Thread: ms Ryndam - history

m/s Ryndam (1994-present) Built by Fincantieri - Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A., Monfalcone, Italy for Holland America Line. She is the third ship in HAL history to bear the name Ryndam and the third of the four ships (initially three) in the 'S' class (Statendam - 1993, Maasdam - 1993 and Veendam - 1996are her sisters). She was named after one of the greatest rivers in Europe, the Rhine (Rijn or later, Ryn in Dutch), 840 miles in length.



tss Ryndam I operated for Holland America Line from 1901 until 1929. She was built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast, Northern Ireland to handle the enormous trans-Atlantic traffic. In the first two decades of the 20th Century, 12.5 million immigrants left Europe for America. During World War I in January 1916, Ryndam I struck a mine in the North Sea off the English coast, sustained damage, but, after initial repairs in England, was able to make it back to Rotterdam. In the spring of 1917, Ryndam I collided with a freighter of New York resulting in all her passengers having to be placed into her life boats. In March 1918, the ship was requisitioned by the United States and used as military troop ship USS Ryndam starting on 21 March 1918. In October 1919, Ryndam I was returned to the Holland America Line and, after a refit, to commercial service. She was sold for scrap in December 1928 and broken up in April 1929 at the town of Hendrik Ido Ambacht in the Netherlands.

The second Ryndam was launched in December 1951 and built by Wilton-Fijenoord in Schiedam, the Netherlands (She was originally laid down in 1949 as the cargo ship Dinteldyk but then redesigned as a passenger ocean liner). She was the first trans-Atlantic liner to have air conditioning and also the first to allot as much as 90% of her cabin space to tourist class passengers, thereby setting new standards for budget travelers. She also introduced the new dove grey hull scheme for Holland America and was the first Atlantic liner with the Strombus aerofoil-type funnel, designed to prevent soot from falling on her decks. Her routing went from Rotterdam to Le Havre, France, Cobh, Ireland and on to New York and back. In the summer months, the ship would sail up the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City and Montreal, Que. In 1966, she was transferred to HAL’s German subsidiary company, Europa-Kanada Linie/Europe-Canada Line. Upon her return to HAL, she first became Waterman, then back to Ryndam. After plying the Atlantic as well as cruises for HAL for twenty one years, she was sold to Greece-based Epirotiki Lines in 1972 who named her Atlas. In 1989 after being sold to Pride Cruise Lines, she began sailing day (gambling) cruises out of Gulfport, Ms as Pride of Mississippi and later as Pride of Galveston. After being laid up in 1991, she became Copa Casino before ultimately sold for scrap in January 2003. While under tow from Mobile, Ala to the breakers at Alang, India, she took on water and sank near the Dominican Republic.

Upon leaving the Monfalcone yard for the first time, Ryndam III ran technical trials in the Adriatic from 13 to 16 June and again from 21 through 23 June 1994. She was handed over to Kirk Lanterman, representing her Holland America Line owners, on 9 September 1994 and was registered in Nassau and flying the Bahamian flag. On 19 September 1994 under the command of Captain Jean ‘Jack’ van Coevorden, she departed on a transatlantic crossing without passengers bound, first for Tampa for some PR visits, and then for Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. Upon arrival there and until 20 October 1994, HAL hosted lunches and VIP visits and she sailed on short two-night cruises for the benefit of travel industry professionals as well as VIP’s. On 20 October 1994, she was christened at Port Everglades’ Pier 26 by her godmother, Madeleine Arison, spouse of Micky Arison, chairman and CEO of the Carnival Corporation.

Her inaugural/maiden voyage that same afternoon, took her on a 11-day southern Caribbean cruise in an area that she would become very familiar with. That maiden voyage was followed by five inaugural 10-day Caribbean cruises from Port Everglades. Consecutive summer seasons would usually find her in Alaska after having made the crossing via the Panama Canal. One of her most popular HAL captains, Capt. Frans Consen when assigned to her, could be heard bellowing her name with the addition of several 'rolling r's' as in Rrrrrrrrryndam, on his 'voice from the bridge' talk around noon time on sea days. On 10 May 1996 she along with her fleet mates (except Veendam) switched from a Bahamian flag and registration (Nassau) to a Dutch one (Rotterdam).




