Dutch Elegance at its Best

The purchase of this former Transatlantic passenger company for $625 million by Carnival Cruises of Miami in November 1988 created an up market luxury cruising brand, which today operates fifteen of the most sumptuous cruise ships in the world. This great company has consistently gained awards for the best value in luxury cruising, and was founded in 1873 as Nederlandsch Amerikaanische Stoomboot Maats (N.A.S.M.). It adopted the much loved traditional yellow funnel with two green and one white central bands in 1898.

Formation of Holland America Line (N.A.S.M.)

The greatest of the deep sea Rotterdam liner fleets was, of course, Holland America Line, the Nederlandsch Americaanische Stoomboot Maatschappij (N.A.S.M.) founded in April 1873 by Dr. Anton Plate, Otto Reuchlin, and Willem van der Hoeven, and with Prince Hendrik of the Netherlands as its royal patron. This large fleet of over 180 vessels used a nomenclature for passenger liners of names ending in ‘dam’ e.g. Noordam, and for cargo-liners names ending in ‘dijk’ or ‘dyk’. The famous name of Rotterdam has been used six times including for the first ship that made her maiden voyage across the Atlantic on 15th October 1872. She was owned by Plate, Reuchlin & Company, founded earlier that year by Dr. Anton Plate, Otto Reuchlin, and Marten Mees. Emigrant passengers and cargo were hard to find during that first winter with the company almost forced into liquidation, and consequently Nederlandsch Americaanische Stoomboot Maatschappij (N.A.S.M.) was founded on 9th April 1873 with a capital of two million guilders with investment by new shareholders to take over Rotterdam and her sister Maas. Unlike French line, Norddeutscher Lloyd and Hamburg Amerika Line, the new company had no government subsidies or mail contracts and relied solely on emigrant traffic. The new company was managed by three Managing directors, a practice that was maintained for the next hundred years.

Head office of the new company was on Wilhelminakade and improvements were being made at this time to the New Waterway, which joined the port to the North Sea, and much deepening was needed before larger vessels could transit. The port of Amsterdam was used during 1892/93 by larger company vessels because of the very long deepening and construction time of the New Waterway. The title of Holland America line began to be used officially in 1898 instead of N.A.S.M. since it was easier to pronounce in the united States, and the fleet at this time consisted of nine liners in Statendam of 10,491 grt, Rotterdam (3) of 8,186 grt, Amsterdam (2) of 3,629 grt, Maasdam (2) of 3,707 grt, Edam (3) of 3,329 grt, Obdam of 3,254 grt, Spaarndam of 4,368 grt, Veendam of 3,707 grt and Werkendam of 3,573 grt. Three more larger liners of 12,350 grt were also under construction or on order as Potsdam, Ryndam and Noordam.

The first cargo liners joined the fleet in 1901 from the Hartlepool yard of Furness, Withy & Co. ltd. in Soestdijk, Amsteldijk and Sloterdijk of 9,095 dwt. The company entered into an arrangement with Furness, Withy & Co. ltd. eight years later under which it took over the six cargo ships of the Neptune line, which operated the Rotterdam to Baltimore service. Part of the deal was that Furness Shipping & agency ltd. of Rotterdam would remain agents for the service and Furness, Withy & Co. ltd. would remain the agents on the American coast. Holland America line then appointed Furness, Withy & Co. ltd. as their agents at Baltimore, Newport News, Philadelphia and all Canadian east coast ports, later also becoming agents for the Pacific coast ports and on the great lakes. Three of the six cargo ships acquired were built on Tyneside of 10,100 dwt during 1907/09.

New passenger liners were constructed by Harland & Wolff ltd. at Belfast during 1906/08 in Nieuw Amsterdam and Rotterdam (4), the latter ship at 24,149 grt remaining the biggest ship in the fleet until 1929. She had accommodation for 520 First Class passengers, 555 Second class passengers and 2,500 steerage passengers. Nieuw Amsterdam could accommodate 417 First Class passengers, 391 Second Class passengers and 2,300 in steerage.

