HAL Ryndam sea of cortez 4/4/09 review

[melika091900]

hey everyone, we just got off a great cruiseon the ryndam , it was me, my dh , mom and DD, here is my review

we drove to the port in san diego since we live in northern ca, and we stayed 2 days pre-cruise at days inn seaworld, ok hotel, i liked the area since it was busy and next to walgreens, and a lot of eating places and all kinds of stores, but there was also an empty lot behind the hotel, where alot of homeless sleep,but no one bothered us at all

 

so we parked at the mission brewery parking lot got a coupon online for 7$/day,

they shuttled us to the pier free of charge,, we arrived at the pier around 1130am, walked straight in , registered and we were on our way, very quick check in, we were on the ship in about 15min, rooms were ready at 2p, so we went up to the lido deck to eat,

 

room was nice , comfortable, GREAT LOCATION, it was an inside room on the lower promenade deck, nice beds, great flat panel TVs and i was happy there was a DVD player, the only thing i didnt like there was no refridgerator,, but other than that, the room was nice and big,,

 

they ship itself was nice, nice layout, easy since there are only 2 sets of elevators,

and the crew were all very friendly and helpful.. we loved eating in the buffet everynight to see nunu, he was a riot!!!

 

the only negative was dining in the main dining room, we had traditional dining, 8p,

we went there the 1st 2 nights and that was it, the service was real bad,

our waiter had about 8 tables, and it was SLOW unorganized and bad, so we ate at the buffet each night and it was good, !! a lot of choices and good food !!

 

the swimming pool for everyone midship was real dirty, they never drained it, and there was always food in it, and it was just yucky, we went in it once that was it..

 

1 deck party and it was fun, nice decor, good food,

great deck barbques, but not alot of food choices,

check times on the program for food, cause other than those times theres nothing, and no room service menu in the room, so that made ordering that a headache !!!

great omlettes in the buffet ,

 

overall i liked holland america, reminded me of celebrity,

celebrity still has the edge but holland america was close, they do alot of things catered to the older crowd though, and not too many activities poolside,

only one other negative, tendering in cabo, what a joke, we waiting for over an hour in the lounge for our number to be called it was very unorganized

 

but overall a great cruise

 

the ports

cabo- pushy pushy vendors, we have been to cabo 5 times, this time was the worse, we went and sat at ate on the pier and then headed back to the ship, we tried to go to cabo dolphins but they were booked full

 

loreto-nothing much there at all, we swam at the beach near the pier was ok, there was a bathroom, nothing else,

the water was ok, not real clear ,

 

La Paz-our new fav port, we took a free shuttle to tecolote beach, absolutley beautiful , clear water white sand, jet skiing, kayaking, swimming, snorkeling, resturants, great area

 

topolobampo- again nothing there!!and it smells there like oil, we did the birds bay and dolphins cruise booked on the ship, nice tour for the price, saw alot of wild dolphins, but other than that, that stop is for people paying 400$ for an 18hr copper canyon tour

 

mazatlan-since we have been there many times, we just got off,went to the pier and shopped and ate lunch

 

puerto vallarta-we did the dolphin encounter at dolphin discovery, absolutley amazing, best thing we have ever done, we all loved it, they even brought a sea lion in with us ..!!!

i hope my review doesnt seem negative, i was just pointing out some things i noticed and saw, and we are easy to please, so by all means, we loved HAL,

and would go again, any cruise is a good cruise, i didnt let anything damper our good times, even getting tonsilitis and having to see the ship dr on the 2nd day !! i just bared with it and hung in there and still had fun ,

disembarking was easy, they were about 45min behind, we were the 2nd group called , and we were off by 930am,

 

overall, i would rank holland america 2, after celebrity, but any cruise is a good cruise, and i dont let anything make it negative or not fun,

we had a great time, its sad to be home!!

any questions please ask away or email me anytime

you can see our pics at

http://travel.webshots.com/album/571084779ewnoAc

[Ine]

Thanks for the report Melikka.

We also sailed Ryndam Sea of Cortez but in November. I think during our sail things were more organised. We had a fantastic waiter and excellent service.

We sometimes switch between HAL and celebrity, depending on the schedule. We like them both very much.

 

Topolobampo is indeed only interesting for those making the traintrip to Copper canyon. For others there is hardly any interesting thing to see or do.

We liked Loreto very much, very authentic. In La Paz we did the tour to Todos Santos and saw little of la Paz.

We liked the itinary of Sea of Cortez very much.

[lstrong]

Hi, I met you on the cruise the first day due to your picture! Your review was very good. Agree that dinning room service was not good. I believe they tried, but just too many tables to service. Often, half of our table was served and the rest waited and waited. Dirty plates left on the table, etc. Again, I do not fault the servers, but HAL for giving them too many tables. Loved the ports and the entertainment was terrific. 2-for-1 cocktails daily a nice plus - gave my family a place to meet up before show and dinner. We had four outside rooms on A-deck. Two of the four had faulty air conditioning which made rooms very HOT. Loved the Ryndam, but not sure I'll want another 10 days in a hot room. Laurie

[Susie51]

Thank you for the review. You have a great attitude and I'm glad the tonsillitis didn't slow you down. We live on the west coast also. I hope it works out for us to do the Sea of Cortes someday.

