Holland America Line's guests and team members celebrated an important milestone recently, marking one full year of a return to sailing after the COVID-19 cruise industry shutdown.
Nieuw Amsterdam was the line's first ship back, resuming cruising July 24, 2021, in Seattle, Washington. The ship reached the one-year mark while in port in Whitter, Alaska.
"The emotions and excitement from a year ago still resonate today as destinations around the world open and we persist in fully getting back to cruising," said HAL president Gus Antorcha.
"We are grateful to our guests who returned to sail with us, to our team members who came back to sea, to the ports that welcomed us, to our partners who stood by us and to all of our shoreside employees who got us back in the water. Over the past year we have operated more than 240 cruises, and we look forward to continuing to offer more memorable vacations."
Holland America Line's 10 remaining ships restarted in a variety of destinations as ports opened to visitors. In addition to Alaska, the brand has resumed travel to Canada/New England, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Mediterranean, Mexico, Northern Europe, Pacific Coast, Panama Canal and South Pacific. Before the end of the year, the ships will return to Australia/New Zealand and South America/Antarctica.
Upcoming highlights for HAL include the 71-day Grand Africa Voyage, setting sail in October 2022, while the 128-day Grand World and 74-day Grand South America and Antarctica voyages depart in January 2023. Asia itineraries are scheduled to resume in February 2023.
Fun Facts and Figures Since HAL's Return to Service in July 2021:
-- Cruises sailed: 242
-- Ports visited: 169
-- Nautical miles sailed: 502,565, enough to travel to the moon and back 2.5 times
-- Team members welcomed back: 12,287 (98 different nationalities)
-- Meals served: more than 6,500,000
-- Specialty coffee drinks served: 700,000
-- Beers consumed: 1,117,306
-- Trivia questions asked: 76,000
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