Holland America Line cancels cruises into 2021

Posted on 12 June, 2020 by Spacejunkie2

Holland America Line Alaska | AlaskaTravel.com

Holland America Line is extending its pause of cruise operations and cancelling additional departures from Vancouver this year.

Selected Hawaii itineraries for early 2021 are also affected.

The extension of cruise cancellations has been made due to “travel and port restrictions continuing for the near future due to global health concerns,” the Carnival Corporation brand said.

Future cruise credits are being offered to customers booked on the cancelled cruises and are valid for cruises until the end of 2022.

People wanting refunds must fill in a ‘cancellation preferences’ form by July 15.

Cruises operated by six ships have been cancelled:

Eurodam:

September 26, 2020, 22-day Panama Canal cruise from Vancouver to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Koningsdam:

September 26, 2020, seven-day Pacific Northwest cruise from Vancouver to San Diego, California.

January 16 and February 2, 2021, Circle Hawaii voyages from San Diego.

Maasdam:

September 21, 2020, 16-day Mexico and Sea of Cortez itinerary from Vancouver to San Diego.

Noordam:

September. 27, 2020, 14-day North Pacific Crossing from Vancouver to Yokohama, Japan.

Volendam:

September 30, October 3 and October 10, 2020, three- and seven-day Pacific Northwest and coastal cruises from Vancouver.

Westerdam:

September 20, 2020, 17-day Circle Hawaii cruise from Vancouver

October 7, 2020, 23-day Inca Discovery voyage from Vancouver to San Antonio (Santiago), Chile.

14 Cruise Ships Received a Perfect 100 Health Score

Posted on 22 April, 2019 by Spacejunkie2

PHOTO: Disney Fantasy by Disney Cruise Line. (photo via Marina113 / iStock Editorial / Getty Images Plus)

According to the CDC, 14 cruise ships earned a perfect health score during their surprise inspections in the last year.

The ships can be found among 10 different cruise lines and include Celebrity Summit, Rhapsody of the Seas, Norwegian Gem, Disney Wonder, Seabourn Quest, Viking Star, Auroa, Disney Fantasy, Noordam, Sea Princess, Disney Dream, Amsterdam, AIDAVITA and Emerald Princess.

All cruise ships that sail to or from the U.S. must undergo a surprise health inspection by the VSP or Vessel Sanitation Program.

Everything from the medical facilities to the swimming pools, portable water systems, child centres, rooms, ventilation systems and common areas of the ship are inspected.

There are 44 items on the VSP’s checklist, so to get a score of 100, the cruise ship had to receive perfect scores on every single item.

Alternatively, a score of 85 or below is considered failing which occurred with the following ships: Ocean Insignia, Ocean Dream, Silver Spirit, Safari Endeavor and Le Boreal.

HAL pulls Noordam from Eastern Med in 2014

Posted on 22 October, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

HAL pulls Noordam from Eastern Med in 2014

By Tom Stieghorst

Holland America Line said it has made the decision to redeploy the Noordam away from its Eastern Mediterranean itineraries for all of 2014.

HAL had already canceled port calls in Egypt for 2014 due to the unrest there. It said those cancellations created further operational and port implications that led to the redeployment.

Noordam will now do central and western Med itineraries next spring and summer. The cruise line is in the process of notifying guests and travel agents.

Guests booked on the previous itineraries can choose any 11- to 14-day cruise in Europe as a substitute, and receive the same stateroom category for the original cruise fare paid, plus a shipboard credit based on the stateroom category previously booked, HAL said.