Review of cruise ship Ryndam September 2008

My wife and I took our first repositioning cruise on Holland America's Ryndam from Vancouver BC departing on September 24 arriving on September 28 at San Diego CA. We have taken sixteen cruises on most of the major cruise lines and this was our second on Holland American. Our first experience with HA was on the Osterdam and we were pleased to find this time that the demographic on Ryndam was much younger with most passengers in the forty to seventy age group. Since this was a repositioning cruise, not likely to be repeated until next September I'll confine myself to comments on the ship itself rather than the ports and excursions.

We flew from Indianapolis to Seattle the day before the ship's departure and stayed there overnight. On the day of the cruise we took the Amtrak Cascades train from Seattle to Vancouver, the fare was $74. This trip of about 150 miles took four hours but the train was roomy, quiet and comfortable. On the advice of a fellow train passenger we walked from the Vancouver train depot to the Skytrain station across the street (Skytrain is an El) and for five Canadian dollars traveled the four stops to Canada Place which is the cruise ship terminal. Embarkation was quite easy taking no more than fifteen minutes and the Lido buffet was open and uncrowded. Service in the Lido was welcoming and helpful and we thought the food was above average for a buffet. Most of our meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner were in the main dining room reserved for free style passengers. There were never any lines for our party of two and we chose to share a table when it was suggested. We find that to be a good way to make new acquaintances. Food on the ship was average for a major cruise line and service was quite good. Read more