Ryndam, NOv 08-Dec 08

[Beagle2]

Had a good flight from SF to SD and embarcation was good. Clean ship mostly. Good food, very.:)

 

OK, woman employee in white uniform had two real bratty kids, crawling around the dining area, on our shoes, under tables. She thought it was cute. They ran the deck like monkeys.

In Pueto Vallarta, they allowed locals on board, in the public restrooms they did not wash hands, they did not use the sanitizing, they were scuddy and soon a virus broke out. Well, duh. Then they were handling food, then eating, blowing their noses in cloth napkins. Never Mexico for us again, never.

 

In the Lido food area, a 220 volt wall socket was loose, out of the wall, bare wires showing, ready to zap someone, dangerous.

 

Kids in pools unsupervised, with diapers, thowing glass that was served to guests in the pools by employees. Bottles and wine glasses, yes, glass. Kids diving, splashing, chasing the adults away.

 

Basically, no supervisors to supervise, kids running around wild.

Captain struts around trying to impress the ladies, he should be looking at what is going on during his strutting etc., instead of all the useless verbiage on his part.

 

Lots of smoke from the tenders, over our balcony. They could tie up the tenders, no wind, no current, tie them while alongside, use a springline, the boat guys are poorly trained, like to sit there, gun the engines, waste gas, create a lot of pollution and noise. Turn them off, idiots!

 

Poor observing by captain and the deck officers. Very Poor!

Zaandam, Nov Dec 2008 Cabo and Loreto.

[Cruisin' Chick]

welcome to CC. You may want to check out the listings of areas as you have posted in the holiday area. If you go back to the main page (where all the forums are listed), you will see the Holland area. That will be a good place to post your review and get feedback.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Oh, and another common mistake newbies make here is to title a thread with their name, rather than with a topic title. for example, a better title for your thread is "Zaandam Nov (date) 2008 Review." Just trying to be helpful.

[Beagle2]

Oh' date=' and another common mistake newbies make here is to title a thread with their name, rather than with a topic title. for example, a better title for your thread is "Zaandam Nov (date) 2008 Review." Just trying to be helpful.[/quote']

 

Thank you for the information. Will try to keep it going. I find some of the path to posting is awkward, will keep working on it.

 

Beagle, note it was Ryndam, my mistake.

[Cruisin' Chick]

click on this link:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=171

[mnport]

Worst review ever, guess I will cancel my Ryndam sailing for April.

[tompeter]

I voted for "Hello again"...Hope this helps.:eek:

[Bobs cruising]

Worst review ever, guess I will cancel my Ryndam sailing for April.

 

Why cancel when one person makes a bad review. The majority of reviews I have read about the Ryndam Sea of Cortez are very favorable.

We are going in Feb. and plan on having a wonderful time. If by chance I see any of the OPs complaints, I will make sure the Hotel Manager and security are notified and the problems resolved. Thats the way I handle problems. :cool:

[mnport]

Bob is right, I have been planning this cruise for a long time and I am sure I will enjoy. My friends on my last cruise said I was easy to please so maybe I am not so critical to let a few things get in the way of a good time. This will be my first as a solo so maybe I'm a little apprehensive.

[Nutrioso]

So which ship was Beagle2 on? Ryndam or Veendam?

[MightyQuinn]

Bob is right, I have been planning this cruise for a long time and I am sure I will enjoy. My friends on my last cruise said I was easy to please so maybe I am not so critical to let a few things get in the way of a good time. This will be my first as a solo so maybe I'm a little apprehensive.

Here's another review of the Ryndam Sea of Cortez from Nov/08 that provides quite a different perspective to the OP. Enjoy! :):)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=884027

[Beagle2]

Hi, my error, sorry. It was the Ryndam.

 

 

Hope it is better for you. Or, maybe if you don't look at the stuff and maybe it will just be better. Who knows?

 

 

Good luck. :)

 

 

Beagle2;)

[Copper10-8]

Had a good flight from SF to SD and embarcation was good. Clean ship mostly. Good food, very.:)

 

OK, woman employee in white uniform had two real bratty kids, crawling around the dining area, on our shoes, under tables. She thought it was cute. They ran the deck like monkeys.

