Ryndam Decemder 14th Sea of Cortez
Bicepeak
My Mother (89) and I (48) decided this would be a wonderfully relaxing cruise
with the small amount of flight time to and from Phoenix. We were able to fly
and get on the ship without any overnights in port before or after the cruise.
Day1
We were at the airport in Phoenix 2 hours ahead of time. We will never go that
early again. Security went quickly and we had a long wait for our 11:15
flight.
We used a wheelchair at the airport and to board the ship to save my Mom from
the long walks. The HAL rep at San Diego airport was very helpful. When I told
him we didn't have tranfers and prefered to take a cab, he wheeled my Mom over
the skybridge and took us to where the cabs are. I was impressed with this
extra bit of care from HAL. The port is very close to the airport so we checked
in by noon and boarded at 1:00.
We were on the Ryndam before for a 3 day cruise a couple of years ago and it
was great to be back on her. This is probably my all-time favorite ship. It
really looks like a ship instead of a floating Hotel like so many new builds.
If you are used to the newer mega-ships, the Ryndam will definitely be a
different experience for you. Everything is on a much smaller scale. Some may
say it is old-fashioned, but I think that is part of its charm. I loved the
wrap-around promenade and all the fine antiques.
I called Steve, whom I met through the cruise board, and arranged to have lunch
in the dining Room with him and his mother the next day.
We had cabin B205 and I was totally thrilled when we saw our balcony! It is
twice as big as all the other mini-suite (now called verandah suite) balconies!
It was fun to actually take a "walk" on our balcony everyday. You can even see
across the back of the ship to the other side from here. Also, the way the
vanity mirror was set up, you could see out toward the back of the ship from
inside the room. I had heard there was a possiblity of noise from above, but I
think we only experienced it once while they were cleaning around the aft pool
deck and moving all the chairs around. There was also a lot of shuddering when
the side thrusters were used, especialy at anchor. The only other noise was the
air rushing through the cracks around the connecting doors to the veranda suite
next to us. I realized later that was because our neighbor kept her balcony
door open all the time. This was remedied by keeping our half of the connecting
door slightly ajar. No more whistle.
Since I already knew the best table- for- two numbers from my cruises on the
Ryndam and Statendam, I had my TA request it a month ago. We got one of the 4
we specified! Good job HAL! It was upstairs by the rail that overlooks the
lower level. Great sightlines across the Dining Room from there.
The flowers that were sent to us were there when we arrived. There is also a
small bud vase with flowers in every mini-suite. And there were bathrobes
provided.
Day2
Too cool to have breakfast on the balcony. We had planned on doing that every
morning on this cruise, but since we have breakfast at 7:00 ,we never did. It
warmed up an hour or so later, so if we could wait that long ,we could have sat
outside. As it was, the view through the all-glass wall was fantastic.
After lunch with Steve and his Mom (Beth), Steve came to our room and we sat
out on the over-large balcony and enjoyed sharing cruise stories and ship
comparisons.
Day 3
We had breakfast in our room every day. We like this because we can eat before
we get dressed just as we do at home. The room service was excellent and got
just what we ordered the night before. Also, the location of our room was close
enough to the lido so I just had to go out the back door next to our room, up 1
flight of stairs and across the aft pool deck if we needed something else.
Enjoyed more time on the balcony and spending a relaxing sea day. Used the gym
today and enjoyed using the sauna and steamroom. Many ships only have a sauna,
so I appreciated the wet heat of the steamroom on the Ryndam.
Day4
Ah Loreto ! Have some fine memories here. Enjoyed the smell of the cool morning
sea air as we tendered over to humble Loreto. No pesty venders here and loved
the small town atmosphere. We chose the San Javier tour because we love the old
colonial architecture and it has the oldest , finest mission church on the
Baja. It is a long (6 1/2 hour) trip on very bumpy, rough dirt roads, but it
was the highlight of our cruise. The desert in the canyons we travelled through
was very lush and green, much greener than our desert has been in Phoenix of
late. We had beautiful vistas of our ship and the Sea of Cortez from high above
from the switchbacks of the road. We made a stop at some ancient wall paintings
( much deteriorated) and another time we stopped to study the plant
life.