The four ships of the 'S' class are just about identical, having only small changes in their internal layout. However, each one has a different decorative theme. Ryndam's theme is built around the Dutch age of worldwide exploration, with her decor featuring art and artifacts from the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. A muzzle-loading canon from the 17th Century, found on the floor of the North Sea, is one of the more unusual pieces.

Ryndam has one penthouse, 28 suites, 120 deluxe staterooms, 336 outside staterooms and 149 inside staterooms for a total of 633, She, along with her three sisters, were the first new HAL cruise ships to have features like an atrium, a multi (two)-story main dining room and main show lounge, and an indoor/outdoor Lido pool with retractable roof. When launched, Statendam came out with a Java Café coffee bar, Explorers Lounge, Piano Bar, Ocean Bar (a HAL trademark), Crow’s Nest (observation lounge by day/nightclub by night), Erasmus Library, Puzzle Corner, Card room, Hudson room, Half Moon room (the latter two can be combined into one room for meetings and private parties), a 249-seat Wajang (movie) theater (also used for lectures, meetings and religious services), Photo Gallery, Shopping Arcade (plus Kiosk and Boutique), Casino (offering blackjack, Caribbean poker, roulette, craps and 97 slot machines), Beauty Salon, Ocean Spa and Gymnasium (with juice bar, massage area, two sauna and two steam rooms), 403-seat Lido (buffet) Restaurant, the 745-seat two-level Rotterdam dining room connected by a pair of sweeping, curved staircases with shiny brass railings and a ceiling canopy made from hand-blown Venetian glass, two small and private dining rooms known as the Queens and Kings rooms and two outdoor swimming pools (one of which, the Lido pool, that can be closed off with a hydraulic sliding roof called a magrodome), two Jacuzzis plus a small children’s wading pool and two deck tennis courts (since changed to one practice tennis court on port, and one basketball court on starboard side).

The four “S” class ships were all designed with somewhat of a novelty at sea, a public escalator that could be used by embarking passengers on Main deck to reach their cabins on Lower Promenade deck while getting a glimpse of the ship’s atrium (Ryndam lost her escalator while in dry-dock in Esquimalt/Victoria, BC in September 2007 and gained two interior staterooms in its place). That atrium, three-stories high, showcases a monumental fountain created by sculptor Gilbert Le Bigre in Pietrasanta, Italy. The total weight of the fountain, including its marble and bronze base and its fish which pour water into its basin, is about 10,000 pounds. At the forward end of Ryndam’s Lido Pool there is a 12-foot high cast bronze sculpture of five leaping bottlenose dolphins created by the British artist Susanna Holt. The 600-seat Vermeer Theater/show lounge forward on both Promenade and Upper Promenade Decks commemorates Dutch 17th century Baroque Master Johannes Vermeer, and has a tulip theme and a dance floor in front of the stage.

During a regularly scheduled dry-dock in Seattle, WA from 27 September through 5 October 2002, Ryndam was one of two HAL ships (Statendam was the other) to gain a second alternative restaurant, the 66-seat Pinnacle Grill featuring Pacific Northwest fare and fine wines (none of the four “S” class ships were built with one). In order to install the restaurant on Ryndam, Statendam and later, their two “S” class sisters, HAL had the private dining room, known as the Kings room, a portion of the Explores Lounge, the Maitre d’s office, as well as the small 'Video Arcade' gutted and converted that space into a Pinnacle Grill restaurant with 'ocean views’. On the “S” class ships, the PG is located on Upper Promenade Deck starboard side in between the main dining room and the Explorers Lounge. In addition, a new and private concierge lounge, called the Neptune Lounge, was constructed on Navigation Deck for the exclusive use by Deluxe Verandah and Penthouse suite occupants (Ryndam lost eight inside staterooms in order to build the lounge).




