Tag Archives: Pacific Coastal

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 extends cruise cancellations until December

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Holland America Line has become the latest cruise line to extend its pause of cruise operations, cancelling departures on all ships in its fleet until 15 December 2020.

The extended pause affects the Caribbean, Mexico, Panama Canal, Pacific Coastal, South America, Antarctica, Hawaii, South Pacific, Australia and Asia itineraries.

The line said the pause was due to “the continuation of travel and port restrictions due to global health concerns”.

Those guests with impacted cruises automatically will be cancelled, and no action is needed for guests opting for the future cruise credit (FCC).

Guests who paid in full will receive 125 per cent FCC of the base cruise fare, while those with bookings not paid in full will receive an FCC of double the amount of the deposit paid for the cruise. The minimum FCC is $100 and the maximum will be an amount up to the base cruise fare paid.

The FCC is valid for 12 months from the date of issue and may be used to book sailings departing through 31 December 2022. All other funds paid to Holland America Line may be transferred to a new booking or will automatically be refunded via the method of payment used to purchase the services.

Guests who prefer a 100 per cent refund can visit the cruise line’s Cancellation Preferences form to indicate this preference no later than 15 September 2020.

Holland America Line has said that it will protect travel advisor commissions on bookings for cancelled cruises that were paid in full and for the total amount of the FCC when rebooked.

Holland America Line previously paused global cruise operations and cancelled all Alaska, Europe and Canada/New England cruises for 2020; additional departures from the port of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 2020; and select Hawaii itineraries for early 2021.

This week, both P&O Cruises and Seabourn announced that they too would be extending their cruise cancellations due to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 crisis.