Just off the Ryndam..

[rocks]

Had a WONDERFUL 14 days on the Ryndam! The Crew (as on most of the 'dam' ships) is the reason. They were GREAT!
First time in Alaska & it was AWESOME! Had great weather & the scenery & wildlife far exceeded our expectations. Took many Caribbean cruises thinking I didn't want to vacation in cold weather....what a mistake! Alaska is SO incredible! I'm really glad that we didn't do a land tour; the ones that did that came on the ship exhausted & didn't catch up till 3 days into the cruise. We love being on the ship & would have hated to be too tired to enjoy it.
The Ryndam is charted for this week, does a 5 day cruise after that & then to Victoria for a 21 day dry dock. I just hope they have enough time to finish the work..they have major changes planned!
Would be glad to answer any questions when we get home-I'm typing this from the Pan Pacific in Vancouver.
rocks

[Tinknock50]

Originally Posted by rocks

Had a WONDERFUL 14 days on the Ryndam! The Crew (as on most of the 'dam' ships) is the reason. They were GREAT!
First time in Alaska & it was AWESOME! Had great weather & the scenery & wildlife far exceeded our expectations. Took many Caribbean cruises thinking I didn't want to vacation in cold weather....what a mistake! Alaska is SO incredible! I'm really glad that we didn't do a land tour; the ones that did that came on the ship exhausted & didn't catch up till 3 days into the cruise. We love being on the ship & would have hated to be too tired to enjoy it.
The Ryndam is charted for this week, does a 5 day cruise after that & then to Victoria for a 21 day dry dock. I just hope they have enough time to finish the work..they have major changes planned!
Would be glad to answer any questions when we get home-I'm typing this from the Pan Pacific in Vancouver.
rocks

Glad you enjoyed one of my favorite ships!......and my favorite destination!

[Sail With Me]

Originally Posted by rocks

Had a WONDERFUL 14 days on the Ryndam! The Crew (as on most of the 'dam' ships) is the reason. They were GREAT!
First time in Alaska & it was AWESOME! Had great weather & the scenery & wildlife far exceeded our expectations. Took many Caribbean cruises thinking I didn't want to vacation in cold weather....what a mistake! Alaska is SO incredible! I'm really glad that we didn't do a land tour; the ones that did that came on the ship exhausted & didn't catch up till 3 days into the cruise. We love being on the ship & would have hated to be too tired to enjoy it.
The Ryndam is charted for this week, does a 5 day cruise after that & then to Victoria for a 21 day dry dock. I just hope they have enough time to finish the work..they have major changes planned!
Would be glad to answer any questions when we get home-I'm typing this from the Pan Pacific in Vancouver.
rocks

After 80 Royal Carbbean voyages we are sailing on the RYndam the week of November 28 out of our home port of San Diego. We are really quite excited about trying Holland America and experience the S category suite. We are also excited that she will emerge from dry dock before we sail with all of the wonderful new changes. Any information you have will be appreciated. Do you know what the charge is for the thermal suite and thellasotherapy pool. We love those two things on Royal Caribbean.

The Executive Chef of Royal Caribbeab just moved over to Holland America.

Karen and Bob

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for the report.

We sailed 3 times in Alaska on the Ryndam.

Love that ship.

[localady]

Rocks-

So glad to hear you had a great experience on the Ryndam B2B like we did!! It is a great crew and being on the ship for that second week was so great, the crew remembers your name and your preferences! I didn't find one day that I didn't enjoy, even though we were in each port twice. Look forward to hearing the specifics!

[sail7seas]

Sio glad you had such a good time. Travel safely getting home and we shall look forward to hearing more about your cruise. Thanks for posting while still in the hotel.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

rocks, I too am glad to hear that you really enjoyed the Ryndam and Alaska. We too loved Alaska. I just never dreamed that Alaska would be as great as it was. My thought of the cruise was "Who ever Heard of going on cruise and packing warm clothes" It was wonderful. We are also looking very forward to our cruise on the Ryndam which will be right after she gets out of dry dock by about 3 weeks so she should definitely be in great shape

[Himself]

Rocks:

Glad you enjoyed the Ryndam. I did the cruise you did on the Ryndam a few years ago and have many happy memories from it. However, instead of Hubbard Glacier, we did Glacier Bay both ways. The Ryndam is a very nice ship. It is one of my favorites. Alaska can be chilly but last June I was on the Volendam and ran into mid 80 weather in Juneau and Ketchikan. I have been in Ketchikan many times and when I was there in June the sun shined all day long--the first time I was there and did not get some rain. Alaska is very beautiful.
Himself

[CINCY40]

Rocks...

What time were you able to board the Ryndam?

Nancy

[localady]

In July, we were onboard the Ryndam by 11:45. We went up to the Lido for lunch and explored the Ship until appx. 1:30 when they announced our room was ready. I really enjoy the new earlier embarkation times.

[rocks]

We checked out of the Pan Pacific hotel at 11am, they took our luggage over to the ship & after checking in at the pier, we walked right on board. I'm sure it was by 11:30 if not a little sooner. There weren't any lines or sitting around waiting for #'s to be called-it was GREAT! We went to our cabin around noon, just to see if we could drop our backpacks off & our cabin was ready.
Localady....we had Agus & you were right, he was GREAT & VERY sweet! The whole Crew was awesome; they are the ones that make the cruise for me. Our weather was really good too. Rained a little on our 2nd Sitka visit & a little in Juneau. Our first week was PERFECT! In fact at the Glacier the first week they said if it wouldn't be as sunny we would have seen more of the blue in the ice; which we did on the second time when there were more clouds. I took 18 rolls of film & 2 digital cards full. The scenery in Alaska is just breathtaking! I couldn't go anywhere without my camera!
I know during their dry dock that they are enlarging the spa & adding a thearpy pool. Also adding a room so they can do cooking deminstrations.
SOOOOO much to do....poor Hubby just came down with a horrible head cold! Trying to take care of him, do wash & YIKES I have to go to work tomorrow!!! :-(
rocks

[localady]

Rocks-

Great to hear!!! Yes we just loved Agus, I had an opportunity to chat with him about his experience with HAL and his family, he is what makes HAL so great. Theo Haanen is to be congratulated on his staff, I think the ship reflects his supervision!

Glad you had good weather, was a bit concerned when last week I saw that Anchorage was 46F/26F!!! Burrrrrrr! Can't wait to hear your full review, but I suspect right now you have real life to tend to, having just returned home!

Wondered if you made it to the Pinnacle and if you's met the wine steward named Rod, we also found him to be truy exceptional!

So when's the next cruise?????

[EbayCruiser]

Rocks - Just a tip, go to a drugstore or Walmart and get Zicam for Colds (over the counter). It is FANTASTIC and will cut his cold duration in half if started at the onset of a cold. I use the Zicam for Allergies all the time. I was constantly getting sick with allergies until I started using Zicam. Now I can feel like I am getting sick and use Zicam and the next day IT'S GONE! I packed a bottle of allergy and cold remedy for our cruise to Alaska in Aug. just in case and didn't need it.

Sorry to sound like a commercial but it really does work!