In November 2003, Holland America Cruise Line announced a U.S. $225 million program of up-scaling their cruise ships, cruise line image and passenger cruise experience called the 'Signature of Excellence program'. This enhancement program included stateroom amenities (Sealy Premium Plush Euro-top mattresses, 100% Egyptian cotton woven bed linens, waffle-weave and terry cloth bathrobes and extra-fluffy Egyptian cotton towels to all cabin categories); new massage-type showerheads and professional-grade hair dryers in all bathrooms; new flat-screen LCD televisions, magnifying make-up mirrors with halo lightning, fresh flowers and complimentary fruit baskets in all cabins; bed duvets, fully-stocked mini-bars, personalized stationary, DVD players and access to a well-stocked DVD library for all suite-category staterooms.

Also new would be a Culinary Arts Center (inside the Wajang Theater) presented by Food & Wine magazine with a state-of-the-art show kitchen equipped with plasma video screens and on-stage counters for gourmet cooking demonstrations, tasting events and interactive classes; a Wine Tasting Bar and Gourmet Shop where guests can purchase culinary items including china and silverware from the Pinnacle Grill as well as HAL Master Chef’s Rudi Sodamin’s cook books, (in place of her Java Café); the introduction of the Pinnacle Grill alternative restaurant and private Neptune concierge lounge on all ships, two additional dining times in the main dining room, a casual dinner option with table-side waiter service inside the Lido Restaurant; an Explorations Café “powered by the New York Times”, basically a combination internet café, coffee shop and library; a refurbished Crow’s Nest; an expanded Greenhouse Spa and Salon with new treatment rooms offering a thermal suite with hydrotherapy and thalassotherapy hot tub/jacuzzi as well as heated ceramic lounges plus the extension of the fitness facility/gymnasium, out and above the ship’s bridge.



In addition, changes were made for non-adults, including newly expanded youth facilities within the "Club HAL" program and the creation of the interior “Loft” and exterior “Oasis” (on the "S" and "R"-class ships) for teens. The younger cruisers (ages 3-7) can enjoy supervised, age-specific activities in a more comprehensive Youth Program (arts and crafts, face painting, candy bar bingo, a pajama party, story-telling, board games, drawing contests, ice-cream sundae parties, etc.) in Club HAL. Their room has art theme with paint can stools, palette tables, and vibrant colors. Tweens (ages 8-12) have their own arcade area with their own stage, a jukebox, air hockey, foosball, Karaoke, Sony Playstations, a Digital Dance Revolution machine (DDR), vending machines, miniature golf, ping pong, dance parties, sports events, scavenger hunts, etc. The Loft is a teens-only (ages 13-18) lounge designed to resemble a New York artist's loft and comes complete with dance floor, state-of-the-art sound and laser light system, big screen TV, music videos, DVDs, Sony Playstations, a DDR, comfortable couches, and Internet access. On the "S" and "R"-class ships, a spiral staircase leads up to the Oasis, a secluded, teens-only sun deck with covered snack areas where teens can soak up rays in hammocks and then cool off in a one-of-a-kind cave and wade pool complete with nine-foot high tropical waterfall.

Shipboard program changes under SOE #1 included an expanded Exploration Speaker series, unique Medallion and Collection shore excursions, iPod art tours of all ships, new wine packages, an early embarkation program (as early as 11:30 am) for guests, flexible As You Wish dining, expanded Pinnacle Grill menu, exclusive flatware, china and stemware in all restaurants, and a broad expansion of the Greenhouse Spa and Salon facilities and treatments, the renaming and re-branding of the original Odyssey and Marco Polo restaurants to the new Pinnacle Grill.

For Ryndam, the SOE part 1 refit meant the disappearance of her Java Café, Delft Library, Puzzle Corner, Card Room and Fountain Terrace. Ryndam had her SOE enhancements installed while in dry-dock at Victoria Shipyards in Esquimalt, BC in October 2004 and became the first ship in the fleet to showcase the SOE initiative product and service enhancements. In order to “reintroduce” the vessel, Madeleine Arison, the ship's Godmother and wife of Carnival Corp chairman and chief executive officer, Micky Arison, rededicated the ship in a ceremony in San Diego on October 20, 2004. Ryndam departed that same afternoon on her Mexican Riviera cruise under the command of Captain van Coevorden.