World War I

By 1915, a large fleet of 36 ships had been built up consisting of passenger liners, cargo liners, passenger tenders and harbour craft such as tugs. This number had recently been augmented by nine purchased ships to take advantage of the gap that had arisen from German liners no longer operating their services to New York in wartime. Several ships were badly damaged by mine or torpedo during the war, with two lost, including the three funnelled liner Justicia of 32,234 grt, which was being managed for the British government. She was torpedoed by uB-64 on 19th July 1918 off Fanad Head in the North Channel off Northern Ireland while on a voyage from Belfast to New York, and it took another five torpedoes to sink her, all fired in broad daylight. The cargo liner Zaandijk had been torpedoed and sunk on 22nd February 1917 by u-21 off the Scilly Isles.

In 1921, the big Holland America line fleet stood at thirty liners and cargo ships, with another 17 ships building, in addition to sixteen passenger tenders and harbour craft. The fleet served on a dozen different routes across the Atlantic to Canada, East Coast and West Coast of the United States, Mexico, Cuba and Caribbean ports, although the express passenger service remained between Rotterdam and New York. Other routes were from Rotterdam to the Middle East, India and Burma via the Suez Canal, and between New York and the Dutch East indies. During the 1920s the company increased its position on the North Atlantic as competitors such as the Red Star line were declining. The express Rotterdam to New York service was now weekly with calls at Boulogne and Plymouth, the latter port replaced by Southampton westbound in 1923. Two large liners, Rotterdam (4) and Nieuw Amsterdam, with extremely comfortable accommodation alternated their sailings with those of a smaller pair, Ryndam and Noordam, completed in 1901/02. The cargo-liner fleet was updated with eight ‘B’ class ships of 9,800 dwt during 1921/22 in Burgerdijk, Blijdendijk, Binnendijk, Blommersdijk, Bilderdijk, Boschdijk, Breedijk and Beemsterdijk.

However, Holland America line was very badly hit by the severe curtailment in US immigration from a pre-war figure of many millions to only 360,000 people in 1921 and then was further slashed to only 160,000 people in 1924. A three funnelled liner of 29,500 grt had been ordered from the Belfast yard of Harland & Wolff ltd. in 1921, but after her launch as Statendam (3) on 11th September 1924 she was laid up for over four years and eventually sailed on her maiden voyage on 11th April 1929 to New York to replace Ryndam. She had accommodation for 510 first class passengers and 1,144 passengers in second and third classes. Intermediate liners of the inter war years included the Volendam and Veendam of 15,434 grt completed in 1922/23, and the twin funnelled quartet of Spaarndam, Maasdam, Leerdam and Edam completed in 1922 for the service to Cuba and Mexico. This quartet had two earlier cargo-liner sisters in Gaasterdijk and Grootendijk, and their passenger accommodation was much altered during the inter war years with their Third Class accommodation abolished in 1934 to leave only 28 passengers in First Class. Their second dummy funnels were removed when transferred to the US East coast service in 1934, and they had six holds served by 35 derricks to handle their 11,400 tonnes of cargo. Spaarndam and several other company vessels spent more than four years in lay up during the depression.

The attractive profile of the large twin funnelled liner Nieuw Amsterdam of 36,287 grt when completed in April 1938 by the Rotterdam dry dock yard made her the ‘star’ liner of the inter war period. She cost $12 million and had a good amount of sheer in her hull with her second funnel as a dummy, and after her maiden voyage to New York on 10th May 1938 she quickly earned a reputation as one of the loveliest liners ever built. She had accommodation for 556 first class, 455 in tourist class and 309 in third class, and was twin screw with her Parsons turbines giving a service speed of 21 knots. She had very beautiful interior decoration in her public rooms, with ivory walls, satinwood furniture, pale gold ceilings and column supports gilded with gold leaf.

