Zuiderdam Sets Sail on Holland America’s Voyage of the Vikings

Zuiderdam Sets Sail on Holland America’s Voyage of the Vikings

The Zuiderdam sailed from Boston recently to kick off Holland America Line’s 35-night “Voyage of the Vikings.”

The 2002-built ship is now scheduled to visit destinations in Canada, New England, Greenland, Iceland, the United Kingdom and Scandinavia before returning to its homeport in North America.

As part of Holland America’s Legendary Voyages program, the cruise is highlighted by an overnight call to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, as well as stops in off-the-beaten-path destinations.

Among the lesser-visited ports welcoming the Zuiderdam are Red Bay in Canada, Paamiut in Greenland, Husavik in Iceland and Douglas in the Isle of Man.

After visits to a total of 20 destinations, the 82,305-ton ship is scheduled to return to Boston, ending the Legendary Voyage on August 20, 2026.

Following the cruise, the Zuiderdam is scheduled to spend the remainder of the summer season offering itineraries in Canada and New England.

With cruises sailing between Boston and Quebec City, the deployment runs through late October, when the ship is scheduled to reposition to Florida.

Before the end of the year, the vessel offers a series of seven- to 10-night cruises to the Caribbean departing from PortMiami.

In early 2027, the ship repositions to the West Coast for cruises to the Mexican Riviera and Baja Peninsula regions.

Holland America recently confirmed that the Zuiderdam will be the second ship to undergo a refurbishment as part of the company’s Evolution refit program.

Following the Oosterdam, the Vista-class ship will introduce new and updated features, including a series of solo staterooms with balconies.

The 1,900-passenger ship will also welcome a Grand Dutch Café, a coffee shop inspired by the European café culture that first debuted on Pinnacle-class ships.

Described as the largest fleet investment in the company’s 153-year history, the Evolution program will also include refits for four additional vessels: the Westerdam, the Noordam, the Eurodam and the Nieuw Amsterdam.

Majestic Princess Kicks Off Repositioning Cruise to Boston

Majestic Princess Kicks Off Repositioning Cruise to Boston

The Majestic Princess recently sailed from Southampton to kick off a repositioning cruise to Canada and New England.

After sailing from the British port on July 18, the Princess Cruises vessel is now offering a 15-night voyage that will end in Boston.

The trans-Atlantic cruise features visits to destinations in Iceland and Canada, including Reykjavik, Isafjord and Grundarfjordur, as well as Charlottetown, Sydney and Halifax.

After arriving at its new homeport in North America, the Majestic Princess is set to kick off its first-ever fall foliage season in Canada and New England.

Sailing round-trip from Boston, the vessel offers seven-night cruises around the region that include visits to Portland, Halifax, Sydney, Eastport and Saint John.

In September, the Majestic Princess is also scheduled to offer open-jaw itineraries that sail between Quebec City and Boston.

Upon completing the deployment on the East Coast, the 141,000-ton ship is set to reposition to Fort Lauderdale for itineraries in the Caribbean.

Before arriving in Florida, the vessel offers a 14-night “Canada and Colonial America” itinerary that sails between Quebec City and Port Everglades.

The open-jaw itinerary includes visits to Saguenay, Charlottetown, Sydney, Halifax, Boston, New York City, Newport and Norfolk.

As part of its 2025-26 winter season, the Royal-class ship offers six- to eight-night cruises from Fort Lauderdale to destinations in the Western, Southern and Eastern Caribbean.

Originally designed for service in China and Asia, the Majestic Princess was built at the Fincantieri shipyard in 2017.

Before kicking off its maiden season in the Mediterranean earlier this year, the 3,600-guest ship underwent a major refurbishment at a shipyard in Italy.

As part of the modernisation project, the vessel debuted new venues, reimagined spaces and refined touches, including the addition of O’Malley’s Irish Pub and Bellini’s Cocktail Bar.

The Majestic Princess also got new dining options, such as the Ocean Terrace Sushi Bar, Alfredo’s Slice and The Salty Dog Grill.

