Cruising on the Ryndam Part 3

On 1/26/14 we took a 14 day cruise on the Holland America Ryndam. I kept a journal about each day and learned something new every day. This is part 3 of what we did on the cruise. If you are interested in seeing all the pictures, here are the links to them.

• 2/5/14 Wednesday – Aruba
• 2/6/14 Thursday – At Sea
• 2/7/14 Friday – Grand Cayman

2/5/14 Wednesday – Aruba
We got off the ship and walked around town all morning. After buying some souvenirs, buying and sending some postcards, it was time to return to the ship. We only had about 5 hours in this port but next time we will try to go to a beach (Eagle Beach and Royal Beach were recommended. Mike said it was $4 to the beach pp, $2 entrance fee, and $7 to rent the chairs at Royal Beach.). It looked like if we had walked towards the right when facing town, there were a few beaches within walking distance. It was pretty hot even though the temperature wasn’t extremely high but the humidity and the strength of the sun was strong. In the afternoon we did some laundry and just relaxed. We went to the show at 6:30 which was a comedian and after dinner we went to the movie showing Gravity, which I didn’t enjoy.

2/6/14 Thursday – At Sea
We had a lazy day at sea. We spent the morning on the deck relaxing. I went to the Culinary Arts demo on making cinnamon rolls. After lunch we went to the pool and swam. Before dinner we went to the show Lazlo and Claudia, who were excellent violinists. Don isn’t a big music fan but he said he would go see them again. After dinner we went to see the movie Hunger Games: Catching Fire but we both were nodding off so we went to bed.

2/7/14 Friday – Grand Cayman
I was not looking forward to getting off the ship because this is my least favorite port. I was surprised to find that I had a good time after all. The tender got us to the port by 8:30am and we walked around the town. We bought postcards and mailed them from the post office. The people in the post office were extremely nice. After that we found a store where I bought a diet Pepsi for $1. I also bought a t-shirt for $8 and the second for half off. Then we found a stamp collector’s store and Don was in heaven. He found lots of treasures at a reasonable price. In the evening we watched the movie with Michael Caine called Last Love which was really depressing.

2/8/14 Saturday – At Sea
We had a lovely day at sea but I ate too much and I was too lazy. After breakfast, we sat by the pool and read. I also listened to podcasts while I relaxed. After lunch we packed our suitcases before going to the Indonesian Tea which is always a lovely event. All of the wait staff wore their traditional shirts and the tables had runners with Indonesian print. The pastries that were served were traditional Indonesian goodies along with the regular tea time desserts. After tea we got ready for dinner and then went to see the movie All Mine. It was a good movie but depressing about dementia. We had a fabulous dinner and a trivia contest where the winner won a badge that Chaz donated. David won but it was so much fun competing! We said farewell to our dinner mates and I will really miss them! It was amazing how well we all bonded the first night we ate together.

2/9/14 Sunday – Disembarkation

I got up around 4:30am so I could get on the internet and use the rest of the minutes that I bought. The “On Location” daily paper said that we would be able to use the internet until we got off the ship.  The wifi hadn’t worked in a couple of days so I used their computers but was still unable to get on the internet. When I went to the front desk, the girl told me that the internet was unavailable on the disembarkation day so I asked why they lied in the daily paper. She didn’t have an answer and told me that she would contact the internet manager at 7am. I continually tried to connect using my iPad and again on their computer before 7 but couldn’t do it. The girl called me to tell me that the internet manager said there was no problem with the internet so I asked for him to meet me at the computers. While I was waiting, it still didn’t work and then all of a sudden, it worked so I guess he reset them. By then, it was too late to use the computer because it was time to go eat breakfast. This means that I lost about 200 minutes left on my account. I won’t ever get that many minutes again!

Getting off the ship was fast and easy. They called people by the color and number on their tags. We got off the ship about 9am and I called the hotel when we got out of the building. I’m glad the clerk asked for my phone number. We were picked up by the hotel shuttle at 10am. The shuttle missed on us on the first circle but the driver called me and asked where we were.  In about 5 minutes he found us and we were on our way.