World War II

The intermediate liners Noordam, Westerdam and Zaandam completed in 1938/39 of 10,800 grt were basically cargo ships with accommodation for 160 passengers in a superior Tourist Class. They operated the Rotterdam to New York and Philadelphia route until the Spring of 1940 when they were laid up. The fleet strength on 1st September 1939 was 28 ships, of which 4 were set on fire and lost when the Germans entered Rotterdam on 10th May 1940. The three funnelled liner Statendam was deliberately set on fire and the flames were then bombed to make her a total loss along with Boschdijk, Dinteldijk, Drechdijk, with Damsterdijk and Veendam badly damaged but recovered at the end of the war. The Wilhelminakade quay and terminal of the company was completely destroyed, and six others of the fleet became war losses.

This invasion of the Netherlands by German troops on 10th May 1940 marked the start of the destruction of this fine Dutch fleet, with its passenger liners Statendam and Veendam berthed at the Wilhelminakade passenger terminal at Rotterdam, and cargo ships Boschdijk, Damsterdijk, Dinteldijk and Drechtdijk also in port. Statendam was unfortunately caught in the cross fire during the battle for the port and was destroyed by fire. Veendam was damaged and fell into German hands, and after war use was eventually recovered by the company and recommissioned in 1947. The fleet in May 1940 consisted of 15 passenger ships with names ending in ‘dam’, and 13 cargo ships with names ending in ‘dijk’. This fleet suffered heavily during the war in allied use and at the hands of the Germans, with only ten survivors at the conclusion of hostilities, including the magnificent flagship Nieuw Amsterdam completed in 1938, and the incomplete passenger and cargo liner Westerdam lying at a Schiedam shipyard.

Post-War Service

Westerdam was completed in June 1946 and took the first post war passenger sailing of the company when she sailed from Rotterdam to New York on the 28th of that month. Nieuw Amsterdam resumed her service from Rotterdam to le Havre, Southampton and New York on 29th October 1947 after a £2 million refit which cost more than her original cost of construction. The smaller liners Veendam, Volendam, Noordam, Edam and Leerdam were also back in Transatlantic service by 1947. The post war rebuilding of the cargo fleet commenced in 1946, with a dozen ‘victory’ types with a good turn of speed of sixteen knots and accommodation for a dozen passengers, three ‘Empire’, three ‘C3’ types and a ‘liberty’ ship, all given names beginning with ‘a’ for a new beginning e.g. Aalsdijk. a German cargo-liner that had been seized by the Dutch authorities in Curacao in May 1940 was renamed Duivendijk for the North American service and gave 14 years more service to the company. The Belfast yard of Harland & Wolff ltd. completed two cargo liners as Soestdyk and Schiedyk, so that as trade picked up again by the end of 1949, the fleet had been restored to its May, 1940 level and comprised 28 liners and cargo ships.

Four cargo liner hulls of 500 feet in length were ordered from the Schiedam yard of Wilton Fijenoord, of which the first was completed in June, 1950 as Diemerdyk of 11,780 dwt for the Pacific route. However, the second and third hulls were completed as the grey hulled ‘nonexpress’ passenger liners Ryndam and Maasdam with accommodation for 39 First Class passengers and 854 in Tourist Class. They were employed until 30th March 1960 on the Rotterdam to Southampton, le Havre and New York route and then were switched to the Quebec and Montreal run during the summer seasons. The fourth hull was completed as the cargo-liner Dinteldyk in March 1957.

The sisters Maasdam and Ryndam of 1951/52 introduced the dove grey hull livery to the company, and had a minimal first class accommodation of 39 passengers to conform to the ‘two class’ definition required by the North Atlantic Passenger Conference of the time, as well as accommodation for 854 tourist class passengers. The pair also made occasional Round the World voyages from the end of 1964 to January 1968 on charter to other Dutch shipping companies or on student cruises. Maasdam was sold to Polish ocean lines in 1968 and renamed Stefan Batory and later arrived for scrapping at Aliaga in Turkey on 22nd March 2000, while Ryndam was sold in 1972 to Greek buyers and rebuilt as the cruise ship atlas, later becoming a static casino ship at Galveston and Gulfport.

