what are your thoughts on the Ryndam

[jackg962]

We were trying to decide whether to go on the Ryndam or NCL Dawn out of Tampa. What are your thoughts on the ports and the ship

[CowPrincess]

We like the Ryndam. Liked the ports on the W Carib itin (except for Puerto Cortes, but I think they've dropped that one). We did a 14 day "Collector" so went to Key West x 2, Costa Maya x 2, Puerto Cortes X 1, Santo Tomas X 1, Roatan (Mahogany Bay) x 1, Belize x 1.

 

What ports are you going to?

[jimmy2x]

Well - the ports are on you. Based only on your previous sailings, if you have been happy with the type of cruise experience you've had, probably better off on NCL. HAL provides a considerably different experience than RCL, CCL, etc.

 

Not saying that one line is "better" than another - just different. If you told us more about yourselves, maybe we could be of better assistance.

[RuthC]

Personally, I love the Ryndam. I last sailed her a little less than a year ago, and thought her in marvelous condition.

That said, Ryndam is a Holland America ship. As such, the atmosphere is not at all the same as what you would find on a Carnival or Royal Caribbean ship, especially on a Caribbean sailing.

[BumperII]

Personally, I love the Ryndam. I last sailed her a little less than a year ago, and thought her in marvelous condition.

That said, Ryndam is a Holland America ship. As such, the atmosphere is not at all the same as what you would find on a Carnival or Royal Caribbean ship, especially on a Caribbean sailing.

 

Could not have said it better myself. Have been on Ryndam several times. Loved every minute of it.:)

[innlady1]

We were trying to decide whether to go on the Ryndam or NCL Dawn out of Tampa. What are your thoughts on the ports and the ship

 

We spent 21 days on the Ryndam in February and loved it...we have enjoyed all of our HAL cruises.

I see that you've sailed CCL and RCCL...if that's your cruising style, my guess is you'd prefer the Dawn.

HAL has a much more sedate atmosphere.

[tangerinebunny]

If you're seriously considering changing lines, you must have reasons.

What are you hoping to get from HAL? We might be better at an honest answer if we knew what you're seeking.

[jackg962]

We have cruised CCL and RCL and enjoyed ourselves. DW and myself are 59 and just looking for another cruise line to try something different. We love Roatan and Key West would be neat to do by cruise instead of driving. We thought the Santo Thomas would be an interesting new port. So we will do an a western Caribbean out of Tampa or never been on an Eastern Caribbean so that was our other option. We cant do more than a 7 day cruise at this time in life due to dogs, saltwater fish tank and birds:cool:. Thank you all for all your good advice

[innlady1]

We have cruised CCL and RCL and enjoyed ourselves. DW and myself are 59 and just looking for another cruise line to try something different. We love Roatan and Key West would be neat to do by cruise instead of driving. We thought the Santo Thomas would be an interesting new port. So we will do an a western Caribbean out of Tampa or never been on an Eastern Caribbean so that was our other option. We cant do more than a 7 day cruise at this time in life due to dogs, saltwater fish tank and birds:cool:. Thank you all for all your good advice

 

We really enjoyed Key West and Roatan. Santo Tomas...not so much. So I wouldn't change plans just to do Guatamala.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have sailed quite a bit on the Ryndam over the years and think she is a lovely ship.

Do agree with Sheila -- HAL is more sedate than what you have experienced on other cruise lines.

[DFD1]

We really enjoyed our cruise on Ryndam in January. You'll find her refreshingly sedate after Carnival. It's a more refined experience. Not as loud, but not dull either.

 

Ryndam is much smaller that most cruise ships and we like that a lot. She's easy to navigate inside and quite beautiful with a wonderful collection of art work.

 

Hope you have a great time.

[SeaBands]

as I don't like the attitude on NCL ships. Charging corkage in advance and searching every bag for liquor turns me off. HAL treats you like an adult not a criminal.

[summersigh]

Excitement wise - We've found RCC to be between CCL and HAL ... tending more toward HAL than CCL.

We picked the last CCL for the itinery (Belize) and with late seating it wasn't too bad in Febuary.

The 5 day summer "quicky" we took with CCL was not so good. The boat was covered up with kids and large family reunions as well as a number of liquored-up groups of 20-somethings. :rolleyes: And, no, we weren't suprised and we pretty much always have a good time in spite of anything else going on.

Each line has it's niche - it's a delight to find the right one for oneself. We're back to HAL where we started :D:D

[iflyrc5]

We were on the Ryndam for 21 Days in Feb and loved it. If you go to Santo Tomas book a private tour with "Go with Gus". Outstanding tour including visit to a school and a persons home up the river from Livingston.

[CathyK2]

Oh dear, this is going to boil down to individual tastes. As others are saying.... they are two pretty opposite types of experience. I have been on both ships. The Dawn was several years ago, but I was just on the 16 day Transatlantic from Tampa to Barcelona and disembarked just last week.

