Tag Archives: Holland America Line

Carnival Cruise Line to Operate Full Ships this Summer at 110 Percent Occupancy

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With its full fleet sailing as of May, Carnival Cruise Line is helping lead the comeback for Carnival Corporation.

The brand is expected to operate at 110 per cent occupancy for the all-important summer season, according to Arnold Donald, president and CEO of Carnival Corporation.

“Carnival Cruise Line, our largest brand, achieved consistently positive adjusted EBITDA beginning in March. Carnival Cruise Line also became our first brand to sail its entire fleet in May and is expecting occupancy to approach 110 per cent during our third quarter,” he said.

Donald, on the company’s second-quarter and business update call, noted these “close-to-home” cruises, where guests perceive far less friction travelling than going abroad.

With a strong North American cruise market, Carnival is pivoting to add more capacity in the form of two redeployed Costa Cruises vessels under the Costa by Carnival umbrella. The Costa Venezia will sail from New York starting in 2023 while the Costa Firenze will homeport in California beginning in 2024.

Holland America’s Noordam Resumes Service After Two Years

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The Noordam is reentering service for Holland America Line today in Florida.

After a 25-month hiatus, the 2006-built cruise ship is resuming commercial service with two repositioning cruises ahead of a summer program in Alaska.

First, the vessel is offering first a Panama Canal cruise. The 17-night voyage sails from Fort Lauderdale to San Diego and features visits to eight ports in Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico.

Once on the West Coast, the Noordam embarks on a four-night Pacific Coastal itinerary that links San Diego and Vancouver, with a stop in Victoria.

The vessel then starts its summer season in the Last Frontier, offering open-jaw cruises between Vancouver and Whittier.

Called “Glacier Discovery,” the vessel’s regular itinerary includes calls in Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan, in addition to cruising at the Glacier Bay and the Hubbard Glacier.

Concluding its Alaska program, the Noordam departs on a special 34-night repositioning voyage to the South Pacific in October.

The itinerary sails to Sydney and features calls in Hawaii, Kiribati, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Tonga and Australia – where the ship is poised to spend the next winter season.

The Noordam originally entered service in 2006 as the fourth ship in a series of four 82,000-ton cruise ships known as the Vista Class.

In 2019, the 1,900-guest vessel was subjected to a major refurbishment that included several upgrades to its cabins and public areas.

Additions comprise the Billboard Onboard to the Music Walk area, the Microsoft Studio in the Explorations Café and Fujifilm Wonder PhotoShop.

Suites were also refreshed with new soft goods, furniture and bathrooms and other areas such as the Pinnacle Grill, the Pinnacle Bar, the Greenhouse Spa and Salon, the Dining Room and Lido Market received extensive enhancements.

In addition to the Noordam, six cruise ships are currently sailing with guests for Holland America Line.

While the entire fleet is set to be in service by July, two additional vessels – the Oosterdam and the Zaandam – are returning in May.

Holland America Line’s Volendam will be used to accommodate around 1,500 Ukrainian refugees.

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HAL will provide three hot meals per day, private stateroom accommodations, housekeeping services, use of public spaces, fitness facilities, internet access and other necessities

It comes as part of a larger commitment from the Netherlands to accommodate 50,000 people who have fled the country following the Russian invasion.

HAL will provide three hot meals per day, private stateroom accommodations, housekeeping services, use of public spaces, fitness facilities, internet access and other necessities while the vessel is docked in Rotterdam. It will be staffed with around 650 crew members.

HAL president Gus Antorcha said the line was in a “unique position” to accommodate the immediate need for food and housing.

“Our company was founded in Rotterdam around the mission of helping immigrants find a better life,” he added. “So today we’re proud to be a small part of a similar mission for Ukrainians who have tragically been displaced.”

Volendam was scheduled to return to service on 15 May, with voyages from Rotterdam to Norway, the British Isles and Iceland.

To accommodate the three-month commitment, Holland America Line will cancel three of those voyages and resume service on 3 July instead. Guests on cancelled cruises are being notified and will be accommodated on similar itineraries.

“We are very sorry for the inconvenience this will cause to guests booked on the three cancelled cruises,” Antorcha said.