Holland America Line

Holland America Line, headquartered in Seattle, Washington, is a cruise ship line, originally an operator of passenger and cargo ships. Founded in 1873 as the Netherlands-America Steamship Company, the company ran regular trans-Atlantic service between the Netherlands and the United States, and later to the Dutch East Indies as well. The company's naming scheme for its ships, where the names of cargo vessels ended in -dyk or -dijk and the names of passenger ships ended in -dam, has survived to the present and even given rise to the company's "Dam Ships" merchandise line. Holland America was acquired by Carnival Corporation in 1989.

History

Holland America Line produced some noted ships from the 36,000 gross ton Nieuw Amsterdam of 1938, probably the only large passenger liner at the time that was not completed with any expectation of serving for the military, and the beautiful Rotterdam of 1959, one of the first ships on the North Atlantic to be equipped for two class transatlantic crossing and one class luxury cruising. By the late sixties, the golden era of profitable trans-Atlantic ships was over, and the remaining routes were siphoned off by the airlines. The early seventies saw the end of the trans-Atlantic service, leaving the North Atlantic for Cunard's Queen Elizabeth 2.

In 1971, Holland America abandoned its passenger service and switched to running cruise ships full time. Holland America is also known for the wide variety of destinations it sails to, and after obtaining governing approval to visit Antarctica in the 1980s, the line now visits all seven continents; its ms Prinsendam also makes an annual "Grand World Voyage" that usually last more than 150 days. Due to the increasing popularity of the exotic and rarely-visited ports of call featured on Grand World Voyages, the ms Amsterdam will offer its own World Voyage in addition to the Prinsendam in 2007.

Current

As of 2006, the line operates thirteen ships, ranging from the smaller and older S-Class vessels; the mid-range R-Class; the line's newest and largest vessels, the Vista-Class; and the small 800-passenger Prinsendam (originally the Royal Viking Sun, then Seabourn Sun until HAL's purchase of the vessel in 2002). The line has also announced that work has begun on its new line of vessels, the Signature-Class, with one firm order for an as of yet un-named ship and an option for an additional vessel. Like most of HAL's recent ships, the new Signature-Class will be built at the Fincantieri shipyards outside Venice. All HAL ships have a dark blue hull with white superstructure, with the line's half-moon logo featured prominently on the mostly-cosmetic smokestacks.