My wife and I have traveled extensively, including several
cruises, but we had never scheduled a visit to Alaska. We
decided that we would remedy that situation in 2001. We talked
to several of our friends who had taken cruises to Alaska
regarding their experiences. We heard nothing but good comments
about the Holland America Line. When our travel agent called us
with news of a last minute fare sale on the m.s. Ryndam, we
jumped at it. We booked the cruise only and made our own
arrangements for air and ground transportation.
In order to meet the ship for the southbound cruise, we had to
fly into Anchorage and travel by surface to Seward. We decided
to depart for Seward, AK a day ahead of time just to avoid any
last minute difficulties with air connections. A brief search
and a few phone calls to some of the local car rental agencies
resulted in locating a car that needed to be dropped off in
Seward on the day of our cruise, thus avoiding the $150 one way
drop off charge. There are other convenient ways to travel from
Anchorage to Seward, including a scheduled minibus and the
train. With the exception of a limo, they will all cost in the
range of $35 to $55 per person. If you have the time, spend 2
or 3 days before the cruise sightseeing in the area. As we were
at the beginning of the 'cruise season', there was no trouble
getting a room at one of the downtown hotels in Seward after we
arrived.
There is certainly enough to see and do in Seward to keep you
occupied for the day while awaiting embarkation for the
scheduled 8 PM sailing. The town is not so large that you can't
walk the mile or so from the cruise dock to the shopping area.
There is also a local tram for those who wish to travel in
style. The Alaska Marine Wildlife Center at the end of the main
street is well worth a visit. Now, for all of you pancake
lovers, you should try to have breakfast or lunch in the Marina
Cafe just a block up the main street from the Wildlife Center.
Don't let the apple green front of the building stop you; order
a stack of the buttermilks with some elk sausage. You won't be
sorry.
We were among the first passengers to embark at 2 PM. Picking
up our documents, cabin assignment and ship ID cards took but a
few minutes. It was then only a matter of walking on board and
finding our cabin. We had talked to several past passengers who
said that HAL had a rather generous policy of extending
complimentary upgrades to nicer cabins upon arrival at the ship.
Our travel agent also reinforced this concept. We checked at
the Purser's Office to see if this was possible as we knew that
the ship was only booked to about 75% capacity. There was a
sign on the desk indicating that upgrades to mini-suites and
full suites were available. A rather sour clerk informed us
that they were available for a rather stiff supplemental price.
We decided to stay where we were assigned.
We did have a minor snag when we arrived at our assigned cabin.
The door was locked and there was not a cabin steward in sight.
Back to the Purser's Office to talk to a different dour clerk
who promised that she would send someone right down to open the
door. Another 20 minutes passed by with no open door. I
finally found a passenger who told me where the house keeping
office was located. Problem solved.
The standard (less than mini-suite) cabins on the m.s. Ryndam
are all just under 200 sq.-ft and furnished much the same. We
had an outside view cabin with the twin beds made up in the
single queen bed configuration. There is a sitting area with
couch, small table and chair which may be curtained off from the
sleeping area. There is ample drawer and closet space. The
shelves in the closets may be folded up or down depending on
what is being hung in the closet. The bathroom is well
designed, roomy and has adequate lighting. The outside cabins
have a combination bath-shower. I understand that some, or all,
of the inside cabins only have a shower. Other things in the
cabin include hair drier, shampoos and body lotion, color TV,
desk and a small safe. There is no refrigerator, but the cabin
steward keeps both the ice bucket and fruit basket filled
throughout the voyage. We were well satisfied with the comfort
and cleanliness of our cabin throughout the voyage. As a final
note, we were pleased with the lack of noise when underway or
from adjacent cabins.
As we embarked long before the majority of the other passengers
arrived, we took the opportunity to see what the other classes
of cabins looked like. Well, Cabin 001 is pure luxury - a full
suite with balcony and everything that you would expect in a 5
star hotel. The regular suites and mini-suites reflected a
definite increase in status. However, even though the
mini-suites have balconies, we did not feel that we sacrificed
too much by not purchasing the supplemental upgrade. Our
conclusion is that there doesn't seem to be any 'bad' cabins on
the m.s. Ryndam (and her sister ships) - it all depends on your
budget and expectations.
The design of the m.s. Ryndam reflects HAL's dedication to
passenger comfort and convenience. The decor reflects the taste
and elegance of a bygone era, including the display of many fine
antiques. From the extensive interior and exterior viewing
areas to the wide spacing of the tables in the restaurants, we
never felt crowded. There are an adequate number of elevators
at both the bow and stern of the ship. The 'Crow's Nest' lounge
has a spectacular forward view over the bow of the ship for
those that do not wish to stand in the weather - definitely the
place to be when entering Glacier Bay. Rather than go on about
the several lounges, library, game room, casino, showroom, etc.,
I suggest that you book a cruise and enjoy.
