tubs were open until 10pm thankfully, but it would have been really nice to be able to use the pool after 7pm on some of the evenings. On some of our past cruises, I have seen them drain the pools every night, or every other night. As I mentioned above, they never drained this pool, so I am not sure why they have to close it at 7. It seems like every cruise line closes their pools early, so I don’t think I can single out the Ryndam on this particular issue, but it does seem strange. There were a couple nights were they had to close it early…for the deck party/buffet and the dessert extravaganza, so I do understand why they close early on those nights. The last complaint about the pools is that they really should figure out a way to heat the waterfall pool water. It just didn’t get used and seems like a useless thing (other than a nice visual thing) if the water is going to be that cold all the time.

4) Another complaint is that during the whole cruise, they never had the hammocks up on the Oasis deck (where the waterfall is). That was a feature I was really looking forward too, but they never put them up and no one ever said why they were down.

5) This is a just a general complaint that I have had on many cruise ships, but why they can’t make either longer shower curtains or taller shower “lips” on the floor of the shower is beyond me. Every time we took a shower, water got all over the bathroom floor because the shower curtain doesn’t go all the way to the lip on the floor. Again, this is common on many of our past cruises…except for the NCL Star…which had a real shower door! That was the best!

6) The buffet line frequently moved very slowly. Part of the reason was because many of the people (like my grandmother) are elderly and slow. That is fine, but I think the general flow of the buffet could be re-evaluated. We loved the buffet, so it’s hard to complain about this and a very minor complaint at that.

7) This next complaint is not unique to the Ryndam either, but is just one of the small things that annoy me. On our first two cruises (RCL and Princess), the spa areas were free of charge. I don’t mean that massages and spa treatments were free, but if you wanted to use the steam room, or sauna, or whirlpool in the spa area, you could do that free. On the Ryndam, they charge you to use these facilities. I know some people are happy they charge extra so they can keep the crowds away, but there are other ways of having crowd control besides charging $20 a day.

8) My final complaint isn’t really a complaint, but more of a warning for people with aft cabins. As I mentioned earlier, we loved our cabin location, BUT when they used the reverse thrusters (maybe they are not thrusters, but just using reverse or the side thrusters), our cabin would shake like a violent earthquake and have an awful sound to it. This wouldn’t have been a problem if they would have posted some sort of warning in our cabin. However, on our first night at sea, around 2am, there apparently was a medical emergency and the ship had to stop or turn around and head back to or near San Diego. When they went into reverse, it scared us terribly as we were sleeping and awoke to our cabin shaking violently off and on for about 20 minutes or so. We also had this problem when docking in the various ports, but we soon realized what it was and docking procedures didn’t happen at 2am thankfully!

Summary

All in all, the Ryndam was just as we expected. Certainly an older crowd, but a more relaxed and elegant sort of cruising style. If you are into heavy drinking, staying up all night dancing, or having activities all day long, this might not be the ship or line to cruise with. I have read many reviews of people who thought the ship was an “old person” ship and were disappointed in it. Well, this was exactly the kind of cruise we wanted and it certainly met our expectations…just don’t expect a Carnival or RCL type of experience if that is what you are into.

[satchiesmom]

jbobst,

I just want to say to you that while I don't know which children were yours on the Ryndam Apr. 25 cruise, all of the children we saw were exceptionally well behaved. My compliments to you.

 

Susan

[LadyFurn]

What a well written review! Thanks for taking the time to write it! I like the fact that you have been on so many different cruise lines and that you are willing to try them all... Glad you enjoyed this one so much!

[jbobst]

Thank you for the kind words Susan. My kids definately had their moments (my son likes to continually run...not walk...even after constant reminding), but I am glad they were generally well behaved for most everyone. :)

[jbobst]

Here are a BUNCH of photos of the Ryndam.

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m295/jbobst/Ryndam%20Photos%202008/

[niso2]

Great review! On question- do you remember the Club Hal hours of operation?