In August 2008, HAL announced further enhancements to, as well as new features on, five of the line's most popular ships as part of its ongoing Signature of Excellence program. Over the next two years the four 'S' sisters as well as the lead ship of the 'R' class, ms Rotterdam, were scheduled to undergo extensive dry docks to create new venues, new staterooms and new decor.



On 1 June 2009, HAL announced that, except for Veendam, completed at end of April 2009, and Rotterdam, completed in December 2009, the SOE part 2 enhancements will be accomplished in two phases. First, in a series of dry-docks in 2010 and 2011, Statendam, Maasdam and Ryndam will receive their stateroom upgrades, 16 Spa staterooms, the addition of Mix, Showroom at Sea, Canaletto, Merabella and other public area enhancements. The second series of dry-docks in 2012 and 2013 will add the Lanai cabins. After experiences leakage problem with the Retreat pool concept on both Veendam and Rotterdam, it is unclear if The Retreat pool as well as the new pre-fabricated block of twenty sixnew verandah and five inside staterooms on the stern will be added on Statendam, Maasdam and Ryndam during their next scheduled dry-dock period (for Ryndam scheduled in the fall of 2012).


For Ryndam, the $200 million program began when she entered Dry Dock #3 on 9 February 2010 at the Grand Bahama Shipyard at Freeport, the Bahamas. While there, all of the ship’s existing staterooms were upgraded with new decor, modern wall sconces, carpeting, drapes, pillows and bed runners, resurfaced desks and vanities, and new vanities and cabinetry in the bathrooms. Sixteen staterooms (fourteen outside and two inside) on Verandah Deck, two decks below the nearby Greenhouse Spa, became “Spa staterooms” with a variety of enhanced amenities. Each offers exclusive items such as organic cotton bathrobes and slippers, a yoga mat, an iPod docking station, a countertop water feature, special room service menus and exclusive spa treatments.

The ship’s original Piano and Casino Bars were gutted and reconfigured into a multi-themed new bar concept called "Mix". It features three separate areas where either Champagne, for mid-day mimosas or anytime celebrations, Martinis, for Grey Goose cocktails and martini flights and/or Spirits & Ales for microbrews, single malts and sports updates are served. A number of Microsoft Surface tables can be found inside Mix on which electronic games can be played. In addition, her casino will be redesigned and the entertainment area on Upper Promenade deck will be opened up (walls will literally be knocked down) to create a better flow between shops, bars and the casino.



Inside a section of Ryndam’s Lido restaurant (port side forward), Canaletto a complimentary casual-style Italian restaurant for dinner was created. Canaletto, named for the famous 18th century Venetian artist, which debuted on the ms Eurodam in 2008, will come to life for dinner nightly between 5:30 and 9:30 pm when a section of the ships' Lido restaurant is transformed into the Italian restaurant. Canaletto's menu begins with an antipasti plate that changes nightly, followed by soup choices, salad, four pasta dishes and entrees like Putanesca, Penne alla Vodka, Veal Milanese and Chicken Marsala

Ryndam's main show lounge was transformed into the Showroom at Sea with the ambiance of a nightclub and a new slate of shows and lastly, a Merabella luxury jewelry shop was added mid-ships adjacent the Explorers Lounge on Upper Promenade deck. Ryndam emerged from the Freeport yard on 28 February 2010 and, after sailing to her winter home port of Tampa, Fl, departed on a 7-day Western Caribbean cruise.

On 5 March 2009 while on her Mexican Riviera and Sea of Cortez itineraries, Ryndam gained a Digital Workshop program by Microsoft which is comprised of complimentary classes led by a Microsoft-trained “techspert”. As part of the program, located in the Queen’s Room, her passengers can learn to use computers to enhance photos, produce and publish videos onto a DVD and create personal web pages or blogs. In addition, one-on-one coaching, called “Techspert Time” is available for more than 20 hours each week.

Great thread - semi-bump.

I am glad you did bump it, it's an interesting read.

Copper: I take it that the Ryndam is your favorite ship? You took such care in gathering all that info about her, I enjoyed reading it! It's like 'Encyclopedia Ryndam,' everything that you ever wanted to know.

P.S. Does anyone happen to know that link that you can go to in order to find out when ships are going into dry dock? I am really hoping the Zuiderdam gets a little fluffing up before we go