I have titled my review - "Surprising - Ryndam" because the entire 7-day experience was just that - Surprising - especially because this was our first Holland America Line cruise.

I must state right up front and I say this with all due respect to senior citizens and elderly travelers, that an "older" age group clearly prevailed on this cruise. It was not uncommon to stand and wait for an elevator with 70ish folks in wheel chairs, requiring walkers, oxygen and not one, but two canes. It was as if my wife and I were visiting an assisted living facility. Quite honestly, at times, it was difficult to see. This one fact would, sadly, prevent us from booking another cruise with HAL.

I counted approximately 10 teenagers that roamed around the ship like a pack of rabid wolves. You would be sitting there quietly at the 10th floor Sea View pool and the "wolf pack" would suddenly arrive doing cannonballs splashing water on everyone and screaming. We never determined who the parents of this "bunch" was but it was a failure of the part of the crew to control these children no matter when we encountered them on the ship. Read more