In Pueto Vallarta, they allowed locals on board, in the public restrooms they did not wash hands, they did not use the sanitizing, they were scuddy and soon a virus broke out. Well, duh. Then they were handling food, then eating, blowing their noses in cloth napkins. Never Mexico for us again, never.

 

In the Lido food area, a 220 volt wall socket was loose, out of the wall, bare wires showing, ready to zap someone, dangerous.

 

Kids in pools unsupervised, with diapers, thowing glass that was served to guests in the pools by employees. Bottles and wine glasses, yes, glass. Kids diving, splashing, chasing the adults away.

 

Basically, no supervisors to supervise, kids running around wild.

Captain struts around trying to impress the ladies, he should be looking at what is going on during his strutting etc., instead of all the useless verbiage on his part.

 

Lots of smoke from the tenders, over our balcony. They could tie up the tenders, no wind, no current, tie them while alongside, use a springline, the boat guys are poorly trained, like to sit there, gun the engines, waste gas, create a lot of pollution and noise. Turn them off, idiots!

 

Poor observing by captain and the deck officers. Very Poor!

Zaandam, Nov Dec 2008 Cabo and Loreto.

 

Awwwwwrighty then; hey thanks! Now that we know everything you didn't like on the ship, on your cruise and went wrong in general, whatdayathink? Were there any positives or did you just throw all your money in the Sea of Cortez?

 

Worst review ever, guess I will cancel my Ryndam sailing for April.

 

 

Good one! Bet ya you had some folks going with that one!

[Copper10-8]

Oh and my elevator, at times, doesn't go all the way to the top floor (like tonight) Embarrassed to say, I didn't get the poll unless, of course, you're Lionell Richie with or without the Commodores in disguise

[Nancyquilts]

Sorry you had a bad cruise. We had just the opposite experience - we thought everything was great - few people used the aft pool, so doing laps was easy. We had very few children, and they were well-behaved. This cruise exceeded my expectations, even with a Code Red for the first 4 days.

[ekerr19]

Basically, no supervisors to supervise, kids running around wild.

 

We call these "supervisors" their parents ... we always supervise our children on board. There are no pool "babysitters".

 

Captain struts around trying to impress the ladies, he should be looking at what is going on during his strutting etc., instead of all the useless verbiage on his part.

 

Please explain - what does this mean? What "useless verbiage" and how does it relate to "strutting around" ? You lost me here....

[Ine]

We sailed the Ryndam sea of Cortez on November 1 2008.

We loved the ship and the itinary, didnot have any problems either with food, kids, crew, local people etc.

On the contrary we had very nice co-passengers and have talked to many charming mexicans....

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

I didn't vote -- really didn't see anything to vote on.

We have sailed quite a bit on the Ryndam -- including the Sea of Cortez -- Mexican Riviera -- and over Thanksgiving.

Love the ship.

Sorry you had such a bad experience.

[May4]

Hummmm........I don't know what to say to the OP, except, maybe, d-a-n-g.......

 

I'll vote for hello again.:p

Curiously this choice is the most popular, I see.

[Beagle2]

As I said originally, the food was good, very good, the ship was mostly clean and the rooms were very nice. Give those items a 10 for sure. :) Balcony was nice except for the boat guys, shuttles revving the engines, pollution galore to our balcony and room, no need for this because they could shut down on the 30+ minute wait to load. No currents, no wind, so tying the bow to the landing and gunning the engine does nothing but show the ship officers are not doing their job of training. Noise pollution and waste of fuel. My mention of the captain was this: He would get on the mike with his very loud voice and max volume and go on and on with useless information. One of the persons on stage with the mike mentioned that the captain is not aware that there is a short sentence available for anything. People would cover their ears when he came on the PA system.

 

He would strut around the Lido and other eating areas and dilly dally a lot, mostly to try to "throw his charm" on the ladies, especially the more attractive ones.

