HAL-Holland America’s ms Westerdam returned to service on Sunday, June 12, at Port Seattle (Washington USA), marking the fleet's last vessel to restart operations.
MS Westerdam embarked passengers for a 7-day Alaska Explorer voyage roundtrip from Seattle WA that will position the vessel in Alaska through the end of September 2022.
To commemorate the occasion, HAL held a ceremony in the terminal attended by the captain and senior officers, with flag-waving fanfare from team members lined up to greet passengers as they boarded. 3 guests cut a ribbon to open embarkation and Capt. Wouter van Hoogdalem placed the final piece of the puzzle with “Westerdam” on it, signifying the completion of return to service for the line.
Following her season in Alaska, ms Westerdam will embark on a 36-day “South Pacific Crossing” repositioning voyage from Seattle WA to Sydney (NSW Australia).
Along the way, the liner will make a total of 17 calls at some of the most beautiful islands in the world. Westerdam will then offer a season of roundtrip sailings from Sydney to the north & south islands of New Zealand, along with southern Australia. In December this current year, the ship will sail along the east coast of the continent up to Singapore via the Great Barrier Reef (Queensland Australia). In early 2023, ms Westerdam offers voyages to Indonesia, Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines prior to crossing back to North America for another Alaska season.
Since HAL restarted cruising in July last year, Eurodam, Koningsdam, Noordam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Nieuw Statendam, Oosterdam, Rotterdam, Zaandam, 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.