Having Fun on Cruise Ryndam

During the 7 day Alaska inside passage cruise, we had plenty of time on board - everyday evenings and nights and a couple of days full day, so the first thing we did on board Ryndam was to check the ship out - the walking promenade, swimming pools, library, kids zone, music lounge, art gallery ......

Gourmet food

Food on the Cruise was really good, hearty breakfast, lunch buffet (If we were on board) and formal dinner. Kids actually loved the formal dinner!! First dinner on board was Nicholas' first formal dinner, he was very excited and he ordered the 4-course dinner from adult menu himself! There were 3 formal dinners on board - when we had to follow dress code and had dinners with various people on a large table for 8. The dinners lasted 2 hours or so each time, bu we got time to meet other people. We basically tried all choices on the menu, and liked all of them.

The last dinner on board was a dinner party, chefs, waiters and on board entertainers performed for us - singing and dancing between tables. It was fun.

Big chess

During our walk around of the ship, we noticed a huge on ground chess, Justin and Nicholas started playing the huge chess. Later on they found out that there was daily chess tournament at Cruise library. They played the tournament once or twice, Justin actually beat two adults. Nicholas was not as successful

Swimming

There are two swimming pools on board, one is the sky pool, which is on the top deck in open air, another is indoor swimming pool with pool side food supply. At Kechikan, we returned ship early from our excursion due to mishap in planning, we went to swim - more play than exercise - it surely increased our appetites.

Trivia contests and ping pong tournament

Justin went for a trivia contest by himself, he was in a group with a few old ladies - he really got time to show off his WizQuiz training while endearing those old ladies. When Lily and I went to his group at the end of the contest, one old lady kept telling us how great Justin was. The second time Justin and I went for a second contest, our team mates include three dinning mates - two middle school teachers from California and a Federal government attorney from New York. Due to the presences of middle aged adults, Justin and another supposedly smart kid were kind of intimidated - they did not answer many questions.

The last day Lily and I participated in a ping pong tournament - I won one game!

Piano concerts and other shows

Of all the shows, Justin and Nicholas liked a culinary show and piano concerts/magic show. The culinary show was about making cakes - the ship captain and cruise director making cakes with a hostess explaining the step - it filled with jokes, teasing and humor.

The two piano concerts were what all of us liked the most. The pianist was originally from Poland. He liked to play Chopin's music, and he talked about his understanding of the music he was going to play every time, and from time to time his personal stories - full of emotion. He really captured Justin's full attention. Justin talked to the pianist/magician after his first concert.

There were a lot of shows, activities on board and quiet times if we liked- there was no downtime on the ship until sleep time.