 

I personally enjoyed Ryndam MUCH more, but if you are talking the Caribbean, you may prefer the Dawn since it will seem more party and festive. Without knowing your likes and dislikes, it's hard to advise. Again, as others are saying, Ryndam is going to be a lot more low keyed.

 

If food is important to you, I think HAL has it beat hands down. If you want to go go go, NCL may be a better option for you or else Carnival or Royal Caribbean.

 

As I mentioned, I just got off of Ryndam and although I don't know when you are thinking of sailing on either of these ships, I have to say that on our sailing, they were testing out five new stage shows. I've thought that MOST cruise ship entertainment is like local theatre and it's not the greatest, but you certainly can enjoy it. The buzz around OUR sailing was that HAL definitely has stepped up the entertainment and they are talking about branching out to all of the other lines. IF you like stage shows, "Droom" had to be the winner in blowing everyone away. Wow, wow, wow. If you are talking a shorter sailing, you may only have three shows and I admit I don't know which ones they would choose.

 

To be honest, I can't remember the entertainment on Dawn, but even so, it would have changed by now. And even the specialty talent will change depending on locations and contracts.

 

I do feel that service is much better on HAL than NCL. But again, they aren't hopping in the same way as those other three lines. Hope that helps.

 

Cathy

[Tampa Girl]

We were trying to decide whether to go on the Ryndam or NCL Dawn out of Tampa. What are your thoughts on the ports and the ship

 

 

Didn't the Legend go out of Tampa? If so, you are familiar with the port. Easy in, easy out. And less than two hours from you.

[lovetocruise2020]

id do the Ryndam in a hot minute if she had cabanas... so addicted can't do w/o them on HAL!

[lovetocruise2020]

id do the Ryndam in a hot minute if she had cabanas... so addicted can't do w/o them on HAL!

 

Scratch that. A 4 hour call at Key West, is a complete joke.

[swedish weave]

I am glad to hear that the Ryndam is back in good condition. After my last cruise on her, I scratched the name off my list.

 

The biggest problem was the elevators not working or working improperly and stopping a few inches from the proper spot. The reason this was important was DW was disabled at the time and coulddn't navigate the stairs.

 

A friend we met on that cruise stepped off the elevator and fell. She had a cut on her leg from the fall, and I went to report it to the reception desk, and the person at the desk said "Well--she should be more careful". She did not offer to call for help, so I got paper towels and did what I could to get her cleaned up and back to her cabin.

 

Needless to say, that left a bad impression.

 

The cruise was OK except for those problems, but I haven't considered another cruise on HAL since that.

[sansterre]

We were on the Ryndam for that cruise in March. We love, love, love, it.

We love the ports of the Western Caribbean, we love leaving from Tampa, and we love the Ryndam.

Four great ports, 4 different countries and cultures, in a 7 day cruise - amazing.

We have cruised the Western Caribbean at least 5 times and never get tired of the Mayan ruins, great shopping, and amazing waters. I'm sure you'll enjoy it on any ship, most especially the Ryndam!

[CathyK2]

Swedish Weave, I'm sorry you had trouble with elevators on your cruise. That would be a pain, especially for those that need them.

 

The only thing I didn't like about their elevators is that you didn't get a number as to what deck you were on but instead you get initials of the name of the deck. I mean it isn't bad since they also have a chart in the elevator so you know if you stop is coming up, but it took some getting use to. Others may have done that too, but I must not have been in the elevator much if so.

 

The picture we took that looks funny is the arrow is pointing down which obviously means you are going down. But right next to it, is says UP. So it was funny. UP was upper promenade.

 

Cathy

[wandb]

The Ryndam was our first ever cruise ship. Still our favorite. Going on the Eurodam this fall, but not sure if it can measure up to the Ryndam. The service, the food, the shows---all were wonderful!

[CathyK2]

The Ryndam was our first ever cruise ship. Still our favorite. Going on the Eurodam this fall, but not sure if it can measure up to the Ryndam. The service, the food, the shows---all were wonderful!

 

 

Since I was on the Ryndam for her recent TA from Tampa to Barcelona and before that, the Eurodam out of Copenhagen for a Baltic Cruise, I enjoyed both ships.

 

I do think I leaned more towards Ryndam, but I'm finding in my age, that I'm being drawn to the smaller and more intimate ships. I know HAL is going to be building their next ship bigger than the Eurodam and I know there were GROANS on our cruise when this was said. On the other hand, I really did love the Eurodam. Since that was a Baltic cruise, we had ports almost every day, so we didn't spend as much time on the ship. So many things they can do well on a smaller ship than a larger, but the same is true in the opposite. One thing I really loved about the Eurodam was their Tamarind Restaurant. If you like Pan Asian, book early. On our cruise, it was already completely booked by the second day for our sailing. There is an extra fee to work there, but I think out of all of my cruises on all the various lines that offer alternative dining, this one blew ALL of the others away. Great experience.

 

Cathy