Holland America Line welcomed its ninth ship back into service on Sunday, May 8, when the Oosterdam embarked guests in Trieste (Venice), Italy, for the first time since the industry-wide pause began in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ship departed on a 12-day “Holy Lands and Ancient Kingdoms” cruise that includes an overnight stay in Haifa, Israel, and additional ports of call in Israel and Greece.
The Oosterdam becomes the ninth cruise ship to return to sailing for Holland America Line since spring 2020, and to mark the occasion, Holland America Line held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the terminal to open embarkation, attended by the ship's captain and senior officers, with team members lined up to greet guests as they boarded the ship.
“Our teams work incredibly hard to prepare the ships for their return to service, and the smiles when they see our guests walk up the gangway for that first time are very heartfelt and genuine,” said Gus Antorcha, president of Holland America Line. “Every ship that returns to cruising means more team members are returning to sea, and we expect the restart to be complete next month.”.
Since Holland America Line restarted cruises in July 2021, the Eurodam, Koningsdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Nieuw Statendam, Noordam, Rotterdam, and Zuiderdam have returned to service with cruises to Alaska, the Caribbean, Europe, Mexico, the California coast, and the South Pacific. The Volendam is currently chartered by the Dutch government and stationed in Rotterdam to house Ukrainian refugees.
Following its first cruise back in service, the Oosterdam will spend the summer in the Mediterranean, offering seven- to 19-day round-trip itineraries from Trieste (Venice), and between Trieste and Piraeus (Athens), Greece; Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy; or Barcelona, Spain. The ship will explore the entire region with ports of call in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Montenegro, Croatia, Albania, and Malta.
After the Mediterranean season, the Oosterdam will sail to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, before transiting the Panama Canal and sailing down the west coast of South America to position itself for a winter season of cruising the tip of the continent between San Antonio (Santiago), Chile, and Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 14-day itinerary will visit ports in Chile and Argentina, including the coveted Falkland Islands, as well as cruise the Strait of Magellan, Glacier Alley, and Cape Horn. The three 22-day itineraries add four memorable days of scenic cruising in Antarctica.
Holland America Line will complete the restart of the remaining ships in the fleet in June with the Zaandam and the Westerdam.
