On board the Ryndam

I am happy to report that Meg, Cerinda and I are aboard the beautiful Ryndam. The weather is beautiful, and the seas could not be more calm, and Cerinda spotted an orca this morning, so the rest of us are keeping a watchful eye. Explorations is beautiful and very functional. It works very well, and has not had a feeling of being over crowded at all. Yes, there were a few plumbing problems, but they have for the most part been resolved. We have one more sea day, and then our first port. Tonight is our first formal night. I will check back tomorrow, and I will be happy to answer any question.

Good to hear from you. Hope the rest of your cruise is fantastic.

We just got off the Ryndam yesterday. We found nothing wrong with the ship. Everything worked great. No plumbing problems in our area. It was a great 10 days. I have nothing bad to say about anything. It was a perfect cruise.

Sage, thanks for the real-time reports! We sail her in less than a month and your reports are getting me very excited. :)

Thanks for posting from aboard, Sage. It is always fun to hear from cc'ers when on the ships.

Hope you have a wonderful time.

Hi Sage,

Good to hear from you!!! Glad your having a good time! Enjoy your cruise and especially dinner tonight :)

We also just got off Ryndam yesterday.No problems at all. Loved the Explorations area. Most of the cruise the weather was cool.

I didn't get a chance to meet the others on the cruise, Bill Haha and Cauvet. If either of you went to great Pretenders, I was Leslie Gore.

We had three in a verandah cabin, which I was concerned about, but we fit, and the sofa bed opened to a twin which was lengthwise. We had to buy an egg crate mattress in Puerto Vallarta for the sofa bed.

Sage! So nice of you to post and remember poor us back here on land:) . Keep enjoying yourself and when you come home we'll look forward to hearing all about it!

Thanks for posting while on ship. It always makes me feel like I'm on there too.:D

Leslie Gore--were you the tall Blond gal with the dark haired daughter? I remember commenting that Leslie Gore was from somewhere close to where I grew up in NJ and the song is really from the 60's. You know, I think we all ran into each other a million times but didn't know it.

Sage, glad to hear you are have a good cruise. We had lovely weather and so should you.

Today is our second sea day, and I'm happy to report that all plumbing problems have been corrected. They were very attentive with the plumbing problems, and seemed to work late into the night to correct them. If affected an area of the ship from the top to the bottom, but all is now well. This seems to be a very happy ship, and we are having a great time. There are about 100 children and teens aboard, and they have been very well behaved. They also seem to enjoy their private area, the Oasis. I am also happy to report that there are some exciting things in the shops. Fendi is back as well as Prada, or maybe they just have these things on the West Coast cruises. We have a silver jewelry designer on the ship, and she will have a special showing tonight. Last night was the first formal night, and I have never seen so many in tuxes and the women looked beautiful in their gowns and formal attire. Thank you for the good wishes.

Cauvet, yes that was me and my daughter Jennifer!

Sage, so glad you are having a good time. Only eight months until our Veendam cruise.

Sage, thank you for posting.

As a fan of HAL's S class ships, I am eagerly awaiting your return and sharing your experiences with the SOE improvements on these ships.

In the meantime, have a wonderful cruise!

Sage, Thanks for the onboard reports, I am looking forward to sailing on the Ryndam myself in June.

We were blessed today with a grand dolphin show around noon. There must have been 50 or more dolphins leaping about and each trying to see if they could outdo the others. I was also treated to my first whale spouting, and it was grand. The Captain was in the Lido this morning stopping at each table and saying hello and asking if anyone had any questions or comments. The seas are incredibly calm. The staff is so friendly, and we are having a great time. A/C is perfect, although we don't need it yet with such mild weather.

We were blessed today with a grand dolphin show around noon. There must have been 50 or more dolphins leaping about and each trying to see if they could outdo the others. I was also treated to my first whale spouting, and it was grand. The Captain was in the Lido this morning stopping at each table and saying hello and asking if anyone had any questions or comments. The seas are incredibly calm. The staff is so friendly, and we are having a great time. A/C is perfect, although we don't need it yet with such mild weather.

We were blessed today with a grand dolphin show around noon. There must have been 50 or more dolphins leaping about and each trying to see if they could outdo the others.

That's something you won't see in the Caribbean! But I'm not sure I'd refer to talking with the Captain as being "treated to my first whale spouting"! :rolleyes:

Thanks for thinking of us poor land-bound cruise-lovers!

Sage - please keep the comments coming. DW and I are booked with another couple for the 14 day Carib cruise on the Ryndam next Feb. Our 1st cruise was on the Ryndam and we are really looking forward to returning to her.

Is this your first cruise on the Ryndam? I was wondering how much the ship has changed since the Signature of Excellence overhaul of last fall. I was on her a number of times in past years and I was just wondering how much she has improved or changed.

Himself

Hi Sage-we're sailing on Oosterdam on the 26th and our whale watching cruises have been cancelled due to poor whale sightings. Can you tell me where (approx) you were that you saw the Orca? I'm assuming you were at sea but just curious to where.

Thanks and enjoy the cruise!

Dave,

You can see dolphins in the Caribbean, but probably not the numbers seen by Sage. A dolphin frolicked with the bow wave of our chartered sailboat for about an hour. As I recall, it was near Jost Van Dyke Island.

On that same trip, while CathyC was at the helm, she spotted what she at first thought was a drifting Avon dinghy. As we got closer it turned out to be a humpback whale and its calf. (Yes, we had her eyes checked.)

Dave,

 

You can see dolphins in the Caribbean, but probably not the numbers seen by Sage. A dolphin frolicked with the bow wave of our chartered sailboat for about an hour. As I recall, it was near Jost Van Dyke Island.

 

On that same trip, while CathyC was at the helm, she spotted what she at first thought was a drifting Avon dinghy. As we got closer it turned out to be a humpback whale and its calf. (Yes, we had her eyes checked.)

Yeah, I doubt there's room in the Caribbean for 50 dolphins all together in between all of the cruise ships!:rolleyes:

We saw a school of dolphins too on the last Ryndam cruise. We also had a lecturer give a lecture on dolphins which was very interesting. 100 kids! Wow! I saw two babies and one child about 10 or 12 and that was it on the last cruise. I guess this is spring vacation now.