HAL-Holland America welcomed its 9th ship back into service on Sunday, May 8, as ms Oosterdam embarked passengers in Trieste (Italy), for the first time since the industrywide halt in 2020 due to the COVID crisis.
The liner set sail on a 12-day “Holy Lands and Ancient Kingdoms” voyage that includes an overnight at Haifa (Tel Aviv-Nazareth, Israel), and additional port calls in Israel and Greece.
To commemorate the special occasion, Holland America held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the cruise terminal to open embarkation, attended by the captain and senior officers of the ship, with flag-waving fanfare from team members greeting guests as they boarded Oosterdam.
Since HAL restarted cruising in July last year, Eurodam, Koningsdam, Noordam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Nieuw Statendam, Rotterdam, and Zuiderdam have restarted service with sailings in the Caribbean, Alaska, Europe, Mexico, South Pacific, and California Coast. MS Volendam is currently under charter by the government of the Netherlands, positioned in Rotterdam to accommodate Ukrainian refugees.
Following its first voyage back in service, ms Oosterdam will spend the summer season in the Mediterranean, offering 7- to 19-day itineraries roundtrip from Trieste, and between Trieste and Piraeus-Athens (Greece), Civitavecchia-Rome (Italy), or Barcelona (Spain).
HAL will complete the restart of the remaining cruise ships in the fleet through June with ms Zaandam (on May 12 in Fort Lauderdale FL) and ms Westerdam (on June 12 in Seattle WA).