 

On the pool, lack of supervision, that includes parents and the employees, not doing their job, that of course can happen on any ship. Bottles and wine glasses. The pools had to be shut down a lot, mostly I think from either broken glass or the virus, the officer in charge of deck would not answer my questions about it and was VERY irritated that I asked why the pools were shut down.

Overall, the ship was nice, we would give it a 7.5 but not as good as some Princess Ships we have been on and not even in the ballpark with Regent Cruises. Now, Regent, there is a real cruise line.

 

Mexico, we do not care for. Some cruisers must really be hurting for finding a tour, to go on the Copper Canyon trip. Leave at 4 am. 3 hours on a bus, then 6 hours on a train, that is one way. So 6+ hours of bussing, then 12 hours of train. And, before they got on the train, the employees had to go there first and "sanititize" the train. There is a message there folks. Some returned at about 10 pm. :rolleyes: To go see a big ditch in the desert? :eek:

[Ine]

Although we opted not to do the Copper Canyon tour, I think it is up to each person himself to make the decision to go or not to go on this long Canyon tour.

So I donot understand your remarks about this. Unless you were asked to pay for them :)

 

Also by doing some research/reading about Mexico and various ports before booking this cruise to Mexico , maybe you would have been more preprared what to do or not to do. (even maybe choose another itinary).

[Beagle2]

You are 100 percent right. It is up to the person to make their own decisions on something like Copper Canyon. We are supposed to be able to list our opinions. That is what we did here, and a lot of people on board thought it was a dismal trip. On Mexico, yes, we should not have gone, have gone before and probably will not go again. We did like the ship, the food and the cabin. There is no perfect trip for sure. ]

 

OUr input was just input. So, we hope you enjoy all your travels and I hope this clears up some items for you. Did not mean to offend anyone, I am a put the cards on the table, that works best for me. We have many friends who you cannot give them a trip to Mexico for any place, any time.

 

Have fun on your travels. Good luck and Happy Holidays.

 

Beagle2, and wife:)

[HWH]

Worst review ever, guess I will cancel my Ryndam sailing for April.

 

Your irony was too subtle for some, I fear.:)

[Beagle2]

Hi Cruisers: As stated earlier. We travel light, do not go to formal night. Formal night we eat in the cabin. It works and we do not have to take all the extra clothes.

We each take a small (20") carry on, never check baggage and when we get off, we leave some shoes and clothes, the crew guys are very poor, they can use anything we leave and it cuts down on luggage going home. Never, ever have checked luggage and are the first off the ship. We take some clothes that we are not really fond of or older stuff. It works for sure.

Scared of virus etc.? OK, first time in the cabin, use hot soap and water on a washrag, then do all the doorknobs, the phone, all things handled by anyone. Every time, again, EVERY TIME we go out of the room, we wash up, good with soap and hot water, every time, we come in from anywhere, we wash up. Do it and see the difference. This stuff floating around the ships is from JOE slob not washing his/her hands, try it and you will see. The protection is there. Do not use the public restrooms, gads, do not!!!!

Beagle2

[brucory]

Hi Cruisers: As stated earlier. We travel light, do not go to formal night. Formal night we eat in the cabin. It works and we do not have to take all the extra clothes.

We each take a small (20") carry on, never check baggage and when we get off, we leave some shoes and clothes, the crew guys are very poor, they can use anything we leave and it cuts down on luggage going home. Never, ever have checked luggage and are the first off the ship. We take some clothes that we are not really fond of or older stuff. It works for sure.

Scared of virus etc.? OK, first time in the cabin, use hot soap and water on a washrag, then do all the doorknobs, the phone, all things handled by anyone. Every time, again, EVERY TIME we go out of the room, we wash up, good with soap and hot water, every time, we come in from anywhere, we wash up. Do it and see the difference. This stuff floating around the ships is from JOE slob not washing his/her hands, try it and you will see. The protection is there. Do not use the public restrooms, gads, do not!!!!

Beagle2

 

I am sure the crew would have been delighted to have your bits and pieces left behind...

 

:D:D:D