Ryndam (Retired) Review

4.0 / 5.0
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17-days Transatlantic with the Norovirus

Review for Transatlantic Cruise on Ryndam (Retired)
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sailorvic
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Nov 2011
Cabin: Large Ocean-View Stateroom

Did we have a bad cruise due to the Norovirus? I think my opinion would be different if I was one of the 159 (reported) people onboard with uncontrolled diarrhea and vomiting confined to their cabin throughout their active symptoms plus an additional 24 hours after symptoms resolved. Did I miss the hot tubs, table tennis, shuffle board and the Terrace Grill? Sure I did. Did I miss out because my "hands-on" cooking class in the Culinary Arts Center was hands-on and no longer allowed during the code? Sure. Did I like having to put on disposable latex gloves when I went shopping in the gift shops? Not really. Did it ruin my cruise? Amazingly no.

I was on the November 3rd, 2011 sailing of Holland America's Ryndam 17-day transatlantic cruise. We departed out of Barcelona with 5 ports in Spain and the Canary Islands, 7 transatlantic sea days, a couple days in the Bahamas including a stop at Holland America's private island, Half Moon Cay with disembarkation in Tampa, Florida on November 20th. Many of the nearly 1,200 passengers on the Ryndam spent time in Barcelona prior to embarkation and as there were no cases of the Norovirus on the cruise just prior to ours. It is believed that the virus was brought on board from Barcelona.

All cruise lines have an Outbreak Prevention Plan (OPP) created with the direction of the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) which is a part of the Center for Disease Control (CDC). The Ryndam had the ship in "Code Yellow" for the first 48 hours after departure from Barcelona. This is Holland America's fleet-wide policy for the first couple days of each cruise. It is their way to take additional precautions against gastrointestinal contagions boarding the ship and spreading. We are all use to the hand sanitizer stations standing outside each dining venue on our cruises. The only additional difference in this heightened precaution I noticed was that crew was required to dish up your food and pour your dinks in the Lido buffet. Since we ate the majority of our meals in the main dining room, we saw very little to no disruption in our cruise.

Cabin Review

Large Ocean-View Stateroom

Cabin E

Perfect cabin. Large with lots of drawer space. Great ocean view. Quiet.

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