Tag Archives: Holland America

Carnival to again sail Mexico’s Pacific Coast year-round

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By Gay Nagle Myers
Carnival Cruise Lines will resume year-round sailings to the Mexican Riviera from Long Beach, Calif., beginning in October.

The line last sailed to Mexico’s Pacific Coast year-round in 2012, although it has operated some cruises on a seasonal basis since then.

The Carnival Miracle will operate three seven-day itineraries, starting next April.

One itinerary is a three-port sailing with calls in Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta. That cruise will mark the return of Carnival to Mazatlan since its pullout in early 2011, citing safety and security issues for passengers following several incidents of crime near the port.

Other lines also cut the Mazatlan stop at the time but have since returned.

“With the return of Carnival, five major cruise lines have now resumed service to Mazatlan, including Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Norwegian Cruise Line and Azamara Club Cruises,” said Frank Cordova, secretary of tourism for the state of Sinaloa.

“We are extremely pleased with the positive developments that have transformed Mazatlan over the past several years, including those in the cruise industry, and are excited about the prospect of future growth in tourism to the destination,” he said.

Those developments include a new $3 million tourism corridor between the Port of Mazatlan and the city’s historic center, making it easier and safer for cruise visitors to reach the heart of the city.

Carnival’s two other Mexican Riviera itineraries include a two-port voyage that pairs a stop in Cabo San Lucas with a two-day overnight stay in Puerto Vallarta.

The third itinerary pairs a visit to Puerto Vallarta with a two-day call in Cabo San Lucas.

Two Holland America ships will move to P&O Australia

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By Tom Stieghorst
Holland America's RyndamCarnival Corp. said it will transfer two of Holland America Line’s ships, the Ryndam and Statendam, to its P&O Australia subsidiary to capitalize on growth prospects in that country.

The ships will depart the HAL fleet in November 2015.

HAL is scheduled to take delivery of a 2,600-passenger newbuild in 2016, and that will more than replace the capacity of the two smaller, older ships.

Statendam and Ryndam, delivered in 1993 and 1994, respectively, each carry 1,260 passengers at double occupancy.

After the move and the delivery of the newbuild in 2016, HAL would have 14 ships in its fleet, and P&O Australia would have five.

The move fits a trend towards replacing a number of smaller ships with fewer, larger ones. Seabourn, a Carnival Corp.-owned luxury line, last year sold three of its 212 passenger ships to Windstar and is taking delivery of a 604-passenger ship in 2016.

Cruise industry capacity has been expanding rapidly in Australia. For Carnival Corp., growth has gone from two P&O ships 10 years ago to six full-time ships, including three from P&O, two from Princess Cruises and one from Carnival Cruise Lines.

The return of the Sun Princess full-time to Australia next year and the two additional P&O ships will increase that number to nine.

Other companies have made similar moves.

The number of Australians taking a cruise has grown 130% in five years, Carnival said. The total of 800,000 last year is projected to grow to 1 million by 2016.

“Our ability to work among our brands to make strategic deployment decisions is a great example of our focus on leveraging our scale and increased collaboration,” commented Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald. “This is an exciting development on many levels.”

Crew member arrested for assault on HAL ship

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By Tom Stieghorst

A 28-year-old crew member on Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam ship has been arrested following an assault on a passenger in her cabin last week.

The crew member was taken into custody by the FBI when the ship docked in Fort Lauderdale at the end of a chartered cruise on Feb. 16.

He has been charged with attempted murder and sexual assault, according to South Florida media reports. Court records say the Indonesian man confessed to the attack, and told investigators that he was responding to a perceived insult to himself and his family.

Holland America has fired him.

“No words can adequately express our shock at this event,” Holland America said in a statement. “We continue to work closely with authorities to understand how this incident occurred and what additional actions we can take to help ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.”

The 31-year-old U.S. citizen was cared for and her condition was stabilized in the ship’s hospital, the statement said. She disembarked the ship on Saturday in Roatan, Honduras, and was transferred by air to a hospital in the U.S.

Nieuw Amsterdam left Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 9 for a week-long western Caribbean cruise. It had been chartered by Bare Necessities Tour & Travel, in Austin, Texas, which specializes in clothing-optional vacations.

Holland America Line said the cabin steward was hired in 2012 following a screening that included a clean criminal history check.

He had no performance issues and came with good references, the statement said.

The line reiterated that it asks for a police screening of nearly all shipboard employees in their country of origin, and that virtually all crew members must get a U.S. visa and be screened by the U.S. government prior to employment.