Ryndam -- where are the recent reviews

[papadave]

On the main cruise critic page there are 10 member reviews for the combined months of March and April, but only 2 member reviews for the months of May and June on the current itinerary. I would appreciate it if folks who have been on the Ryndam in May or June would post reviews on the cruise critic site.

[brucory]

On the main cruise critic page there are 10 member reviews for the combined months of March and April, but only 2 member reviews for the months of May and June on the current itinerary. I would appreciate it if folks who have been on the Ryndam in May or June would post reviews on the cruise critic site.

 

I like reviews too,and certainly appreciate it when people share their experience...

 

I have been looking for reviews of the Prinsendam and they are even harder to find... The people on there are having way too much fun to report back - at least that is how I like to think it is...

 

:D:D:D

[Kate 1]

Papa dave I was thinking the exact same thing!!! Kate

[CowPrincess]

Okay, I'll do a review :D Didn't think anyone would want one as this was my 3rd trip on the Ryndam in 12 months, so my impressions of the ship really haven't changed much .... Is there anything in particular you want to know about?

 

I dropped $20 in the casino, didn't see any of the shows, didn't make it to any of the movies, disliked "open" dining, thought the food was good overall, was happy we weren't in Code Red. Never had to wait for a table in open dining as long as we were prepared to sit with others.

 

Had an annoying vibration in my cabin that disappeared sometime during the first night out of port. Had the best cabin stewards I've EVER had. Didn't do any of the "organized" activities onboard except for the "singles & solos lunch", which was well-attended (about 30 people, 29 women and 1 man). The main dining room was open for lunch on embarkation day. There were trays in the Lido. Room service was fast, accurate, and the correct temperature.

 

Except for the vibration my cabin was in good repair. Internet was slow; the laundry rooms always seemed to have available machines.

 

Knew we had "issues" docking in Skagway, as my cabin was above one of the thrusters. Also, apparently was above the place where the tug boat was going "boof, boof, boof" against the ship at some point around 8 a.m. We didn't get as close to the Margery Glacier in Glacier Bay this year as we did last year.

 

This was my 5th trip to Alaska (and I was on a strict budget this year), so didn't do any shore ex thru the ship -- just wandered and did my own thing. Had a crab leg at Tracy's Crab Shack in Juneau (yummy), went to the Totem Heritage Center and Creek Street in Ketchikan, did a bit of walking outside of Skagway. PLEASE do your best to shop at locally-owned shops -- all the people I spoke with in the stores were saying that the season is REALLY slow, with very few items being purchased. Had lunch at Skagway Fish Company -- the best shrimp I've ever eaten!

 

There'd been elevator problems on the repo cruise, most of those had been rectified when I was onboard. One elevator remained out of service for the entire trip.

 

People were actually using both the Lido and aft pools. Fabulous weather, calm seas. I'd do the trip again in a heartbeat, and am hoping I can convince DH to do it this year.

 

Embarkation was for most people a nightmare, with the terminal chock-full of embarking and disembarking pax. I got onboard easily (good luck, not good management) with virtually no wait. Disembarkation was a breeze.

[cdkempton]

Thanks for the review Cowprincess. Much appreciated.

Happy Sails!

[papadave]

Was there any dining room food which you think others must try or msut avoid. I understand that most dining room food is good, but there are usually a couple of real hits or misses.

[CowPrincess]

In the main dining room, I had duck one evening that was IMHO undercooked, I wouldn't order it again. Had a chilled pear + cherry soup one night in the dining room that was very good. Jumbo shrimp cocktail was good. I had salmon twice, can't remember the details, and it was done very well. We ate 2 x in the Pinnacle -- filet, lobster, steak Diane were all excellent.

 

Didn't see baked brie on the menu this time, which I regretted, but it may have been on one of the nights we were in the Pinnacle. If it IS on the menu, I highly recommend it!