[CowPrincess]

You had no room service menu in your cabin???? OMG, I'd not have been able to cope. Was there a reason (noro)? Did you ask for one?

 

Glad you found the itin enjoyable -- we loved it too!

[AlbertaCruisers]

the only negative was dining in the main dining room, we had traditional dining, 8p,

we went there the 1st 2 nights and that was it, the service was real bad,

our waiter had about 8 tables, and it was SLOW unorganized and bad, so we ate at the buffet each night and it was good, !! a lot of choices and good food !!

 

It is interesting to see how different service can be. We had the late seating on your cruise as well and we had great service and loved the main dining room and ate there every night (except the night we went to the pinnacle grill).

 

We saw nunu up at the lido during breakfasts, do you think the rolling his "r"s that much was faked? He was a great guy though.

 

I also agree with you, La Paz was my favorite port, it was the highlight.

[twinkletoes4445]

Thanks for the review! We've not done that itinerary and I love reading them and hearing the good and the bad about the ports. One of these days I am sure we'll do that itinerary, and I'll know all there is to know about the ports! :)

[melika091900]

It is interesting to see how different service can be. We had the late seating on your cruise as well and we had great service and loved the main dining room and ate there every night (except the night we went to the pinnacle grill).

 

We saw nunu up at the lido during breakfasts, do you think the rolling his "r"s that much was faked? He was a great guy though.

 

I also agree with you, La Paz was my favorite port, it was the highlight.

 

nunu was funny, it was just funny listening to him , hee heeeee

yeah la paz was great, i want to go back there soon..... and see the town too and then hit the beach ...

[melika091900]

You had no room service menu in your cabin???? OMG, I'd not have been able to cope. Was there a reason (noro)? Did you ask for one?

 

Glad you found the itin enjoyable -- we loved it too!

 

 

i asked our room stewart for one and he said just call room service and every time i did they were like have you called before, and i wanted to know what they had, and they were kinda rude about it,

it was weird, i was thinking if i had a menu to look at it would easy for both of us, but oh well. hee heeeee

[melika091900]

Hi, I met you on the cruise the first day due to your picture! Your review was very good. Agree that dinning room service was not good. I believe they tried, but just too many tables to service. Often, half of our table was served and the rest waited and waited. Dirty plates left on the table, etc. Again, I do not fault the servers, but HAL for giving them too many tables. Loved the ports and the entertainment was terrific. 2-for-1 cocktails daily a nice plus - gave my family a place to meet up before show and dinner. We had four outside rooms on A-deck. Two of the four had faulty air conditioning which made rooms very HOT. Loved the Ryndam, but not sure I'll want another 10 days in a hot room. Laurie

 

hey laurie, sorry about the AC it was hot too, alot of the days,,

yeah it was nice seeing you on board, alot of people recognized us , but i had no idea who people were only because no one else had pics of them selves.. hee heee

its sad to be home,,

i got stopped at customs since we had 10 cartons of cigs !! hahah they searched through all our luggage i was so embarassed, they didnt charge me though,,

 

email me sometime, or send me some pics ..

heres ours

http://travel.webshots.com/album/571084779ewnoAc

[melika091900]

Thanks for the report Melikka.

We also sailed Ryndam Sea of Cortez but in November. I think during our sail things were more organised. We had a fantastic waiter and excellent service.

We sometimes switch between HAL and celebrity, depending on the schedule. We like them both very much.

 

Topolobampo is indeed only interesting for those making the traintrip to Copper canyon. For others there is hardly any interesting thing to see or do.

We liked Loreto very much, very authentic. In La Paz we did the tour to Todos Santos and saw little of la Paz.

We liked the itinary of Sea of Cortez very much.

 

celebrity and hal have been the best in my opinion also..

 

it was funny in topolobampo when the people were coming back from their 18 hr tour all the ships officers were in a line waiting for them in suits and clapping, i thought they were thinking,, here comes everyone who paid 400+ for a tour, that was insane, i could never do a tour that long

[Ine]

celebrity and hal have been the best in my opinion also..

 

it was funny in topolobampo when the people were coming back from their 18 hr tour all the ships officers were in a line waiting for them in suits and clapping, i thought they were thinking,, here comes everyone who paid 400+ for a tour, that was insane, i could never do a tour that long

 

Not only is that tour expensive and very long, but going out and back is the same route. Apart from that people have to travel a few hours in the dark.

We heard very mixed reports about the copper canyon trip.

I hope to do it one day but with a tour that lasts a few days.