We had a absolutely awesome time on the ship and would do this again!

Things I have learned:
1. It is always worth getting off the ship even if you have been to the port before. Each visit is different and it is fun every time.
2. I noticed that there were a lot of empty stores on many of the islands. The downturn in the economy is hurting the islands too.
3. I learn about different cultures from the crew on the ship. They are interested in learning about my culture too.
4. Use all the internet minutes before the disembarkation day!
5. I learned so much from our nightly trivia games at dinner!

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Cruising on the Ryndam Part 2

On 1/26/14 we took a 14 day cruise on the Holland America Ryndam. I kept a journal about each day and learned something new every day. This is part 2 of what we did on the cruise. If you are interested in seeing all the pictures, here are the links to them.

• 1/31/14 Friday – St. Thomas
• 2/1/14 Saturday – Antigua
• 2/2/14 Sunday – St. Lucia
• 2/3/14 Monday – At Sea
• 2/4/14 Tuesday – Curacao

1/31/14 Friday – St. Thomas
We had a wonderful day in St. Thomas.  My hubby and I walked 2 miles into town and after a day of shopping, we walked back to the ship. We stopped in the Tavern on the Waterfront (upstairs) for a few drinks which was reasonably priced (2 beers for $5). We went to the show before dinner where we heard them sing Rock classics from Madonna to the Beatles. So far, the entertainment has been okay but I really think that Carnival has much better entertainment. After a formal dinner, we watched a movie. Did I mention how much I enjoy our dinner mates?!

2/1/14 Saturday – Antigua
We got off the ship around 8am and walked around town. There were showers on and off all morning so we just ducked under one of the covered walkways and waited for the rain to stop. We went to the open air food market (vegetables, meat, fish). The fish market was interesting because we saw red fish, blue fish, and even rainbow colored fish. One man started shouting about my expensive camera and it felt like he was signaling someone about my camera so I put it in my bag immediately. Then we left and went back to the ship to get something to drink and go to a computer class. After having a little rest, we went back out to walk around town again and headed for the church with the two towers and found out that they were renovating it. We did see the taxi driver we know called Ninja.Then we returned to the ship for lunch and walked around the deck. I decided to sunbathe while Don continued his walking. We had a snack and went to another computer class and by then we had to get ready for the evening. We went to the show which was jugglers called Airborne (husband and wife team). After dinner we chose not to go to the movie and went to bed. We tried to watch a DVD in the cabin but we couldn’t get the DVD player to work.

2/2/14 Sunday – St. Lucia
We had a better day in St. Lucia than I expected because I’ve been here before and I wasn’t impressed. At 8am, we docked in the Point Seraphina area where the white triangle building is. We didn’t see this path up the mountain until we were almost leaving the port so we hope to try seeing where it goes the next time we are here. We walked into town which is about a 10-15 minute walk and you can see the town from the ship. Since it was Sunday most everything was closed except some booths in the market. I bought a rainbow colored sundress for $20. We were going to eat and drink while in town but we could not find a clean public restroom anywhere. I think the government is trying to clean up the area because the police car did stop to ask us if everything was alright when we crossed a street to avoid a group of sketchy looking men. At 11am, we arrived back at our terminal and found a cute outside bar hidden away in an alleyway where we got Piton beer for $2. At 1pm, we returned to the ship and had a lovely lunch. After lunch I sat out on the deck and Don took a nap.

2/3/14 Monday – At Sea
We had a lovely day at sea. After breakfast we sat out on Deck 6 (the walkaround deck) and relaxed for a couple of hours. At 11, we went to culinary show where we watched the chef make a Caribbean dish. Then we went to lunch and then returned back to the culinary show to watch the chef make a Caribbean dessert. After that we walked 3 miles on the walkaround deck. Then we attended a computer class on the Calendar app. Before dinner we went to the show and then met our tablemates at 8pm for dinner. After the show we went to the movie to watch Captain Phillips.

