Holland America Line

A new Holland America Line cruise ship has been launched from the shipyard.

The HAL Rotterdam was launched by Fincantieri at a shipyard in Italy today.

Rotterdam will next have her drydock filled with water and floated out on October 7 to begin the next stage of construction at an outfitting pier.

Coinciding with the launch is the traditional and well-wishing “coin ceremony" which sees the yard welding a silver dollar on the last deck of the ship.

If you're planning your next cruise vacation and have found yourself struggling with whether to choose Holland America versus Celebrity, you're not alone.

Below, we'll help you compare the two lines in several key areas, including food, cabins and things to do.

Choosing between Holland America or Princess cruises is no easy task, particularly because these two lines offer similar casual-but-elegant onboard vibes and levels of quality.

They compete fiercely with one another in all markets, but they're particularly well matched when it comes to Alaska sailings. But how do they compare in areas like dining, cabins and onboard activities? Read on to find out.

Holland America announced the February 1st sailing of the Nieuw Amsterdam will be cancelled because of one of the chip’s two azipod propulsion systems.

Nieuw Amsterdam will go to Grand Bahama shipyard to conduct the repairs before resuming scheduled sailings on February 8.

“All guests and their travel advisors have been notified of this cancellation, and we sincerely regret impacting their vacation plans,” Holland America said in a statement. “We sincerely regret impacting their vacation plans.”

Holland America Line is adding “Top Chef” season 10 winner Kristen Kish to its award-winning Culinary Council, which is a collection of elite, international celebrity chefs who bring global influence to dining experiences across the fleet.

Holland America Line's Westerdam's 2019-2020 cruise season will see the ship visit eight countries.

 From September 2019 through April 2020, Westerdam extensively explores Cambodia, China, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam on cruises ranging from 13 to 16 nights.

Departing from Yokohama (Tokyo), Japan; Hong Kong and Shanghai, China; and Singapore,the ship will offer nine different itineraries.

Holland America announced today that guests onboard its ships can enjoy a specialty coffee blend created exclusively for the cruise line in partnership with Beukenhorst Coffee USA Inc.

Dutch coffee house Beukenhorst Koffie worked with Holland America Line to introduce Rotterdam 1873, a small-batch roasted coffee blend that pays homage to Holland America Line's legendary luxury.

Holland America will cease using the Port of Tampa as a ship departure point after April 2019.

"Holland America Line reviews deployment plans several times each year for future scheduling," Holland America director of public relations Erik Elvejord said in an email in response to an inquiry from the Tampa Bay Times.