We had just returned from a cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam, when we lost our Yorkie, a friend of many years. We needed to get away from the house so we called HAL and were able to book the Ryndam for the following weekend. We let HAL take care of us. Two cruises one week apart.Now that things are a little better (thanks in part to HAL) here goes.

We drove to Tampa from West Palm Beach. Be booked the cruise package at the Holiday Inn Express. The motel is fine and the transportation makes the price a bargain. Wish the motel had a restaurant, we drove to one not too far away. Embarkation was a breeze. There way no wait. It was 12:30 and we in the cabin in ten minutes. The wait at Carnival went around a block twice and the temperature in Tampa was in the 40's!

This is a great introduction to the lovely Ryndam. It is small in today's world of mega-ships. This certainly proved to be an advantage in embarkation. We had not sailed on an "S" class ship in three years. Reuniting with the Ryndam make us (and many other passengers) realize what a joy it is to sail on a smaller ship. At first it seemed small especially the Lido pool and rear pool areas. The Lido restaurant which is small compared to the Nieuw Amsterdam and its predecessors, handled the guests much better than the larger ships throughout the cruise. Same with the outdoor eating areas and the pools. We noticed that many guests agreed. Certainly there were not complaints about the intimate size of the Ryndam. Read more