Return from Ryndam 10/30-11/6-Review

[Bunny2]

Thank you so much for the horse info...I didn't like that it was a long shore excursion. Maybe we will just go to the Office and drink our day away!!

[Gr8Mariner]

I have to echo most of the comments from tjcletsgo...

 

This cruise was a disappointment.

 

I don't know if the service decline has to do with the change from "No Tipping Required" to the mandatory fee, but the friendliness and attentiveness was markedly less than usual on HAL.

 

A few other notes...

 

LIDO opened late on the first day, so lines were long at the getgo.

 

Room service was never puntual and we once ordered one bottle of Mumm champagne and got two bottles of Dom Perignon (at six times the price, they WERE returned).

 

Food was adequate. Pinnacles was great (twice) except that the creme brulee was...uh...icky.

 

Took forever for luggage to arrive, even in the PS.

 

Didn't have a phone when we arrived. Never had water in the sink in the half-bath.

 

Yes, waiting to change table assignments was a zoo. We had four couples at our table but not according to the dining assignment cards. When I finally got in, we were all on the list together...at the wrong time. But they remedied it by the next day.

 

The Hotel Manager and F&B Manager were terrific, but I wouldn't book this ship again. Too many out there to take a chance.

[shipcafe]

ShipCafe <--- Going with completely open mind !!

[john2003]

Had very mixed feelings about this review. Went to Antarctica in 2001 on the Ryndam and she became our favourite HAL ship. The Crows Nest was a great asset. Interestingly we were in PV just a few days ago on the NCL Star and walked by the Ryndam. We chose the Star for the 8 day itinerary, and as we had our adult daughters along, the more relaxed/festive atmosphere.

 

Enjoyed NCL but not as much as the "old" HAL. Not quite sure about the "new" HAL. It will be interesting to see if HAL can stablize a product given their current approach to delivery. I think that they are more interested in stooping down than stretching up which is not a good sign.

 

Did a one night Seattle/Vancouver cruise on the Oosterdam to see if we liked the Vista class. I am afraid we didn't. We loved the aft balcony stateroom but the dinner and entertainment were not memorable. I even preferred the Volendam as a ship. We are trying the Insignia in March and contemplating Celebrity in 2006 so I will continue to review the HAL comments with interest.

[Sail With Me]

ShipCafe <--- Going with completely open mind !!

 

Us too!!

[tjcletsgo]

Gr8mariner,

 

I'm so glad you finally posted; I was beginning to think my comments were out of line. So many people here think "that COULDN'T have happened on MY ship", but, I'm here to tell you, IT DID! Did you also have Roland as your room steward? And the weather on Friday, did you hear all the banging and booms from that ship? People in the shops said it was the elevator doors banging but a pax said it was the ceiling in the Lido that kept coming loose. Now, HAL can't help the weather, but the traveling board said the swells were only up to 4 feet. That was quite a ride for 4 ft. swells, in my opinion!

 

What did you think of the "new" Crow's Nest? Please post an in depth review of your trip!

 

Janie:o

[dakrewser]

I'm so glad you finally posted; I was beginning to think my comments were out of line. So many people here think "that COULDN'T have happened on MY ship"

Janie:o

Where did you get that idea???

 

In the first 40 messages in this thread, a number of different people commented on your review. Not one suggested you were exagerating, stretching the truth, etc.:

**************

Elmorejj - "Very interesting so far"

LAFFNVEGAS - "you have me sitting on the end of my seat anxious for the rest"

CanSail - "Great review so far"

dakrewser (me) - "There appears to be a definite lack of quality control"

OCruisers - "THANK YOU! We've enjoying reading both the good and the bad"

Gizmo - "Thanks for taking the time to write your review. I enjoyed reading it."

Sabaka - "enjoing reading the good and bad "

Ziggy7 - "Thank You for sharing the good and bad"

TomC - "Thanks for the thorough review -- taken as given "

Kruzkeen - "Thank you Janie for your up-front assessment of the SOE Ryndam"

atseadaze - "Thanks for your assessment of the Ryndam"

Randyk47 - "Hopefully this is all just shakedown from her renovations and things will sort themselves out"

************

So where do you get the idea that people were in denial?

 

-dave

 

PS - this isn't a particular attack or flame on you, I'm really interested in how you formed that impression since it seems to be being formed by a number of different folks recently.