The flagship liner Nieuw Amsterdam now had accommodation for 1,200 passengers in three classes, but was converted into a two class ship in 1957 and given a grey hull instead of her previous black hull in order to sail with the new grey-hulled liner Statendam completed in January 1957 by the Wilton Fijenoord yard at Schiedam. The new liner had accommodation for 950 passengers in two classes with a crew of 437. Steam turbines propelled both of these great liners, with a Transatlantic service speed of 21 knots, however this could be increased if time had to be made up due to unforeseen circumstances. The six passenger liners of the company made a total of 55 Transatlantic passenger round voyages to New York in 1957, the highest post war number, and the cargo fleet made hundreds of cargo ship voyages. The six liners were Nieuw Amsterdam, Westerdam, Noordam, the new Statendam, and Maasdam and Ryndam.

The new flagship liner Rotterdam was launched by Queen Juliana of the Netherlands on 13th September 1958 at Rotterdam, her home port. Her profile was new to the Atlantic, with twin exhaust funnels placed aft in contemporary style, contrasting with the twin funnelled traditional profile of Nieuw Amsterdam, whose profile was in fact very similar to that of Queen Elizabeth of Cunard line, with which she had often travelled in wartime convoys. Rotterdam had accommodation for 1,456 passengers in two classes, a crew of 776, and was propelled by Parsons steam turbines to give a service speed of 21 knots on Transatlantic service. She was also used for cruising in the early 1960s, together with Nieuw Amsterdam and Statendam after Transatlantic passenger sailings declined rapidly during the early 1960s due to air competition. in the last good year of 1964, only 50 voyages were made to New York from Rotterdam and 11 to Montreal, falling to only 21 crossings in 1968 and only 13 crossings a year later.

Rotterdam became a full time cruise ship in 1969, Statendam having also ceased Transatlantic sailings three years earlier, with Nieuw Amsterdam following in September 1971 when the Transatlantic passenger service was ended after 98 years of operation. Nieuw Amsterdam had a particularly devoted passenger following, and had cruised for six months of the year, and after sailing on her last cruise from Port Everglades on 9th January 1974 to Curacao, Panama and Los Angeles with passengers, she continued on across the Pacific to Kaohsiung for scrapping, arriving on 2nd March.

The cargo ship fleet of the company had increased to thirty ships by 1960, with six of the ‘K’ class completed during 1956/61. Freight services also operated to South American ports with a terminus at Buenos Aires, and from Bremerhaven to Canada on the Europa-Canada line jointly with Rotterdam Lloyd, as well as to all Eastern Seaboard USA ports, US gulf and Cuban ports, and North Pacific Canada/USA ports. a freight service also connected Canadian and US Eastern Seaboard ports, and US gulf ports to Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. Four new ‘g’ class cargo-liners were completed by Rotterdam drydocks during 1960/63 as Gaasterdyk, Grebbedyk, Grotedyk and Gorredyk of 10,200 dwt, as well as Moerdyk of 12,700 dwt in 1965 for these services, Moerdyk being the final cargo liner completed for the company.

When the smaller liner Westerdam of 1946 made her last Transatlantic voyage in October 1964, she was replaced by the mini liner Prinses Margriet. The latter ship was of 9,336 grt and had been completed in 1961 for the Canadian service of Oranje Line N.V., Rotterdam with Anthony Veder & Company as managers. She had been designed to sail right up the St. Lawrence Seaway to Chicago, and was a well respected ship. She had an unusual slatted funnel, and was chartered by Holland America line for a freight only voyage to New York in June 1964 and was then purchased by the company. However, she was chartered from the end of 1967 to K.N.S.M. of Holland for their Caribbean service from New York to Trinidad, la Guairá and terminating at Curacao. She moved to Pacific service in 1970 on her sale by the company to Nauru Pacific line for passenger services from Nauru to New Zealand as Enna G.

Holland America line was one of the original founders of the new Atlantic Container line (ACI) consortium, with their Atlantic Star completed at Dunkirk in November 1967 two months after the service had begun. Atlantic Star was a roro/ container ship of the first generation of four ACI ships, and was followed by six second generation ACI ships in 1969, Atlantic Crown being the company contribution. Five third generation ACI ships were later completed in 1985 for the ACI Transatlantic service linking Gothenburg, Bremerhaven and Antwerp with New York and Eastern Seaboard of the USA ports.