 

The food in the main dining room is a victim of cost-cutting, but it is well-prepared. Seriously, nothing stands out as "ohmigoodness" great but nothing was repulsive, either :)

[geshaw30]

Our daily Ryndam blog & review here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=981580&highlight=

 

Pictures to go with blog here:

http://community.webshots.com/album/...host=community

 

the "reviews" are mixed in there amongst the ramblings

[papadave]

I saw one review added for the month of June. Thanks. It is better than nothing.

 

Still, with thousands of people traveling, doesn't anyone have the time to post another review?

[ekkc10753]

I posted one here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1016267&highlight=ekkc10753

maybe that was the wrong place?

[dlopiccolo]

We are heading North on the Raynam August 15th, I just read your trip post and I REALLY appreciate your details. I am SO excited. Curious, What was your favorite local souvenir and what kinds of gifts did you bring for your crew members?

[ekkc10753]

In Ft Wm H Seward I went straight up the hill directly across from the dock to the Wild Iris, an art gallery gift shop, owned by the former Mayor. There I got a small print of a raven on handcrafted paper.

 

In Haines itself on 2nd street between Main and Mission there's a really great local store with lots of carvings (I bought a whale vertebra with two small seals swimming---the mammoth ivory and bone carvings are my favorite things)

 

I cannot find my HAL handout for Ketchikan, but it mentions a couple of locally owned stores, I went to them but I didn't find anything that I liked, but in that same general area, there're two other stores (one looks like a pawn shop from the front) not mentioned in the flyer that had really nice carvings (I bought a seabird made from mammoth ivory).

 

In Juneau, in a needle work shop on the second floor on Franklin street (? the main shopping street) I bought 2 counted cross stitch charts (an orca and a salmon)

 

Sitka has some of the most beautiful carvings, wood, bone, ivory and then there's glass work and photographs. The further up the hill you go, the more interesting it is.

 

If you are going to Denali, the Alaska Geographic Society has a great book/gift store by the visitirs center. Got a cookbook collection of Alaskan recipes (now I can make my own Beef Jerky:p)

 

And finally in Fairbanks I found Birch Syrup which I'd been casually looking for the whole time in a shop run by a woman who came up from Mississippi years ago. She makes rag rugs and sells them and the store is called something like Rag Bag, Scrap Rags, Rug Scraps ...something like that but it's marked on the map that you can get from the HAL people at the Westmark.

 

For the crew members, I got fuzzy topped pens with funny faces, some kitty-cats, a two of those "thank you for all you do" mini posters..all Hallmark stuff. I also brought along a bag of Goldenberg's Peanut Chews (a local Philadelphia candy) and handed them out like, well, candy (always left two for the room steward every night so we could swap candies

 

You are going to have a great time and I'm ready to do it again as soon as possible

[dlopiccolo]

Thanks for the great ideas. Much appreciated.

[Debbie&Chaz]

We were still on the Ryndam on June 17th when this thread was started, so I missed it. We drove home, and took almost 2 weeks, but I did post a review a few days ago.

 

As far as the dining room - DWs favorite was creme brulle, DSs favorite was the 10 oz steak, and mine was the chilled soups. We did eat in the Pinnacle a couple of times. It is well worth the price, both in service and quality of food. The 10 oz filet is probably the best I've had, it was so good that I also ordered the same thing on the second visit. DS had two of the shrimp cocktails on one visit, so I guess that would be his favorite. They got a real kick out of a 10 yo who graciously engoyed the shrimp, steak and chocolate soufffle.

[GCHAN]

We were also still on the Ryndam when this thread started and have only just arrived home.

 

The cruise was fantastic. We thought the staff were happy and went out of their way to be approachable and helpful.

 

The food was very good in the Dining Room and Lido. We also went to the Pinnacle Grill and enjoyed the experience(the food was very good).

 

We took part in a lot of the onboard events including the events for Dam dollars and enjoyed it a lot.

 

We were also very impressed with the organisation of embarkation & disembarkation(It was a breeze).

 

If you are going to book dining I would suggest a table no bigger than 6 people as otherwise it is very hard to hear what everybody is saying.