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Four ships will leave the Holland America Line fleet by the end of September, parent company Carnival Corp. said today.
The line’s Amsterdam, Maasdam, Rotterdam and Veendam will be transferred to undisclosed buyers, Holland America said. The ships were sold in pairs: The S-Class Maasdam and Veendam, built in 1993 and 1996, respectively, will be transferred to one company in August, while the R-Class Rotterdam and Amsterdam, built in 1997 and 2000, will move to another company in the fall, the line said.
Carnival Corp. first said in June that it would begin selling off older ships from its nine brands. It has already said that P&O Cruises’ Oceana and Costa Cruises’ Costa Victoria would exit those lines’ fleets.
Cruises on the four Holland America ships have all been canceled, with some itineraries being assumed by other ships in the fleet. The Zaandam will sail both the Amsterdam’s 2021 Grand World Voyage, postponed until 2022, and the Rotterdam’s Grand Africa Voyage departing Oct. 10, 2021.
The reductions will leave Holland America with 10 ships in its fleet. The Ryndam, the third ship in the line’s Pinnacle class, is under construction and scheduled for delivery in 2021.
“It’s always difficult to see any ship leave the fleet, especially those that have a long and storied history with our company,” Holland America Group CEO Stein Kruse said in a statement. “However, Holland America Line has a bright future ahead that includes recent Pinnacle-class additions, with a third sister ship next year that will continue to maintain our overall capacity in the marketplace.”
The 1,258-passenger Maasdam joined the fleet in 1993 as the second of four S-Class ships and is the fourth Holland America ship to bear the Maasdam name, the line said. The 1,350-passenger Veendam was the final S-Class ship, delivered in 1996, and the fourth Holland America ship to use that name.
The Rotterdam was the first ship in the R Class when it entered service in 1997, carrying 1,404 passengers. it is the sixth Holland America Line ship to be named Rotterdam. Its sister ship, the 1,380-passenger Amsterdam, joined the fleet in 2000 as the final of four R-Class ships and the third Holland America Line ship with that name.
“I recognize and appreciate the deep affection our guests have toward our company and the ships in our fleet,” Gus Antorcha, the newly appointed president of Holland America Line, said in a statement.
Source: travelweekly.com