The cargo fleet of the company during its centenary year of 1973 consisted of five cargo liners, one ‘lash’ barge ship Bilderdyk, and two container ships Atlantic Star and Atlantic Crown operating in the Transatlantic Atlantic Container line (ACI) service formed by four companies in 1965. The company withdrew from the North Pacific cargo service in January 1974, and the heavy lift fleet of Van der Laan Shipping & Trading, which had been purchased in 1971, was put up for sale. The diversified businesses of ship chandlers, ship instruments, steel cable and tarpaulin manufacturers were also disposed of so that Holland America line could concentrate on worldwide cruising and particularly to Alaska from Vancouver where it was the world leader. on New Year’s day 1975 the Brostrom group took over the entire cargo transport division of Holland America line for £40 million. a new company was formed, intercontinental Transport (ICT) B.V., which became better known as the Incotrans Group, and Brostrom took over five Transatlantic cargo ships. The ACI ro-ro ship Atlantic Saga was now partnered by her now Incotrans owned sisters Atlantic Crown and Atlantic Star. The company ‘lash’ barge carrier Bilderdyk, completed in Belgium in 1972, was also transferred to Incotrans, she operated on the Combi line service from Antwerp and Sheerness to Savannah in the USA in company with sister Munchen of Hapag-Lloyd. Lykes lines of New Orleans also had three ‘lash’ barge carriers built by the general dynamics Fore River yard at Quincy (Mass.) as Almeria Lykes, doctor Lykes and Tillie Lykes for the Transatlantic cargo service from Rotterdam to New Orleans.

Dedicated Worldwide Cruising

The company had switched to full time cruising in September 1971 when their Transatlantic passenger service was ended. The flagship Rotterdam began each year with a luxury three month cruise from New York. However, the company was keen to diversify further into the cruising market, and later that year purchased a majority control of the Alaska Westours business of Charles West, renaming it Holland America Westours inc. Charles West had formed arctic Alaska Tours in 1947 for inland expeditions meeting Alaska Steamship Company vessels at Valdez and Seward. He then set up Westours inc. in 1951 at Seattle, and in 1957 began offering Alaska cruises using chartered passenger ships from the union Steamship Company of British Columbia, as well as chartering the converted Canadian frigate Stella Maris, first ship of the newly formed Sun line cruise fleet of Greece. This culminated in his purchase of his own cruise ship West Star in 1970, which had been built as the Spanish cruise ship Cabo Izarra of 3,658 grt in 1967.

Holland America line then received their first purpose built cruise ship in November 1973 when their Prinsendam of 8,566 grt was completed by the de Merwede yard in Hardinxveld in Holland. She was built for Indonesian cruising, but this did not develop sufficiently quickly, and in 1975 she replaced West Star on Alaska cruises. Holland America Westours inc. then went on to significantly develop Alaskan cruising from Vancouver, with an extensive network of 18 hotels, 5 small dayboats, 240 motor coaches and 8 glass domed railcars. The flagship Rotterdam also included an Alaskan leg of her annual world cruise up to 1976. Prinsendam spent her summers cruising to Alaska, and her winters based on Singapore, until her unfortunate loss off Alaska on 11th October 1980 due to an engine room fire. The latest Westours day cruiser is Yukon Queen II of 239 gt built in 1999 at Fremantle with an aluminium hull and propelled by four Caterpillar 12-cylinder oil engines to give a service speed of 35 knots.

Statendam was the first company cruise ship to wear the new company colours of a dark blue hull and orangey red funnel with a green and white modern logo in 1972, when she offered Bermudan, Caribbean, Mediterranean and Northern Europe cruises from New York. Two newcomers to the fleet also wore these colours, the South American liners Argentina and Brasil of 1958 purchased from Moore-McCormack and renamed Veendam and Volendam respectively. They were rebuilt for Bermudan, Caribbean and South American cruising.

However, this was short lived, and they were laid up for some years until chartered to Monarch Cruises for $5,000 each per day in 1976 and renamed Monarch Star and Monarch Sun. in 1978, the ailing Monarch Cruise line was purchased by the company, and the pair reverted to their Holland America names until sold in 1983/84.

