Getting there: We booked airfare-on our own-(from Seattle) flying in on the morning of the cruise and had no problems at all, arriving in San Diego with plenty of time to spare. We chose to use HAL's baggage service from the airport and taking only our carryon's, decided to walk from the airport to the cruise terminal. It was a very pleasant winding walk along the waterfront and took us about 30 minutes or so. I highly recommend it.
We checked in at the terminal and were in group # 1, so had about a 45 minute wait before boarding began. Fast and easy! We were on the ship by 11:35 and headed off to the Lido for lunch - which brings me to food.
Food: We have cruised - my husband 5 times and me 6 times before this cruise, including Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, and thought the food on the Ryndam was some of the best we've ever had - except for the desserts. While they were plentiful and varied, they were just not that good. All of the rest of the food was above and beyond our expectations. We had read some pretty iffy comments about the food and so it was one of our concerns, however, we found the food to be wonderful! Tasty and cooked to perfection. Our compliments to the Chef!