[GeriatricNurse]

]i asked our room stewart for one and he[/b] said just call room service and every time i did they were like have you called before' date=' and i wanted to know what they had, and they were kinda rude about it,

it was weird, i was thinking if i had a menu to look at it would easy for both of us, but oh well. hee heeeee[/quote']

 

 

It was the responsibility of the room steward to supply your stateroom with a Room Service Menu! If he indicated to you to "just call room service" ?for a menu then he was NOT doing part of his duties!

[melika091900]

It was the responsibility of the room steward to supply your stateroom with a Room Service Menu! If he indicated to you to "just call room service" ?for a menu then he was NOT doing part of his duties!

 

 

i know it was weird, i thought it was odd... im thinking its just a piece of paper,, hee heeee

 

they seemed to try to conserve everything and not waste anything, which i dont blame them, but sometimes its annoying,

they also ran out of beach towels, so no towels in the 1st 2 ports , it was bad..........

[garydm]

We were on this same cruise. We had a room service menu but the one time I wanted room service, the line was busy for over an hour so I just headed to the Lido.

 

We had AYWD and our service in the dining room was excellent for all but the last night.

 

 

Gary

[CowPrincess]

So what I'm hearing is the same "unevenness" that HALFans experienced on their cruise (a couple of cruises before you folks, I think).

 

Bummer about the room service menu, TRULY -- if the pages were missing from the binder (???) (can't remember exactly!), those pages should have been replaced. I wonder what else experienced HAL cruisers might have noticed as "missing", that you didn't because you didn't know what to expect.

[garydm]

Melika-I noticed them giving you the close scrutiny at immigration. Were you even asked for a passport or photo ID of any kind at disembarkation? We were not and I was a bit surprised.

 

We were at the third palapa down from you at Tecolote. Admired your courage in going in that none too warm water!

 

Gary

[cruz chic]

Not only is that tour expensive and very long, but going out and back is the same route. Apart from that people have to travel a few hours in the dark.

We heard very mixed reports about the copper canyon trip.

I hope to do it one day but with a tour that lasts a few days.

I did that tour and it was very long and I would never do it again. You would be wise to do it over a couple of days.

[melika091900]

Melika-I noticed them giving you the close scrutiny at immigration. Were you even asked for a passport or photo ID of any kind at disembarkation? We were not and I was a bit surprised.

 

We were at the third palapa down from you at Tecolote. Admired your courage in going in that none too warm water!

 

Gary

 

OMG you saw them hassling us getting off the ship, how embarassing !!! they were looking through all our luggage, they must have thought they saw something, and they were also questioning all my moms med she had packed,, and my 10 cartons of cigarettes, but they didnt charge me duty and they were nice about it, it was just a pain in the you know what,

wasnt tecolote nice!! we loved it, post your pic so i can see who you are...

 

i think my husband remembers talking to you on the beach... were you next to the big group with alot of kids?

[melika091900]

Melika-I noticed them giving you the close scrutiny at immigration. Were you even asked for a passport or photo ID of any kind at disembarkation? We were not and I was a bit surprised.

 

We were at the third palapa down from you at Tecolote. Admired your courage in going in that none too warm water!

 

Gary

 

 

were you the raiders fan at the buffet? im still trying to picture you, im sorry so many people recognized me on there and i didnt recognize anyone at all... heeheee

[caltnl]

My DW and I enjoyed the cruise very much.

 

Our Dining Room steward Pandu was very good and he and his assistant took very good care of us at the first seating. I only missed the Copper Canyon night and DW was there every nite.

 

DW had Room Service for Breakfast every morning while I went up to the Lido.

 

I enjoyed the Copper Canyon trip very much. It is a long day but is worth time to see in my humble opinion.

 

Would rather still be on the Ryndam instead of here at home.

[garydm]

Melika-yes, we were on the opposite side from you of the two families with all the kids. I think your husband spoke to my wife but I am not sure.

 

Gary

[sbn cruisers]

Hi, I met you on the cruise the first day due to your picture! Your review was very good. Agree that dinning room service was not good. I believe they tried, but just too many tables to service. Often, half of our table was served and the rest waited and waited. Dirty plates left on the table, etc. Again, I do not fault the servers, but HAL for giving them too many tables. Loved the ports and the entertainment was terrific. 2-for-1 cocktails daily a nice plus - gave my family a place to meet up before show and dinner. We had four outside rooms on A-deck. Two of the four had faulty air conditioning which made rooms very HOT. Loved the Ryndam, but not sure I'll want another 10 days in a hot room. Laurie

 

We're on the Ryndam next week in Room 728. Was that one you were in with faulty air conditioning???? :confused: Also curious about the 2 for 1 drinks, can you or others share details? Thanks so much. Great to see everyone's honest feedback about this iten. and the ship.

 

Ariann

[Spanky My]

Every Day between 4:30 PM and and 5:30 Pm they had this special in the Crows nest lounge and the Ocean bar any drink 2 for 1...Hope that answers your question...Spanky