My Review of HAL's Ms Ryndam: A 7-Day Cruise

I always recommend that people stay overnight the day before a cruise. Missing the ship is not like missing a train. This will be a brief summary of my experiences. Please feel free to leave comments if I have not answered your particular question.

Where we stayed:

We stayed at the "very popular for the night before the cruise" hotel, the Tampa Marriott Westshore, located at 1001 N Westshore Boulevard in Tampa, FL. We were quickly picked up by the hotel van but I could not find anything resembling a "courtesy phone" on which to call the hotel, which I was told I would find. I am sure you'll have a cell phone with you.

The Marriott is very pretty. Our room was clean and had all the amenities we could want. There was a Subway where we got dinner although the hotel has an upscale restaurant if you wish. The pool is very pretty.

There were two negatives: My daughter and son-in-law waited 45 minutes for the van to come and there was no continental breakfast. In any case I would stay here again if I found myself in similar circumstances. A real plus is that they will take you via van within a two mile radius for free and there is a lot of shopping very close by.

The ship: general information:

We sailed on Holland America's ms Ryndam. I was a bit concerned because this is an older ship but we had read that it was recently refurbished. I am happy to tell you that other than one or two places the ship is sparkling clean and new. This is a mid-sized ship meaning 1200 to 1400 passengers thus you won't get the glitz that a large ship often gives.

We boarded quickly and had no problems with check in. Our suitcases were in front of our door by 3:00.

Our room:

Much to my amazement our first experience with an inside room was quite positive. It helped that the room was quite large so claustrophobia never set in. It helped to have the television on at night with the sound off. This way when we got up - whether it was 3:00a.m. or 8:00a.m. we knew if it was day or night.

The pros of our room:

The size, the amount of storage space, a table and chair, a couch, plenty of reading lights.

The cons of our room:

The water did not go down in the shower.

The food:

The food was quite good and there was no problem having as much as we wanted. In fact even cappuccinos were on the menu at no cost in the dining room.

The Lido is the buffet on this ship. The first two days we could not serve ourselves because of health regulations so there was a bit of a delay but after that we rarely stood in line. The food in Lido was very good and oftentimes what was to be served upstairs.

For the first time we ate in the ship's restaurant called the Pinnacle. It was well worth the $20.00.

The entertainment:

On a ship this size you are not going to get the extravaganzas you get on a larger ship; however all the shows were very good. There was a comedian/ventriloquist one night who had us all rolling on the floor! The ship's singers and dancers were good to excellent.

The casino is smoking, which is a negative. It was a decent size though given the size of the ship.

Other rooms:

There is a huge library with very comfortable chairs but the lighting needs to be improved. There is a computer area and the Crow's Nest where there was dancing at night and great chairs on which to sit and look out onto the ocean.

The fitness room was very impressive though they charged $12 for Pilates and my daughter said the Yoga was very basic.

The theater had movies showing four or five times a day complete with popcorn.

The stores were adequate. Again you will not get the super jewelry and bargains that I have gotten on other ships but it was enough.

The ports:

We don't like to go to a port a day but this 7-day cruise did just that. I am not holding it against the ship since we chose it for the timing. We stopped in Key West, where you can take tours or rent bikes. We spent the time walking and window shopping.

There was a day at sea and then onto Belize City, Belize. We took the ship's tour in a catamaran to a snorkeling site. I was not impressed with the snorkeling believe it or not and after that we went to a beach, which was a total waste of time. If you are going to snorkel just once do it in Honduras.

The next day we were in Roatan, Honduras. There were six of us with a private guide costing $25 a person. He took us wherever we wanted including zip lining and to the beach for snorkeling. The snorkeling was excellent and although the coral wasn't as spectacular as that in Belize, the fish made up for it.

The next day we were in Costa Maya, Mexico where we went with a private guide to the Mayan ruins and then to a Mayan community to make our own tortillas and have lunch.

The service :

This is where the ship really let me down. This was my fifth cruise so I am neither a newbie nor an aficionado. I do know that on other ships when we have been in the buffet area there are always wait staff pouring coffee and asking if we want juice. On ms Ryndam there was no one to do that - no big deal perhaps but indicative of the service.

During the shows it was downright difficult to get a drink and the same goes for the pool areas (two pools).

Our steward, though very nice, never gave us a second bottle of water after we finished the first and after I drank the Diet Coke he never replenished it. I really found that odd.

Our waiters were so very nice but there were problems. Once my husband didn't get his second appetizer. Twice we left before our coffee came because it was taking so long.

The service in the dining room for breakfast and lunch was incredibly slow. Our daughter and son-in-law waited ½ an hour just for a cup of tea. We ate there for breakfast and found it slow as well.

So a big thumbs down for the service on this ship. The cruise director said that if the soup was cold one night please don't rate the food down for that one dish out of so many and I agree. In this case it was more than just one instance of cold soup.

Will I sail on ms Ryndam again?

I would if the timing was perfect and it was the only ship going out of Florida during the time we had. Otherwise I would not. Given a choice of the same itinerary, etc. ms Ryndam would not be my first choice.