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World's Leading Cruise Lines
With more than 130 years of experience, Holland America Line is recognized as the undisputed leader in the cruise industry’s premium segment. The highest-rated premium cruise line in the world, Holland America Line is a member of the exclusive World's Leading Cruise Lines alliance – sharing a passion to please each guest and a commitment to quality. popup video
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five -star dining
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mid-size ships
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award-wining service
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Holland America offers elegant ships, plush accommodations, attentive service, five-star dining, and extensive activities to exemplify a "Signature of Excellence" premier cruising experience. How ever you plan your day aboard Holland America Line, prepare to be pampered.
Guests of Holland America Line will enjoy the convenience and luxury of shipboard travel and extraordinary onboard service. Compared to other lines in the same category, Holland America Line ships feature larger staterooms and more private verandahs.
Spacious public rooms welcome guests with elegant décor, large arrangements of fresh flowers and multi-million dollar collections of art and artifacts. Wide teak strolling decks are only steps away and offer invigorating ocean air and endless panoramic views.
As our guest, your comfort is our priority. The moment you step on board, a white-gloved steward will escort you to your stateroom where you will find all the comforts of home, as well as a few of the surprises that have made Holland America Line the world's finest premium cruise line. Allow us the pleasure of welcoming you aboard our fleet and you'll experience why our guests choose – and return to – Holland America Line.
Building on 130 years of tradition, Holland America Line is one of the highest-rated cruise lines in the world. Best Overall Cruise Value (15 consecutive years) World Ocean & Cruise Liner Society, Ocean & Cruise News. High Deluxe Five-Star-Plus Rating World Ocean & Cruise Liner Society. International Five Star Diamond Award The American Academy of Hospitality Sciences. Best Cruise Line, Europe Travel Weekly, Readers' Choice Awards. Top Five Cruise Lines Celebrated Living magazine. Travel & Leisure World's Best Awards and the Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards have consistently recognized Holland America for excellence. Allow us the pleasure of welcoming you aboard and you'll soon experience why guests choose Holland America Line again and again.
Spacious, Luxurious Ships: We operate some of the most spacious ships at sea. Designed to carry fewer guests, our ships feature expansive, multi-tiered public rooms and well-appointed staterooms that are 25 percent larger than those of other premium cruise lines.
World-Class Dining: From fresh, casual breakfasts on deck to elegant, five-course dinners in the main dining room and intimate, reservations-only restaurants, Holland America's chefs prepare and serve hundreds of mouthwatering dishes. Naturally, you'll savor gourmet entrées, but be sure to sample signature touches like complimentary hors d'oeuvres, espresso drinks and handmade chocolates.
Convenience and Service: Although you'll visit several ports of call with us, you'll unpack only once. In addition, you'll enjoy impeccable service from the very moment you step on board. Our crew members will handle your luggage, attend to your room, help you choose shore excursions and assist you with anything else you may need.
There are lectures by naturalists, noted authors or celebrities included in the price. On-board sports and fitness centers are yours to use and part of the experience. So is entertainment, from lavish Vegas-style revues to intimate cabaret acts. And there's one element that distinguishes a cruise from all other vacations. That's the voyage itself. That may sound obvious, but think about it.
You're being transported from port to port in the most civilized fashion possible. You're not paying for an airline ticket, or taking a car, bus or train. You do what you like, eat what you like, sleep as long as you like and then you're someplace new. It's an experience no hotel can offer. Activities from dawn to dusk. Life on board your Holland America ship is always exciting. Because there’s always something happening. Join in myriad planned activities, or enjoy quiet time in superb surroundings. Huge bouquets of fresh, fragrant flowers are everywhere. Priceless antiques and artwork line the halls.
And each features a teak promenade that completely encircles the ship, which means there will always be room for you at the rail for sunset watching. Holland America ships are worlds apart from others sailing the globe. And never has the Holland America Five-Star fleet been so attractive. Today, with 14 spacious luxury ships in our five-star fleet - three in our spectacular new Vista Class - we continue to travel the world's waterways, sailing to more than 320 ports of call and visiting scenic cruising destinations on all seven continents.
Holland America Line's fleetwide Signature of Excellence enhancements feature new programs and amenities including the Culinary Arts Center presented by Food & Wine magazine - a state-of-the-art onboard show kitchen where more than 60 celebrated guest chefs and culinary experts will provide cooking demonstrations and classes - Explorations Café powered by the New York Times, teens-only activity areas and all new cabin amenities highlighted by flat-panel TVs and plush-top Mariner's Dream Beds.
Signature of Excellence enhancements encompass virtually every area of our ships and range from new state-of-the-art facilities and public areas to new services and amenities. Ongoing Signature of Excellence enhancements include these additional amenities: Premium Plush Euro-Top mattresses - Highest-quality cotton bed linens - Large, plush towels and deluxe terry bathrobes - Massage shower heads - Lighted, magnifying make-up mirrors - Salon-quality dryers - Welcome basket of fresh fruit - Elegant stainless-steel ice buckets and beverage serving trays.
