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.

Holland America Line announced on Tuesday that it will extend its suspension of cruises until mid-December due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

All HAL cruises sailing to the Caribbean, Mexico, Panama Canal, Pacific Coastal, South America, Antarctica, Hawaii, South Pacific, Australia and Asia are cancelled through December 15, 2020.

Guests on affected cancelled bookings have the choice of a 125% Future Cruise Credit or a 100% refund.

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 Line announced on Thursday it will change the planned name of its new flagship cruise ship to be Rotterdam.

The name Rotterdam is significant because Holland America Line's first ship was Rotterdam, which sailed its maiden voyage from the Netherlands to New York Oct. 15, 1872, and led to the founding of the company on April 18, 1873. 

Holland America announced on Wednesday that it will remove four ships from its fleet, sold to new owners.

The four ships that were sold are Amsterdam, Maasdam, Rotterdam and Veendam.

The Maasdam, Veendam and Rotterdam are over 20 years old, and were built in the 1990s and carry 1,258 to 1,404 passengers.

The Amsterdam was launched in 2000.

Holland America Group CEO Stein Kruse said in a statement:

Holland America Line President Orlando Ashford announced today he will be leaving the company at the end of May.

Ashford has been the cruise line's President for over five years, having served in the role since November 2014.

Holland America Line announced this week it has cancelled all Alaska, Europe and Canada/New England cruises for 2020.

In addition, Amsterdam will not operate the 79-day Grand Africa Voyage from Boston, Massachusetts, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that was scheduled to depart on Oct. 3, 2020.

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.”