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.

In the mood for a melody? Hit the piano bar

By Tom Stieghorst

Billy Joel made headlines recently with the news that he’s going to play a monthly concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden for the foreseeable future. Joel’s gig starts Jan. 27. The first four shows are sold out, and prices for a May concert range from $64.50 to $124.50.

The development got me thinking about all the great piano entertainers I’ve seen on cruise ships this year. To my surprise, the piano bar has become a must-visit venue as I check out a ship’s entertainment.

There’s a tendency to reduce cruise entertainment to the main theater offering, because that’s where the cruise lines put on their biggest show and spend the most money.

Last week Royal Caribbean International announced it would license the Broadway musical “Mamma Mia!” featuring the music of ’70s pop group ABBA, which will undoubtedly be popular. But there are a number of secondary venues at sea, and they can be overlooked, especially on bigger ships. The piano bar is one of them. *TomStieghorst

On ships this year, I’ve been thoroughly entertained by solo piano acts in Crooners, on the Royal Princess, in the Piano Bar on the Oosterdam and in Piano Bar 88 on the Carnival Sunshine.

These entertainers were every bit the equal of top players in Las Vegas or London, and in some cases they are one and the same. I’ve also seen a few performers that lacked the energy, the audience rapport or the spontaneity of the best acts, at least on the night I saw them.

One of the things that makes a piano bar such fun is the intimacy of the room and the chance to get to know some of your fellow passengers, with music providing the introductions. On a seven-night cruise with a good piano bar, once word gets out it can be tough to find a seat.

James Barr, a piano entertainer from New York I caught on a recent sailing on the Vision of the Seas, said the audience makes or breaks a piano bar, and the No. 1 job for a good piano entertainer is to cultivate interaction from the audience.

“The more you talk to them, the more they have the nerve to get involved,” Barr said.

London-born, Barr is a self-taught musician who has been playing piano since he was 7. Now 37, he has been playing on ships for 12 years and on Royal Caribbean for nearly a decade.

He honors plenty of requests for “Piano Man” but also likes to mix it up. “Playing things people wouldn’t necessarily expect, like Jay-Z, adds to the energy,” he said.

Many people, I suppose myself included, stereotype piano bars as a lounge for washed-up showbiz types. Agents should prod their clients, especially younger ones, to rethink that assumption. On at least some of the ships I’ve been on, there’s no better place to be entertained.