In 1973, the company left their opulent headquarters building beside the banks of the Maas in Rotterdam to move to Stamford in Connecticut, in order to compete more efficiently in the American cruise market as Holland America Cruises. Rotterdam completed her last round the world cruise in 1976, and then concentrated on shorter, less expensive cruises. a new flagship then joined the fleet in July, 1983 after completion at the St. Nazaire yard of Chantiers de l’Atlantique as Nieuw Amsterdam of 33,930 gt with accommodation for 1,374 passengers and a crew of 559. She was followed by her identical sister Noordam in April 1984 from the same yard. in 1983, the company ceased operating cruises to Bermuda from New York, and moved its headquarters again, this time to Seattle to be nearer its main cruising market of Alaska.

Takeover By Carnival Cruises

In November 1988 Holland America Cruises and Holland America Westours inc., their four cruise ships of Rotterdam (5), Nieuw Amsterdam (3), Noordam (3) and Westerdam(2), and Windstar Sail Cruises, just purchased a few months before, were all sold to Carnival Cruises of Miami for $625 million. included in the sale were the last two ships of Home lines acquired that year, but only Homeric of 1986 was retained and renamed Westerdam (2), and she was sent back to her builders in October 1989 for a $84 million refit and lengthening and she emerged in March 1990 with accommodation for 1,494 passengers. Windstar Sail Cruises had been formed in 1984, and their three stylish sail cruise ships were then completed as Wind Star, Wind Song and Wind Spirit for Pacific cruising based on Tahiti and Caribbean cruising based in the Windward islands.

Carnival Cruises planned to move their new purchase of Holland America Cruises and Holland America Westours inc. further up the luxury cruising market, with winter cruising from Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and New Orleans, and their mainstay Alaskan cruises between May and September. a new company logo of a black hulled megacruiser and a white sailing ship within a black lined ellipse was introduced during 1989, and then featured on their white funnels with black tops. Currently, the prices of Holland America Cruises in the Caribbean for a same sized cabin are 27% more expensive than Carnival Cruises, however passengers get a much superior Five Star Plus product with one crew member for every two guests.

Meanwhile, Statendam of 1957 had been sold in 1982 and renamed Rhapsody with a white hull and operated by Paquet Cruises of France, and then in 1986 to Antonios Lelakis and his Regency Cruises and renamed Regent Star. Her name was used again, however, for one of the four new company cruise ships of 55,450 gt completed between 1993 and 1996 by Fincantieri of Italy as Maasdam, Ryndam, Statendam and Veendam. The same Italian shipbuilder then completed the new flagship Rotterdam of 62,000 gt in September 1997, and three more megacruisers of 65,000 gt during 1999/2000 as Volendam, Zaandam and Amsterdam with accommodation for 1,738 passengers.

The renowned fleet had by now been brought back under the Dutch flag, with eleven cruise ships in October 2000 when Nieuw Amsterdam was sold to American Classic voyages for Hawaiian cruising in a dark blue livery from Honolulu and renamed Patriot. However, she was laid up at Honolulu in October 2001 after the financial collapse of her owners, and she left Honolulu on 15th March 2002 for Charleston (SC) for a refit, having been reacquired by Holland America and given her old name back again. during 2003/04, both she and her sister Noordam were then sold to Thomson Cruises and renamed Thomson Spirit and Thomson Celebration respectively.

Royal Viking Sun, completed in 1988 for Royal Viking line with a white hull and then sold to Cunard line in June 1994, and regarded as one of the most luxurious cruise ships in the world, was acquired during 2002 as Seabourn Sun and renamed Prinsendam. She has luxury accommodation for only 835 guests in spacious double staterooms over her nine decks, with 15 public rooms, 3 restaurants, 2 swimming pools, cinema, casino, a spa and fitness centre, library, launderette, internet centre, art gallery, putting greens and sports courts, as well as a shopping mall. She is automatically stabilised, and has a service speed of 22 knots from her Wartsila oil engines.