[tjcletsgo]

Dakrewser,

 

 

You're right, of course, it's just a general feeling I get from these boards. I'm a new poster, so people have a tendancy to discount a newbie's opinion until the poster has been around for awhile. I was beginning to think I am a picky traveler, however, my companions on this cruise felt the same way.

 

Gr8mariner has been on dozens and dozens of cruises, so I am very glad to have most of my experiences "validated" by someone so experienced. I, myself, have only been on three cruises, so I'm not an experienced cruiser, to say the least.

 

Sorry if I mispoke, on my previous posting..........

 

Janie:o

[dakrewser]

You're right, of course, it's just a general feeling I get from these boards. I'm a new poster, so people have a tendancy to discount a newbie's opinion until the poster has been around for awhile.

Well, imagine that you're seated in a pub (or coffee house) which you visit every day. There are people you chat with frequently as well as a changing cast of newcomers and occasional visitors. Whenever a newcomer drops into the conversation, they aren't treated the same as the folks you always see. It's simply human nature, I think. There's no slight intended, I'm sure. But we all do tend to be a bit more reserved with folks we've only just met.

 

Still, after the great effort you've put into this thread, I do feel that I know you better, that I understand your tastes and see "where you're coming from", as we used to say back in the day.

 

You've made, I think, an excellent contribution to these boards. (but, hey, what do I know. :rolleyes: )

Bravo!

 

-dave

[HeatherInFlorida]

Janie, I echo Dave's sentiments that your careful review of your cruise should be commended. I enjoyed reading it because you added so much humor to even the things that annoyed you. That tells me something about you and as a result I felt that you were giving us a very fair and credible appraisal of your experience.

 

Many of the comments made about the service are particularly interesting to me because here we were all the way over in the Caribbean on the Oosterdam last week and got the same general sense about the crew ... not that they were "bad", but their hearts just didn't seem to be in it and they just didn't seem happy (with the exception of the Yum Yum man who was always happy:D) .

 

We did not, however, have any of the problems you describe with the ship itself and I can't help but wonder about messing with a ship. By that I mean taking it apart, adding things and then putting it all back together. I just think it's a bad idea and that from a structural standpoint I would think it can cause many problems (this observation from my vast engineering background;) ).

 

Anyway, many thanks for this review. I enjoyed reading it and really appreciate your taking the time to write it.

[DonMaryCar]

Just back from our two weeks on the Ryndam and had a terrific time. We did talk with several of the officers and they said things were getting back to normal now they had lots of little problems after their 21 days of 18 - 20 hour work days during dry dock.

 

Maybe we were just lucky but can only come up with a few problems and compared to the great things they seem pretty small. We got our 50 day pins and this was the best cruise we have had on HAL. We were celebrating our anniversary and my 50th birthday so did receive some extra perks. We were assigned table A main seating at 8 pm then even had the honor of having dinner at the first officers table. We really got into the activities this week too, took part in Great Pretenders show, hubby was Tom Cruise (I was just a back up singer for Aretha Franklin) he also was Mr. Ryndam.

 

We ran into Lisa several times and had a great vist. We were fortunate with good weather and fun port activities. Overall the ship is in great shape, did notice a little tape holding things in place that was attributed to the new tile.

Several of the workmen were just getting off ship in San Diego as they had still been completing some work on ship so maybe that was causing more trouble than we thought.

 

Food was good but I must agree it wasn't outstanding, however I must admit to a 5 pound weight gain in the two week period so must not have been too bad. The maitre D said that Dutch Night had been replaced with just some dutch items added to menu as HAL had decided to forego the hats and other menu. They were worried about this Thanksgiving week as they had 1400 passengers booked and 200 of them were children so were having to open up the Queens Room to accomodate all the passengers.

 

We had a inside cabin so I can't comment on the suites and the Neptune Lounge but would recommend this trip and ship to anyone. If anybody has any questions I'd be happy to try to answer them.

 

Lisa is planning to write a complete diary type history so I'm sure she will have lots more information to share but wanted to allay some fears out there.

 

Mary:)

[Sail With Me]

Thanks for your views of the Ryndam. We are sailing on Saturday and are so pleased to read that you had a wonderful vacation. Happy belated birthday and anniversary. We were on the Ryndam for lunch this past Saturday and things seemed wonderful once again, so we are very excited aout our voyage.

 

Congratulations as well on celebrating your 50 days. We wish you many more wonderful HAL celebrations.

 

Karen and Bob