This was our first repositioning cruise, and our 2nd on HAL and our 8th cruise overall. Overall enjoyed our cruise and would do both a repositioning cruise as well as sail on the Ryndam again. The ship looked very good. The Ryndam had been updated to the new HAL standards - flatscreen TV, DVD player, lovely mattress, etc. Our cabin (oceanview main deck) was nice. A little tighter than we recalled the Zuiderdam being, but still roomy enough for 2 people and plenty of storage room (was only 4 nights though). No problems with embarkation - very smooth. We have found this the be typical in San Diego. Since the ship had been returning from a Panama Canal cruise (I think 16 or 18 days), it was only 1/2 full and the ship was loaded up quickly. We are in our late 30's. We found the majority of the cruisers were 50-60 and above. Not entirely out of the ordinary for HAL and since it just came from a long cruise, you would expect many retired persons. We were actually surprised that there were much more children on the ship than we expected. As repositioning cruise, may not be for everyone, we found the activities to be somewhat limited and the personnel and ship being prepared for the Alaskan season. This is definitely a cruise if you just want to relax and unwind. We definitely loved the library area and the coffee lounge.
The entertainment in the main show room was average. There was one night when the seas were quite rough and I believe they canceled the show for safety reasons. They had a comic in the place of the singing/dancing number and we really did not care for the comic too much. Not much in terms of night life other than the casino - which was small, but nice. We actually knew some of the dealers from the Zuiderdam - so enjoyed seeing them again. The staff was very good. Especially the waiters in the dining room and bar/lounges. We did find that some of the supplies had been dwindled by the prior cruise and that they had not restocked in San Diego. My husband is a beer drinker and one of the brands HAL usually carries was out.
The food was overall very good. The variety was pretty good, though I recall one night the formal dining room had a pretty limited menu. The service was good and had really no complaints here. Enjoyed the appetizers they bring around before dinner.