First things first, the coffee on the m.s. Ryndam is the best
that I have ever had on any cruise ship and beats most coffee
served by fine shore side restaurants. If you wish to take the
coffee experience a bit higher, visit the 'Java Cafe' which
serves more exotic coffee drinks and cookies, most of which are
included in the price of the cruise.
Food, food and more food! You may take your meals in the formal
'Rotterdam Dining Room' or the 'Lido Restaurant' or at the
Pizza/Hamburger/Hot-dog stand by the pool. If you didn't get
enough at the meal, you can always top it off with a dish or
cone of really tasty ice cream. After the stage show, no
problem, just go to the midnight buffet to stoke up before going
to the casino or disco 'til the early hours. The midnight
Chocolate Buffet is not to be missed. In general, the quality
and presentation of the meals is quite good, but not the best
that we have had on cruises. They offer an extensive list of
wines available for purchase with meals, many of which are quite
good value. We did feel that the waiter should ask if you want
the many sauces served on the side rather than drenching the
main dish. Additionally, it is very difficult to get beef and
lamb cooked and served extremely rare.
We requested the late seating in the 'Rotterdam Dining Room' as
we did not wish to rush back from the ports of call to change
for dinner. It's just as well as the early seating was fully
booked. Don't worry if you don't like the location, or other
guests sitting at your assigned dinner table. The dining room
steward is quite accommodating when you request a change of
table.
The staff on the m.s. Ryndam is among the most friendly and
efficient of any cruise that we have taken (with the exception
of the Purser's office staff), including some of the upscale
lines, such as 'Radisson Seven Seas'. Our cabin steward was
like a ghost. We never saw him, but the cabin was always clean
and in the best order when we returned. We never had any
annoying knocks on the door to see if we wanted towels. The
dining room staff could not do enough for us to insure our
enjoyment. They remembered our preferences, whether it was the
removal of the foil from the baked potato, or most of the time,
serving the sauce on the side or not at all. The young lady in
the 'Java Cafe' learned our coffee preferences on the first day
and remembered to offer them on our arrival for the remainder of
the voyage. In the middle of our voyage, the ship received
their mandatory semi-annual health inspection for all ships that
dock in U.S. ports - they receive a score of 99! The gratifying
thing was seeing how much pride the crew and staff took in
receiving an almost perfect score. I know that tips are not
expected by the staff, but we felt that they truly deserved a
bit of extra consideration at the end of our voyage.
The entertainment is right up there with the best of 'em. The
two level showroom has a professional compliment of audio and
lighting systems. The stage shows were both professional and
varied in theme. The lounge combos played all types of songs
and dance numbers to meet the requests of the guests. The show
put on by the staff and crew was quite entertaining with many
surprises. We were well satisfied with the entertainment on
board and the costumes were exquisite!
The guest lecturers were another matter. The port lectures were
devoted to a presentation of optional shore excursions and
shopping, shopping and more shopping. The naturalists on board
were not very informative and provided very little of interest
that could not be read in one of the many brochures. The
lecture on whales and sea otters was mainly a promo for
supplemental nature excursions from tour companies with whom the
naturalists seemed to have some sort of business relationship.
Our disappointment in the running commentary offered by the
naturalists and park rangers when sailing through Glacier Bay,
and other areas of interest could be a result of the poor audio
system available on the ship.
We decided not to purchase any of the optional shore excursions.
We came on the cruise to see Glaciers, snow capped mountains,
spectacular scenery and animals. Most of these were viewed from
the ship as we cruised along the coast. When we visited ports,
we would normally take a long walk by ourselves, or if
available, take the city bus around the area to get an overview.
In Sitka, we took a walk on the road next to the fish canneries
(left from the cruise ship dock past the old Russian church) to
the end of the road where we found a small park which was the
nesting place for 30 to 40 bald eagles. We sat there for a
couple of hours getting a close up view of what was available at
the Raptor Center. We then hiked back to the native Alaskan
museum at the University to find that it is closed on Sundays
and holidays. In Juneau, we visited the Mendenhall Glacier by
taking the #3 (or #4) city bus out to where the driver dropped
us off within an easy mile walk to the Glacier ($2.50 p.p. round
trip). In general, our impression of Sitka, Juneau and
Ketchikan was that the areas adjacent to the cruise ship docks
were actually adult theme parks. Yes, they had 'historic old
buildings', but they were full of trinkets for the tourists to
purchase. I guess that things have not changed much since the
'Gold Rush'. In general, each port was mainly an Alaskan themed
shopping mall. No complaints from us, we got what we came to
see in the way of scenery and animals.
We did not have any significant disappointments. However, they
could improve their guest lecturers, audio system and the
attitude of Purser's office staff. Additionally, the seating
in the Crow's Nest lounge could stand to have higher backs for
us taller people to sit comfortably during those long hours in
Glacier Bay.
We really enjoyed our Holland America cruise down the coast of
Alaska and Canada. We feel that we received a great value that
exceeded our expectations. We would most certainly recommend
it to others and look forward to taking our next cruise on
Holland America.