The premium line began major changes to its first three Vista-class ships when ms Westerdam added 34 staterooms, a Pinnacle Bar, new shops, and an Explorations Café in the Crow’s Nest.
Notable elements of Signature of Excellence include the Culinary Arts Center presented by Food & Wine magazine - a state-of-the-art onboard show kitchen where guest chefs and culinary experts provide cooking demonstrations and classes - Explorations Café powered by The New York Times and teens-only activity areas. Across the fleet, standard stateroom amenities now include flat-panel television sets, make-up mirrors, stainless-steel ice bucket and tray, high-thread-count linens, large fluffy cotton towels, deluxe bathrobes and plush Euro-top Mariner’s Dream Beds.
Shipboard program changes include an expanded Exploration Speaker series, unique Medallion and Collection shore excursions, i-Pod art tours of all ships, early embarkation program, flexible As You Wish dining, expanded Pinnacle Grill menu, exclusive flatware, china and stemware in all restaurants, and a broad expansion of the Greenhouse Spa and Salon facilities and treatments.
On Half Moon Cay, the line’s award-winning private Bahamian island, new shore activities were added, including a stingray adventure, horseback riding, family-friendly aqua park, and personal watercraft course. Holland America Line also created the Private Oasis at Half Moon Cay, a private bungalow extending over the water, where guests can enjoy exclusive butler service, gourmet meals, full bar service, hot tub and massage services.
Holland America Line's Upcoming Culinary Cruises Celebrate Chefs and Recipes From Around the Country.
From wine-country cuisine to the re-invented wholesome fare of early American taverns to Southern-influenced prime seafood, Holland America Line will open its on-board kitchens to over 70 guest chefs from around the country throughout its 2008 cruise season.
Guests can sample the culinary creations of such noted and soon to be noticed chefs as Cornelius Gallagher, former chef at Oceana (NY) and currently with Sonnier and Castle private events; Pichet Ong, chef at P*ong Restaurant; Bobby Stucky, master sommelier at Frasca Food and Wine; Eric Lee, executive chef at Simi Winery; Tenney Flynn, executive chef at GW Fins; Joel Antunes, chef of Joel Restaurant; Max McCalman, Artisinal Cheese; Susan Goss, owner and chef of the West Town Tavern in Chicago and dozens more. Augmenting the chefs will be a score of cookbook authors as well as wine and spirits experts including Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, authors of the "Ultimate" cookbook series, and master mixologists Christy Pope and Chad Solomon.
"In our third year of hosting guest chefs on board, we are reaching out to chefs and culinary experts all around the country," said Richard D. Meadows, CTC, executive vice president, marketing, sales, and guest programs. "What better way to entertain our guests then with notable chefs and experts that reflect the variety of cultures and cuisine found here?"
Holland America Line launched its innovative culinary program in 2005 with the installation of state-of-the-art Culinary Arts Centers aboard each of its 14 premium cruise ships offering culinary demonstrations, tastings and hands-on cooking classes aboard every sailing. The line then took the concept further by partnering with Food & Wine magazine to provide guests on select Holland America Line cruises an opportunity to experience demonstrations and seminars conducted by culinary experts covered in the magazine such as 1999 "Best New Chef" winner James Mazzio, executive chef at Via in Denver, Colorado. Another rising star is Christopher Lee, executive chef of New York's Gilt, selected as one of the ten "Best New Chefs" by Food & Wine Magazine for 2006 who is scheduled to sail aboard the ms Rotterdam in March.
In addition to partnering with Food & Wine to secure top experts, Holland America Line showcases its own culinary stars during each of more than 500 annual cruises with demonstrations, tastings and hands-on cooking classes given by the ships' executive chefs and culinary staff. Plus, with the release of the premium line's new cookbook, A Taste of Excellence, guests can learn preparation techniques for some of Holland America's most delectable dishes and lavish libations as part of the Culinary Arts Center experience.
A state-of-the-art "show kitchen at sea," the Culinary Arts Centers resemble the elaborate show kitchens used by celebrity chefs on television cooking programs. Each facility features a theater-style venue, with two large video screens to display overhead and close-up video views of food preparation, and a large cooking display counter where guests can learn from the masters. Culinary demonstrations also are filmed and aired on in-stateroom televisions. Holland America Line invested more than $13 million to create and install the Culinary Arts Center facilities on each of its ships as part of a $225 million Signature of Excellence initiative.
n 2008, Holland America Line doubles departures of its seven-day deep southern Caribbean itinerary, created for those seeking a week-long cruise to lesser visited Caribbean ports.
I“We are the only major cruise line to offer a seven-day itinerary that sails so far south from Florida,” said Richard D. Meadows, CTC, executive vice president, marketing, sales and guest programs. “It is a popular cruise among our guests for the unique ports of call and the extra day at sea.”
The first port call is at Half Moon Cay, Holland America Line’s award-winning private Bahamian island, where guests can unwind on white sandy beaches and enjoy the aqua blue waters. For the more adventurous, the island offers guided Aqua Trax® tours, deep-sea fishing, kayak tours, horseback riding, parasailing and snorkeling.