Norwegian Pearl Kicks Off Summer Program in Boston

Norwegian Pearl Kicks Off Summer Program in Boston

The Norwegian Pearl is in Boston today to kick off its 2023 summer program in the U.S. Northeast.

Following a winter season in the Caribbean, the Norwegian Cruise Line vessel is set to offer different itineraries to Bermuda, Canada and New England departing from the Massachusetts homeport.

Extending through mid-October, the program begins with a series of week-long cruises to Bermuda. In addition to two or three overnights in King’s Wharf, some of the itineraries also include a visit to Bar Harbor, in Maine.

Continuing its Boston-based season, the Norwegian Pearl offers itineraries to Canada and New England starting in mid-August.

The fall and foliage program comprises both roundtrip and open-jaw departures and continues through late October.

Also sailing from Quebec City, the ship’s week-long itineraries in the region feature visits to destinations such as Halifax, Saguenay, Sydney, Charlottetown and Portland.

Upon completing its schedule in the Northeast, the Norwegian Pearl is set to return to Florida for a winter season sailing from PortMiami.

Following the Norwegian Jewel and the Norwegian Jade, the Norwegian Pearl debuted in 2006 as the third ship in the Norwegian Cruise Line’s Jewel Class.

Built by the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany, the vessel has 93,000 tons and a capacity for nearly 2,400 guests.

In 2016, the Pearl was included in the Norwegian Edge program and underwent a major revitalization that included the modernization of both its guest-facing and technical areas.

While a new scrubber system was added to reduce the ship’s emissions, for instance, the design of all of the public rooms and staterooms was updated.

According to Norwegian, the refit aimed at giving the Pearl a fresh and modern look, which included new art pieces, new carpets, new upholstery and more.

Another area that went through a complete refurbishment was The Haven, the vessel’s ship-within-a-ship luxury suite complex, with got new furniture and finishings.

Here Are Holland America Line’s Homeports For 2023

Here Are Holland America Line’s Homeports For 2023

MS Nieuw Amsterdam arriving in the port of Vancouver, Photo credit Spacejunkie2 (Flickr)

With its entire fleet in service again, Holland America Line is planning an expansive global deployment in 2023.

In addition to strong programs from its traditional homeports in the Caribbean, Alaska and Europe, the company is also returning to its long-haul, intercontinental itineraries during the year.

Offering round-trip cruises from U.S. ports, Holland America is also returning to the Amazon, the South Pacific, Africa and more.

Other highlights of the year include a summer program in Canada and New England, as well as returns to South America, Asia, the Far East and more.

Here's a look at the company's planned homeports and their ships for 2023:

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Ships:

- Eurodam (January to April/October to December);
- Nieuw Amsterdam (January to April/October to December);
- Nieuw Statendam (January to April/November and December);
- Rotterdam (January to March/October to December);
- Volendam (January to April);
- Zaandam (January to April/October to December);
- Zuiderdam (January to May/October to December).

Seattle, Washington

Ships:

- Eurodam (April to September);
- Westerdam (May to October).

San Diego, California

Ships:

- Koningsdam (January to March);
- Volendam (October and November);
- Zaandam (January to April).
 

Whittier, Alaska

Ships:

- Nieuw Amsterdam (May to September);
- Noordam (May to September).

Boston, Massachusetts

Ships:

- Zaandam (May to September);
- Zuiderdam (August and September).

Canada

Ships:

- Koningsdam: Vancouver (April to October);
- Nieuw Amsterdam: Vancouver (April to September);
- Noordam: Vancouver (May to September);
- Volendam: Vancouver (May to September); 
- Zaandam: Montreal (April to September);
- Zuiderdam: Quebec City (September).

Europe

Ships:

- Nieuw Statendam: Barcelona, Civitavecchia, Copenhagen, Piraeus and more (April to October);
- Noordam: Barcelona, Lisbon, Trieste, Piraeus and more (April to October);
- Rotterdam: Amsterdam and Rotterdam (April to September);
- Zuiderdam: Rotterdam (May to July).

