Holland America Line for European Passengers

From: ms Rotterdam Cruise Review

ABOVE: Crowds gather to watch ms Rotterdam's departure on a roundtrip cruise from Rotterdam, Netherlands. The former Holland-Amerika Lijn headquarters, now the Hotel New York, is behind the waterfront park. INSET BELOW: Appelgebak at ms Rotterdam's "Dessert Extravaganza."

Holland America Line (formerly Holland-Amerika Lijn) was founded in 1873 as a European steamship company based in Rotterdam, and today, the line is working once again to serve European passengers--especially on itineraries in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, which are as convenient for UK, Irish, and Continental guests as Caribbean or "Mexican Riviera" cruises are for residents of the U.S. and Canada.

To make its cruises more appealing to Europeans, Holland America Line has introduced more roundtrip and "almost roundtrip" cruises from major ports in the UK and Western Europe.

For example, after Holland America Line opened its own own Benelux sales office in the Netherlands, it sold out several cruises from Rotterdam, including a "Scandinavian Impressions" itinerary (described in our ms Rotterdam cruise review) where roughly 95 percent of the passengers were Dutch.

With such large Netherlands contingents on board, HAL went out of its way to serve its Dutch passengers: For example, daily programs, menus, and PA announcements were in both Dutch and English, stewards were trained to use Dutch greetings, the bars were stocked with Dutch beer, and some food items were geared to Dutch passengers.

More recently, in 2010, HAL offered six roundtrips from the Netherlands (Rotterdam or Amsterdam), four roundtrips from London (Greenwich or Dover), and five cruises between London and Amsterdam. These cruises were in addition to Holland America's long-popular cruises from Mediterranean and Baltic ports like Barcelona, Venice, Rome (Civitavecchia), Athens, and Copenhagen.

Starting in September, 2012, ms Rotterdam will operate year-round from the port of Rotterdam, with a series of cruises that include extended winter voyages to the Canaries, the Caribbean, and the Far East.

What to expect on board:

On most Holland America Line cruises, the ambiance is more American than Continental or British, but the days when European passengers were an exotic species on HAL ships may be numbered--especially during school vacations, when Holland America Line's programs for families (such as Club HAL, the Loft, and the Oasis for teenagers) attract holidaymakers from Continental Europe, Britain, and Ireland.

• Our advice: If you're comfortable with English, or if you're interested in a HAL voyage that is being marketed heavily within your country (e.g., the company's roundtrip itineraries from Rotterdam and Amsterdam), a cruise with Holland America Line can be a pleasant and rewarding experience.

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