2/4/14 Tuesday – Curacao
We got off the ship as soon as it docked so we could find the Starbucks at the Renaissance hotel where we would meet Karin. The girl on the ship sent us across the floating bridge but then we had to return because we were on the wrong side. We enjoyed a mocha frappuchino at Starbucks while we waited for her. She took us to Cristoffel Park and we took the green loop road. We didn’t climb Cristoffel Mountain though because it was too hot and takes at least an hour to do. Then we met Joseph at Landhuis Daniel for lunch which was wonderful! After lunch we went to Playa Daaibooi for a swim. Joseph had to return to work and we went back to their house for a shower. Karen took us back to town to show us the old buildings and the floating market. By then it was dinner time and we ate a nice restaurant on Ostrabundo. By then it was 9:00 and we had to return to the ship.

Things I Learned:
1. I get a lot of walking steps in when we go into the ports!
2. Whoever chooses the movies for the ship needs to rethink their choices!
3. I am learning so much in these computer classes. I learn something new that I can use from every class. I’m so glad they are free classes.
4. I’m not a big fan of Caribbean style food.
5. I love having friends in some of the ports who are so generous that they don’t mind picking us up and showing us around. I also love trying the local foods.
6. Curacao is beautiful at night! It is also hotter than you think because even though the temperature wasn’t so high, it was really hot there. Luckily Karin bought us a huge bottle of water that we drank all day.

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Cruising on the Ryndam Part 1

On 1/26/14 we took a 14 day cruise on the Holland America Ryndam. I kept a journal about each day and learned something new every day. I will share my notes over 3 parts so I don’t bore you too much with the details. At the end of each post, I will list some of the things that I have learned for that part. If you are interested in seeing all the pictures, here are the links to them.

• 1/26/14 Embarkation
• 1/27/14 Key West
• 1/28/14 – 1/29/14 At Sea
• 1/30/14 San Juan

1/26/14 Sunday
Shuttle from Hampton Inn on Waters St. to port took an hour because the driver stopped at the airport first. The embarkation was fast and easy. All security were friendly and happy. We went to the Lido deck and ate lunch. While we were eating, they announced our cabins were ready.

Our cabin safe doesn’t work; I called the front desk and she asked me to call back in about 30 min. We stopped an hour later and the girl from the front desk came to our room to check it and said the battery was probably dead. She said that they were having an issue with door locks so it might take a while so she suggested we get a safety deposit box at the front desk.

When we went to unpack, we found out that our TV remote didn’t work. Eventually Don found the cabin steward and asked for a new remote.

We walked through the spa and the staff there were rude. It was open house and I was taking pictures of the empty rooms when one girl said that she didn’t think we were allowed to take pictures. She didn’t say she knew and was quite mean about it.

The life boat drill went well. Joma, a wine steward, was at our lifeboat station. Later he was our bar waiter on the lido deck while we waited for the ship to leave. We got a bucket of 5 beers for $21 plus tax and tips.
Dinner was tortuously slow! We sat at a table for 2 and the dining room was really cold. It seemed that the wait staff was understaffed. We only were given water to drink and I didn’t notice anyone with iced tea. After dinner we went to the show which was packed. They gave a sample of all the music entertainment around the ship.

1/27/14 Monday – Key West
I slept well even though the outside lights on the walking deck was right outside our porthole. I was up at 4:30am and went to the internet café where I used the internet. I bought a package deal of 1000 minutes for $250 and was given an additional 100 minutes. After 45 minutes of that, I went to the gym to walk on the treadmill. I still thought the staff there were rude. One couple opened the shades in front of their treadmills and a girl rushed over to tell them they had to close them. It was pitch black outside and you couldn’t see anything so I don’t know why it mattered. At 7am, she walked around and opened all the shades herself.
After that I went to the Lido deck to wait for Don to wake up. He came up for breakfast around 8am. We stopped by the front desk to ask for someone to fix our safe which still didn’t work. Then we went to a free computer class at 9:30 about Windows 8.1. That was a wonderful class.

