SEATTLE, Washington. Following a fruitful prebooking period, Holland America Line formally began accepting reservations for its two newest Grand Voyages on May 24. This will be the first time Holland America Line offers two Grand Voyages of more than 120 days concurrently, with the Grand Voyage: Pole-to-Pole and Grand World Voyage both sailing in January 2025.
Both cruises leave from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on a roundtrip basis and allow passengers to explore five continents on the Grand Voyage: Pole-to-Pole onboard Volendam and six continents on the Grand World Voyage aboard Zuiderdam.
According to pre-bookings for these voyages, we create unique itineraries that appeal to our global journey passengers, said Beth Bodensteiner, chief commercial officer of Holland America Line. “Our team created two fantastic Grand Voyages, so our guests can’t go wrong with either,” the spokesperson said. We’re thrilled to provide two contrasting but equally impressive itineraries.
Pole-to-Pole Highlights of the 2025 Grand Voyage — Volendam
- 133 days. departing from Fort Lauderdale on January 25, 2025, roundtrip.
- Travels in a south-north-south direction through the Panama Canal, then descends down South America’s west coast to Antarctica before ascending through Argentina and Brazil to the Amazon River’s main stem. The ship then travels over the Atlantic Ocean to Africa, then north through Europe and up to the North Cape, then turns around and travels west across the northern Atlantic Ocean via Iceland and Greenland until coming to a stop on the eastern coast of North America.
- From South to North, the ship Volendam travels across Antarctica for four days of picturesque cruise before heading to the North Cape.
- 28 nations, 5 continents, and 68 ports altogether.
- Fuerte Amador, Panama, Callao (Lima), Peru; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Barcelona, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; and Reykjavik, Iceland are the other eight overnight visits.
- Memorable experiences include crossing the Panama Canal, Cape Horn, Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, and the Strait of Gibraltar, as well as seeing Greenland, Iceland, the Norwegian fjords, and the North Cape.
Highlights of the 2025 Grand World Voyage: Zuiderdam
- 124 days. departing from Fort Lauderdale on January 4, 2025, roundtrip.
- Before making the South Pacific voyage to Australia, passes via the Panama Canal and travels to Easter Island. explores the Great Barrier Reef on the way to Indonesia and Sri Lanka, travels via the Suez Canal to Portugal, and then crosses the Atlantic Ocean to reach Cape Town, South Africa, through the Seychelles.
- 46 ports altogether, spread across 32 nations and 6 continents.
- Callao (two nights), Easter Island, Papeete, Tahiti, Sydney, Australia, Singapore, Cape Town, Mombasa, Kenya, Safaga, Egypt, and Barcelona make up the other nine overnight visits.
- Manta, Ecuador; Seychelles; Cape Town and Durban, South Africa; Aqaba, Jordan; Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy; and Gibraltar, United Kingdom are the seven late-night trips.
- Memorable moments were passing through the Panama Canal, spending two nights in Callao so that we could see Machu Picchu and Easter Island, taking a gorgeous cruise around the Great Barrier Reef, spending two full days in Cape Town, and having the chance to travel from Jordan to Petra and experiencing Luxor from Safaga.
More than any two concurrent cruises for Holland America Line, the combined Grand cruises will include more than 4,000 live entertainment, 1,400 shore excursions and 5,800 pickleball games. Here is an infographic that highlights the scope and depth of the journeys.
Major Meeting in Barcelona
In order to commemorate the two Grand Voyages, Volendam and Zuiderdam will meet on April 24, 2025, for a joint overnight call in Barcelona, Spain. The perfectly timed dual visit will be celebrated with unique events involving both ships.
Source: traveldailynews