In November 2002 the first of five ‘Vista Class’ megacruisers was completed in Italy as Zuiderdam of 81,780 gt with accommodation for 1,916 guests in double staterooms spread over her eleven decks. Her sisters were completed as Oosterdam in 2003 having been christened by Princess Margriet, Westerdam in 2004, Noordam in 2006, with the fifth ship completed instead for Cunard line as Queen Victoria in 2007. The previous Westerdam of 1986 had been transferred in 2002 to Costa lines as Costa Europa.

The luxury Dutch fleet thus numbered thirteen megacruisers at the end of 2006, and was augmented by Eurodam, the first of the new ‘Signature’ class of 86,273 grt with a length of 290 metres and accommodation for 2,160 guests, at Rotterdam in July 2008. She was completed by the Marghera yard of Fincantieri in Italy, and had arrived at Southampton on 27th June 2008 from the Marghera yard. Eurodam was named at her home port of Rotterdam on 1st of July, and then sailed on her maiden European cruise, and spent the summer of 2009 on European cruising visiting Bergen, Flam, Oslo, Skagen and Copenhagen in Denmark, Kiel and Warnemunde in Germany, Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, and the Tyne, Edinburgh and Invergordon in the UK. She spends the rest of the year cruising out of Fort Lauderdale to the Eastern Caribbean. Rotterdam completed an epic 117 day Round the World cruise that lasted from January to May 2009, and the rest of this elite fleet were occupied on Alaskan, Caribbean, Mediterranean, Panama Canal, Pacific, Mexican, European, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand cruises.

The fleet of luxury megacruisers was augmented during 2010 by the second ‘Signature’ class ship Nieuw Amsterdam. The ‘vista’ and ‘Signature’ class ships are powered by diesel generators and propelled by azipod propulsion technology, giving a cruising speed of 22 knots. The five oldest cruise ships, Ryndam, Statendam, Maasdam, Veendam and Rotterdam, were refitted by 2012 to provide new staterooms and décor to maintain their luxury Five Star Plus rating in the prestigious Holland America Cruises fleet.

Cruising Fleet Of 2016

The current fleet of fifteen luxury cruise ships have the capability of carrying almost one million passengers on short, medium or long cruises per year. Prinsendam (the former Royal Viking Sun) and Amsterdam make annual world or long cruises lasting over sixty days at the beginning of the year. Prinsendam is especially luxurious and in a class of her own with accommodation for 835 passengers on eight passenger decks. The fourteen remaining cruise liners in the fleet belong to five classes, as follows :-

‘S’ CLASS of Statendam, Maasdam, Ryndam and Veendam completed during 1993/96 with accommodation for 1,260 passengers on nine passenger decks.

‘R’ CLASS of Rotterdam, Volendam, Zaandam and Amsterdam completed during 1997/2000 with accommodation for 1,432 passengers on nine passenger decks.

‘VISTA’ CLASS of Zuiderdam, Oosterdam, Westerdam and Noordam completed during 2002/06 with accommodation for 1,924 passengers on ten passenger decks.

‘SIGNATURE’ CLASS of Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam completed during 2008/10 with accommodation for 2,160 passengers on eleven decks.

‘PINNACLE’ CLASS of Koningsdam and an unnamed sister with accommodation for 2,670 passengers on twelve passenger decks. Koningsdam made her maiden cruise in April 2016 with special features of three deck atriums, two deck Queen’s lounge and dining Rooms, and a luxury ‘Pinnacle’ grill, denoting this class of luxury cruise ships of 99,500 gt. The sister of Koningsdam will be delivered in November 2018.

All of the earlier cruise ships were updated during 2004/06 at a cost of $225 million with a ‘Signature of Excellence’ upgrade to their dining and public rooms, services, accommodation and facilities. all stewards are now sent to the company training school in Jakarta (Indonesia) so that all personnel who have never been to sea before can be acquainted with life on a luxury cruise ship. Holland America line vessels are noted for their interior decoration, and their exteriors of black hull, white superstructure and ‘ship’ logo on their funnels are equally attractive.