Australia and New Zealand

Ships:

- Noordam: Sydney and Auckland (January to April/October to December).

Asia and Pacific

Ships:

- Westerdam: Singapore, Yokohama and Hong Kong (January to April/October to December). 

South America

Ships:

- Oosterdam: San Antonio and Buenos Aires (January to March/November and December). 

Carnival devotes more resources to travel agents

Carnival Paradise

Carnival Cruise Line will carve out four new sales territories in fast-growing areas of the country, each to be headed by a business development manager.

At the same time, Carnival made other changes to its sales structure, including the formation of a program to focus management attention on independent agents.

The four new territories are Boston and Rhode Island; Jacksonville, Fla.; western Texas; and the four corners region that includes parts of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado.

Carnival also highlighted the formation of a new groups desk that was inaugurated earlier in October. The desk is designed to provide additional technical support for travel agent questions related to group bookings, Carnival said. It can be reached at (800) 327-5782.

"We created these new sales regions and the independent agent program to provide added business development support for travel partners," said Carnival vice president of sales and trade marketing Adolfo Perez. "The growth in these geographies and the independent agent channel, combined with our recent preferred supplier agreements with Travelsavers/Nest, Signature, and Ensemble, make this the right time for us to expand our field team resources."

Norwegian Dawn on schedule for next voyage

Norwegian Dawn

The Norwegian Dawn is structurally sound and will sail its next scheduled cruise from Boston on May 22, Norwegian Cruise Line said on Wednesday.

The Dawn ran aground on the sea bed near Bermuda after departing King’s Wharf on Tuesday. Norwegian Cruise Line said there was a temporary malfunction of the steering system.

Later on Tuesday, the ship was refloated to Heritage Wharf in Bermuda to be assessed by a team consisting of cruise line personnel; an independent dive team; and inspectors from the Dawn's classification society, DNVGL.

“The team confirmed the structural integrity of the ship, and the technical issue which caused the steering malfunction was identified and corrected,” Norwegian said Wednesday on its Twitter account.

The ship is expected to depart Bermuda at 3 p.m. on Wednesday and resume sailing to Boston.

All guests on the current voyage will receive a credit of 15% of their cruise fare to use toward a future sailing.

Cruise Liner Refloated After Running Aground

Norwegian Dawn

A Norwegian Cruise Line ship with more than 3,500 people on board has had to be refloated after running aground near Bermuda.

The Norwegian Dawn was returning to Boston with 2,443 passengers and more than 1,059 crew.

It is believed to have temporarily lost power after leaving port.

The Norwegian Dawn struck the sea bed when leaving Bermuda

A spokesman for Norwegian Cruise Lines said: "The ship's propulsion was affected and, at which time, the vessel made contact with the channel bed."

However, the vessel has now been refloated after high tide.

A spokesman for the cruise line said the boat would remain anchored off Bermuda overnight.

Experts will inspect it on Thursday before it returns to Boston.

It was unclear whether the passengers would disembark before the 92,000-ton vessel, which is nearly 1,000ft long, heads back to Boston.

Norwegian Dawn overnights in Bermuda due to storm

By Gay Nagle Myers

The Norwegian Dawn spent the night on Tuesday in Bermuda due to Tropical Storm Gabrielle. The ship departed mid-morning Wednesday and is expected to arrive on schedule in Boston on Friday morning.

The Norwegian Breakaway is scheduled to arrive at King's Wharf in Bermuda on Wednesday evening for a two-night stay as scheduled.

JetBlue and US Airways waived change fees for flights to/from Bermuda on Wednesday.

Rain and wind buffeted Bermuda during the storm, but no major damage was reported.
Gabrielle was well out to sea by Wednesday afternoon.

Humberto in the far eastern Atlantic became the eighth named storm of the year and the first hurricane of the season on Wednesday morning.

Humberto poses no threat to land at this stage, according to the National Hurricane Center.