Vancouver to San Diego on the HAL Ryndam
By:  Brian Lashchuk
bdadylash@aol.com 

I went on the Ryndam on 9-28-01 to 10-1-01 from Vancouver to San Diego. This was my 12th cruise and my first on Holland America. I'm 22 years old and love to cruise. The Ryndam was an awesome ship. There were many places to stand and hide from people. I loved how you could stand in the front of the ship as you left port and sometimes the front was open during the cruise. The ship had nice flowers all over the place. The ship was a nice size, not too big not too small.

Cabins
We were on the last floor outside cabin and it seemed to be a little bigger than Princess ships and Royal Caribbean. I loved the bathtub, that was a first for me on a ship. Though, your butt gets stuck to it and it's hard to get up from it because it's small. The room Steward I saw once. He seemed to be very nice. You did not see any room Stewards anywhere. They seem to hide from you. Always the cabin was cleaned unlike other cruise lines. It was nice not to talk to the room Steward because on other cruise lines they are always in the hallways and they are forced to say hi to you and you know they don't really want to say hi, but have too. On Holland America, the room Steward never introduced themselves unlike on other cruise lines they are well known because they want their tips. 

Food
Food on the Ryndam was the best I ever had. The food in the dining room was the best. All the meals were so big. I did not need to order two meals like I do on Princess and Royal Caribbean. They always cooked my meals perfect. The waiter and bus boy were all nice and you could understand them unlike on Carnival and Royal Caribbean. They did not party and were not loud like on other cruise lines. The desserts were awesome too. The cheese cake was like ones you get in a very nice restaurant. The desserts were so big and so tasteful unlike other cruise lines that have just a small cake with sauce or something on it. The dining room was very nice and was dark. It reminded me of old ocean liners. The dining room was in the back of the ship so you could feel more motion. I love the motion. The food in the Lido Deck the buffet was great that's what my brother said, but I didn't really care for it. You could not serve your self. They had the cooks serving you. I don't like that because If you like a certain food you might just want one piece, or you might want a huge plate of something. You had no time to look. 

That is one bad thing about Holland America. I did not like the food in the buffet. Lots of meat and weird stuff. I like more pastas and bread. I thought Princess has a lot better lunch buffet. But, my brother and my dad like Holland America better they are more a meat eaters. Ice cream was always at the lunch buffet and at snack time from 11-4. The ice cream was the best -- all home made. You can put it in huge ice cream cones or in a bowl. They always had new flavors. That was the highlight of the buffet. I must of had 35 scoops of ice cream. At least Holland America gave you ice cream. Most cruise lines don't have it or like Princess you have to pay for it. They also had a taco bar that was not too good. Also at the taco bar you could get a hot dog and hamburger that was ok. Princess was better for the Hamburgers. 

Room service was the best I ever had. Get the shrimp plate--it's great. The hamburger is the same as up at the buffet. But, get room service. Its not like on Royal Caribbean that you can only get sandwiches or salads. Midnight Buffets were just ok. They were like the other cruise lines, but most cruise lines stopped the midnight buffet so it was still cool to have it. After eating all day I did not feel that good to eat at the midnight buffet anyways. Dinner was too big and good. I did have a little bit of food. 

Extras 
They had free espresso, Caffè Latte and Cappuccino many times during the day. Also, they had the Internet that was free on the first day for 2 hrs. Very cool to E-mail your family. 

Entertainment 
The entertainment was not too good. I only went to one show. The one I went to was ok. Better than songs from the 40's like the other days. I thought the entertainment is the best on Carnival and Royal Caribbean. The passengers age is old on this cruise line. Mostly from 40-80. I did see a dozen passengers my age. I'd rather be on a ship with older people rather than young passengers like on Carnival and Royal Caribbean that just want to party and get drunk. Holland America is more for real cruisers that just love to cruise not there for a party. I truly enjoyed myself on this cruise. I love Holland America and will go on them again. Though, I do like Princess just a little better just because of the food at the buffet. It is a very hard choice now to choose Princess or Holland America. The Ryndam is a great ship and is the cleanest ship I every been on. But, Princess is more for me. I still will go on Holland America. I'm going again on Holland America next year on the Statendam. Any questions my E-mail is BDADYLASH@AOL.COM 

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