holland america News

Let's face it: vegetarians still sometimes face an uphill battle when they travel. It's good to know, therefore, that a number of major cruise lines have special vegetarian menus available on board their cruise ships. One such cruise line, Holland America, has just launched a great new all-vegetarian menu. They also added no less than 30 vegetarian meals to the menu in their main dining room.

As a component of its 2012 Alaska CruiseTour schedule, Holland America Line has launched three new options, among them the industry's only three-night Denali adventure as well as CruiseTour departures offering one-night Denali experiences.

Rudi Sodamin, Master Chef and culinary consultant for Holland America line, has once again had the honour of being named Best Cruise Line Chef by the influential Porthole Cruise magazine.

A highlight of Holland America’s Mediterranean season this coming spring is when MS Prinsendam, the smallest and thus also most intimate ship in the company’s fleet with a passenger capacity of only 683, leaves Fort Lauderdale on 12th March on a Grand Mediterranean and Black Sea Voyage that will last 61 nights and visit 14 countries and no less than 32 ports.

This year the Holland America Culinary Arts Centre Programme will play host to a long line-up of celebrity television personalities from the world of gastronomy, including cookbook authors and celebrated chefs. Altogether there will be 60 of them, including “The Next Food Network Star Personality” and YouTube sensation Serena Palumba, Tony Maws – the guy who won the 2011 James Beard Award for “Best Chef: Northeast” and Zac Young, a participant in “Top Chef: Just Desserts.”

New England and Canada itineraries are known for their stunning scenery, historic seaports and culinary delights. This year (2012) Holland America line will offer no less than 27 departures to ports along the North American east coast on three cruise ships: ms Eurodam, ms Maasdam and Ms Veendam.

Holland America Line’s ms Volendam will head for Asian waters in 2013. In total she will offer guests a choice of nine two-week cruises featuring Hong Kong, Singapore and Kobe, Japan.

If the ALLTOUR Index is anything to go by, autumn is an excellent month for taking that exotic cruise you have always dreamt about. The two-monthly luxury travel survey says autumn travel is the ideal time for what it calls a “non-traditional” cruise holiday – particularly for high-end travellers.

From the breathtaking Denali National Park to the stunning Glacier National Park and the Yukon’s Klondike Gold Rush area, Holland America Line has no less than 17 different itineraries to Alaska next year. All of them will allow passengers to immerse themselves in the incredibly rich natural and cultural wonders of Alaska.

Holland America Line’s intimate cruise liner ms Prinsendam and the company’s flagship ms Amsterdam will each depart on two Grand Voyages during the 2013 cruise season. Their four extensive itineraries will feature no less than 322 days of cruising. In the process they will visit over 120 ports in 65 countries around the world.

During the winter of next year and the spring of 2013, Holland America will send two cruise ships – ms Volendam and ms Oosterdam – to the Southern Hemisphere for a number of cruises visiting New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific.

Holland America has decided to offer an extended range of Asian itineraries on board ms Zaandam next year. In total there will be five 13-night Asia Explore cruises.

Holland American Line has announced a competition on its Facebook page that will award a lucky cruise lover with a seven-day cruise to Alaska for four people. They will stay in luxurious veranda staterooms. The closing date is the 30th November 2011 and the name of the winner will be announced in December.

The amazing fjords, national parks and coastlines of New Zealand will open up to more cruise lovers than ever before when Holland America introduces its biggest ever cruise programme in the region at the end of 2011.

Normally one does not expect a cruise ship to drop anchor in the middle of the ocean. This is, however, exactly what happened when Holland America’s cruise liner Ryndam was on its way between Costa Maya in Mexico and Tampa in November 2010.

It seems that Holland America’s cruise ship Prinsendam has made herself very popular in the round-Britain cruise holiday market. She received a hearty welcome at Ilfracombe in North Devon on Friday. The townsfolk were apparently very disappointed when sister ship Rotterdam’s visit, which was scheduled for May, had to be cancelled because of inclement weather.

If you are a cruise fanatic but you simply cannot spare the time – or dare we say it, the money – for a complete world cruise, Holland America has just the thing for you. They have broken up their cruise ship the Amsterdam’s 2012 Grand World Voyage into eight segments that should be within your reach, both time and money wise. The segments vary between 13 and 50 days each.

More than 125 itineraries, five continents and 15 ships – that is the 2011/12 Holland America cruise programme.

During the next few months mouth-watering new dishes from Holland America Line’s prestigious Culinary Council will start to appear on menus in the main dining rooms of the company’s 15 ships. Each of the 6 Culinary Council chefs will provide recipes for their signature dishes as well as desserts that demonstrate their specific fields of expertise.

In a pioneering move for the luxury cruise line, Holland America has decided to base MS Rotterdam in Europe from September 2012. The ship will be based in the Dutch port that bears its name. The reason for the company’s decision lies in the deep historical ties they have with the city and its strategic location in the European North West.

Holland America decided to make the change from providing transatlantic journeys to being wholly dedicated to pleasure cruises 40 years ago. To commemorate this occasion, the company recently launched an essay competition.

Fans of Holland America Line who appreciate good food will no doubt be delighted to hear that a master chef will soon join the cruise line’s ships. Michelle Bernstein, an award winning chef and restaurateur, will join Holland America’s latest ship the Nieuw Amsterdam on its Mediterranean Romance Voyage for a series of demonstrations and interactive lectures.

With their new Stateroom Direct Service program Holland America Cruise Line will make life much easier for cruisers. No longer will they have to check in their luggage and then wait in a public area for their staterooms to become available. In future they will be able to access their cabins as early as 11h30 in the morning.