Pluses and Minuses on the Ryndam Cruise

[musicgirl5995]

Well, we did our first cruise, May 15th to Alaska on the Ryndam. The journey through the Cruise Ship terminal here in Vancouver was quick and uneventful, we made it on to the ship in no time at all. We were told to go to the Lido deck to eat and they would announce the availability of the cabins.

We encountered a very nice waiter from the Bar on the Lido deck who talked us into two buckets of beer, which were on special, because we could put the rest in our fridge in our room. When we were done eating I asked the bartender if he could arrange to have someone help us to our room because of our carry on and the two buckets with beer, he said no we are too busy to help you. I was appalled at the rudeness and decided if this was how things would carry on for the rest of the cruise I was not going to be happy. I found the manager cleaning tables and told him of my problem, let me tell you he had someone there to carry those buckets of beer immediately. That young man got a tip from me for the much appreciated help.:)

Our guaranteed dining for early seating at a table for 6 disappeared and we were relegated to the as you wish dining. I decided that would be okay and didn't complain. We had no problem getting a reservation each day for the time we wanted, some days a table for two other days for four or six.

The food was good, not as exceptional as I had expected it to be and the service varied from table to table depending on which steward we had waiting on us. I am not a fan of the buffet I would rather sit and order a meal so we always ate dinner in the dining room.

We did venture to the Lido buffet for lunch one day, I was chastised for holding up the line while I stood waiting for the pasta attendant to return to his station, a full 5 minutes or longer we waited, and when I told people to just wander around us if they did not want pasta they seemed quite annoyed at me :confused:... I thought I was being kind to them, but I guess they don't get the concept of moving ahead and not having to wait for each and every station. I found the staff in the Lido mostly nice with the exception of 2, one being the ice cream attendant who was actually quite rude. He got singled out on my comment card at the end.

We had room service breakfast every day and the food was adequate, on time and well presented with a few minor errors. The only day I was unhappy was the day they sent my cream cheese and forgot my bagel, as that was all I had ordered to eat I sat and watched my hubby eat while I waited half an hour for them to bring my bagel

The entertainment on the ship was very enjoyable and they had lots of activities, some of course overlapped and were always the ones I wanted to do but better to have too many choices than not enough!!:p

We had taken an upsell to a balcony room and I am so glad we did, we had wonderful weather and it was fabulous to be able to watch everything from our own private balcony and to be able to take pictures whenever I wanted to, even in my jammies:o

I thought the cruise director, Matt was great and I was very impressed with Captain Rowden, he was always pleasant and informative and I enjoyed his daily trivia too.

The highlights of the cruise for me were the dinner in the Pinnacle Grill (apparently we missed the Master Chef dinner the night we went to the Pinnacle but I gather we weren't missing much!) and the Skagway train trip because it was a fabulously beautiful day.

The ship itself is definitely in need of some upgrading, I thought the bathroom in our cabin especially needed a makeover, but all in all I found the ship to be in good shape, a really nice size of ship and on the whole the trip was a wonderful experience.

Before we left I had asked about using my CPAP machine and some of you helped me out with that, I took my own extension cords and we made out just fine.

I really miss my towel animal zoo... and our wonderful cabin stewards ....but my cat seems quite happy to lay on the bed waiting for us at night and until the next cruise she will be the only animal on the bed ... I don't think I will ever figure out that art form!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome home from your first cruise. Glad you enjoyed Alaska.

Know what you mean - I hate it when we have to decide between 2 activities that we like when they are at the same time.

We have done that Skagway train ride 3 times and love it.

So when is your next cruise and to where?

Thank you for taking the time to write your report.

[debshomespun]

Thanks for taking the time to write of your experience on the Ryndam. We had a lovely 30 night cruise on her back in Jan. I do miss her so! :D

 

Welcome to the world of cruising. Are you hooked now? :eek: :eek:

[musicgirl5995]

If only I could predict when the next cruise would be ... Hubby is ready to leave again right away! ...alas, work calls. :mad:

We are hoping maybe in 2011 we could do the Panama Canal as next year we have family committments.

While there were ups and downs, I just took the downs in stride as they were minor and thoroughly enjoyed the cruise!