Holland America Line

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.”

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 Line will expand its browser-based Navigator tool into a free app for mobile phones and tablets that can be used on board. iPhone and Android users can download the Navigator app from the iTunes App and Google Play stores, respectively.

Through the Navigator app, guests can chat with other users for free, plan daily activities, explore and book shore excursions, view restaurant menus and make dining reservations, view spa treatments, check their account statement and more.

Holland America Line announced today that its next new cruise ship will be named Ryndam.  Ryndam will be the next Pinnacle Class ship, and be delivered in May 2021.

Ryndam will join sister ships Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam.  She will be 99,500 tons and accomnodate 2,666 guests.

A steel cutting ceremony was held on March 13 at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Italy.

Holland America Line will live stream the Nieuw Statendam ship naming by Oprah Winfrey on February 2, 2019 at 2pm Eastern.

Holland America will live stream it via their Facebook page as well as at HollandAmerica.com/dedication.