The church had a beautiful gold backdrop to the altar with a couple of fine
statues and many wonderful old paintings. Also some wonderful stonework inside
and out. You could really see the age in the stone of this 1747 church and its
adjacent stone walled cemetery. Our guide told us flash photography was not
allowed in the church, so I did the best I could with the meager natural light
coming through the windows. The rest of the group took a long walk to a very
old stand of palms. We decided that would be too difficult for my mom, so we
explored the church in more detail instead. I gave the caretaker ( introduced
himself as Ramone) a donation for the upkeep of the church and I noticed there
was electrical lighting pointing up at the altar and paintings. I don't speak
Spanish and he didn't understand my English very well, but I asked him if he
could turn on the lights so I could take better pictures. From what I was able
to gather, he told me they only come on at night and could not be switched on.
He invited me to take pictures with my flash. I hesitated to make sure thats
what he meant and he indicated I should use the flash. I figured as long it was
ok with the caretaker , I went ahead a retook all my shots,this time with the
flash. I can't wait to see the pictures when they come back. Ramone was
obviously very proud of his church and told me what all the paintings
represented. Enjoyed his tour greatly.
There was a small excursion- included lunch across the street which was
delicious.
The streets of the town were nearly deserted. Enjoyed the peaceful atmoshere
and the steep canyon walls surrounding the town.
The bouncy,jouncy ride which my Mom enjoyed on the way in, now started to get
to her, so I was glad when we finaly got back to the somewhat smoother parts of
the road closer to Loreto. I highly recommend this tour, but only if you can
stand a very rough ride.
On the way back to the ship, we were dropped off by the church in Loretto, as
we requested, and explored the much restored church there. In a room to the
right of the altar, there are many fine original oil paintings from the church.
There is also a great museum next door with many of the statues from the
original church and other interesting historical objects.
We stopped and had some ice cream before walking back to the ship. Halfway
back, my Mom really tired and I was kicking myself for not taking one of those
donkey cart rides which I found out later were very cheap to hire. While we
were on the tender to the ship,I had them radio ahead to have a wheel chair
ready, so I could wheel my Mom back to the cabin and save her some walking.
After some rest in the cabin she was up and ready to enjoy the evening on the
ship. Amazing woman.
Day4
At every port on this trip, I enjoyed watching the sun rise as we approached
dock or anchor. La Paz was our only docking port.
Since we had a pretty long day yesterday, we decided to take a cab to the
church in La Paz and then saunter through the streets back to where the shuttle
bus boards to go back to the ship. We got an idea of what a small Mexican City
is like in La Paz. Interesting but not very relaxing with lots of traffic and
crowds. We enjoyed watching the children wacking and shattering the pinatas in
a school courtyard.
Day5
We took the 1:00 Deluxe Coastal Cruise in Cabo San Lucas. It was a pleasant
ride but we were hoping to see some whales. When the water turned rough, the
captain turned around away from the area where a whale had been spotted on the
morning excursion. I really wasn't counting on seeing any, but it would have
been a nice bonus. I think unless it were the height of whale season, I would
opt for an excusion in a smaller boat that goes very close to the cliffs of Los
Arcos instead of the Coastal Highlights Tour. Also, you get a good view of the
cliffs anyway as the Ryndam sails away from Cabo. I heard that people saw
atleast one whale on a snorkling excursion, so that could be another option if
you are the active type.
We had a very bumpy ride from Cabo and for the next 2 days to San Diego.
Actually I loved every minute of it! Better than a Disneyland ride! My Mom and
I felt a little sick at one point, but we took a couple of ginger caps and that
cleared it up. Also, my Mom had to settle for a sponge bath those days....too
dangerous to climb into the tub! Speaking of tubs, it is a HUGE step over for
an elderly person. This is interesting when you consider the reputation HAL has
regarding older cruisers.
Day 6
Day at Sea
Had lunch with Steve and his Mom again and we spent a couple of fun hours
talking cruises again. So glad to have met them. They are wonderful people and
it really added to the cruise to have good company.