At 10:30, we went back to the room to find out that our safe still had not been fixed. So we went to the front desk to complain and get money out of our safety deposit box for our trip off the ship.

At 11am, we went to the Lido deck to have an early lunch and then we got off the ship around 11:45. We had a lovely day walking around Key West. The weather was absolutely beautiful! We stopped at one bar near the water and had 2 draft beers for $2.75 each which came out in small plastic cups. Then we found a CVS where I bought a 12 pack of diet Pepsi and some chocolate which we took back to the ship. Then we went back out to walk around and found another bar – Two Friends Bar which wasn’t too far from the ship and got a beer for $2 which was served in an ice cold glass.

When we got back to the ship we stopped at the grill and got a sandwich, fries, and some dessert. Then we watched the ship prepare to leave the port. At about 4:45pm, we watch them load an elderly man from our ship into an ambulance. Some crew members took the family’s luggage to a van which was going to take the family to the hospital.

When we prepared for dinner, I found out that I didn’t know how to work the shower! The knobs were not hot and cold! I had to get the cabin steward to show me that the temperature is controlled by the right knob and the on/off was the left knob. We did find out that the drain plug didn’t work and he had to report it to the plumber. After my shower, I found out that the outlet for the hair dryer didn’t work. I had to hold the dryer plug in by stacking some things up to hold it in the outlet.

We found out that we were moved to a table for 8 at dinner. There are 4 people from the UK (Kymberly, her husband Chas, her mom and dad – Maureen and Mike), and 2 people from FL (David and Linda). They are a fun group! Chaz asked us trivia questions from the trivia game he went to and we tried to come up with the right answers.

1/28/14 Tuesday – At Sea
At breakfast I met Ann and Wade Stevenson from Manchester, TN. They had a leak in their cabin from the kitchen above them. AT 5am, they had to move to another cabin until the leak could be fixed. In the evening when we went to dinner, it still hadn’t been fixed and someone told them that their cabin door was standing wide open!

We went to 2 computer classes on photo editing which was wonderful! I will have to upgrade to Windows 8.1 and get the newest version of Photo Gallery when I get home.

Formal night was tonight and dinner options included beef wellington and lobster tails.

We went to the show Droom which was great! I thought the costumes, singing, and dancing was excellent.
After dinner, we went to the 10pm movie Enough Said with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini. I didn’t think it was very good.

1/29/14 Wednesday – At Sea
We went to 2 more computer classes and we are truly enjoying them!

Went to the movie theater and saw Before Midnight with Ethan Hawke and it stunk! 2 couples got in an argument about the seats because one couple who got there early wouldn’t move over a seat (because it was broken!)

Got a lot of exercise on the treadmill in the morning and walking around the exercise deck with Don later in the day.

1/30/14 Thursday –San Juan
We had a lovely day in Puerto Rico yesterday. Our friends (Yolanda and Mike) picked us up and took us out to lunch at their favorite restaurant. Don had some kind of bbq pot roast and I had a stuffed Cornish hen with black rice and plantains. We had a wonderful visit with them! Before they came though, we were invited by the Captain to take a photo with the crew and others under the 12^th man flag to cheer on the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. They hoped to show the photo in the super bowl and in the Seattle Times. After they dropped us off, we walked around town.

Things I Learned:
1. It is better to be the first group to be taken to the port because if the shuttle gets backed up, you won’t leave until later than you planned.
2. Check the safe and outlets as soon as you arrive at your cabin to make sure everything works.
3. Make sure you know how to work the shower.
4. You can always learn something new in a class, even if you think you know the information.
5. Plantains are sweet when they are ripe and cooked. The green plantains that are fried are not as sweet but tasty too.

Original photo by Pat Hensley