Day 7
Disembarkation Day
Steward graciously let us stay longer in our cabin because we had a 5:10 flight
and we in no hurry to get off the ship. We also asked for a later
disembarkation number so we were able to stay on until about 9:30. Before we
got our luggage, I saw a pay phone and called another on-line cruise friend to
see if he could get away for lunch and meet us. He couldn't , but we had a nice
chat on the phone. Hopefully we can cruise with him someday. By then HAL had
put our suitcase on a cart and were headed to storage with it. I spotted it and
retreived it. Was nice to be one of the last off.....no searching for suitcases
amoung the crowds.
When we got to the airport around 10:30, A Southwest rep asked if we would like
to take a 3 hour earlier flight. There was an additional charge, but for my
Moms sake, we took it. Saved us a 5 hour wait for our flight.
Service was excellent throughout this trip. My only complaints were the
too-eager
busboys in the Lido restaurant who would clear your table if you left it for a
second, and it would be nice if they refilled your coffee at the table.
The food was excellent and the breads were fresh and tasty. Had the most
delicious carrot cake at the Dessert Extravaganza...Mmmmmm.
Enjoyed hearing the Rosario Strings again. Only wish I had taken more
afternoon naps so I could stay up later and listen to them play more often.
All in all, a wonderful cruise.....just don't expect a typical caribbean- type
high energy cruise. This is definitely a more laid back experience and suited
me just fine....:)
Sean
villa deauville
Nice to know you met up with Steve and his Mum.and you all had a great
cruise
SUNNY<<...........remebers having the best boulabaise ever on the Ryndam
S'nd I
Steve Hayes
I definitely came to the same conclusion that this is a wonderful
ship.
Steve Hayes
bice...@aol.com (Bicepeak) wrote in message news:<20021222200656...@mb-ci.aol.com>...
> Had a wonderful time on our Ryndam cruise and here is my rambling review.
> snipped...........
> Sean
brenda
problems getting resvs in the Pinnacle Grill for 12 on an at sea day?
Steve Hayes
I would recommend that you pre-reserve at the terminal before even
boarding the ship. We booked for Monday evening which was the last sea
day prior to three days of port hopping. We were told that the day we
chose was the busiest of the cruise. I would also definitely book
early because of the size of your party. It is a very small area in
what was the King's Room.
Steve
kai...@earthlink.net (brenda) wrote in message news:<1ef7b3c0.02122...@posting.google.com>...
brenda
What else can you pre-reserve at the terminal? Sorry, I've only been
on little ships & haven't heard of this. Can you book spa treatments?
Did you get any feedback on the Todos Santos excursion? We're
thinking of hiring a car & driver to do that from Cabo since we've all
been there, but the LA Times Travel section made some disparaging
comments about Todos Santos in an article on La Paz this weekend.
brenda
Oh, forgot - one more question... My hubby is insisting on staying in
Newport Beach & watching the Packers game before we head to San Diego,
so I don't see us arriving til about 3 pm. Is this going to be a
problem with these pre-board resvs, boarding crowds, etc? I am trying
to convince him to at least get down there & watch the game at a local
hotel, but am not being too successful.
Ray Goldenberg
> My hubby is insisting on staying in
>Newport Beach & watching the Packers game before we head to San Diego,
>so I don't see us arriving til about 3 pm. Is this going to be a
>problem with these pre-board resvs, boarding crowds, etc? I am trying
>to convince him to at least get down there & watch the game at a local
>hotel, but am not being too successful.
Hi Brenda,
I would verify that the game is going to be on local TV in San Diego.
There is a large Holiday Inn directly across the street from the
cruise terminal. Off of the lobby they did have a big screen TV. It
is by the Concierge desk. There is also a bar in the lobby that has a
big screen TV. The only problem with watching the game in the bar is
there is a pool table that is sometimes in use between the tables and
the TV.
Any more questions, just ask!
Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com
Steve Hayes
I know you can reserve for the Pinnacle Grill and order wine ahead of
time but I do not believe anything else. I was onboard the ship and in
my cabin before 1:45PM so I do not know how long they had the table
reservations set-up. I strongly recommend what Ray states about the
game if it is playing in San Diego. The Holiday Inn is less than a 5
minute walk across the street.
Steve Hayes
kai...@earthlink.net (brenda) wrote in message news:<1ef7b3c0.0212...@posting.google.com>...
Jeff Coudriet
to have to keep in mind for the future!
Jeff