The cruise season is heating up for the Australian summer season, and Holland America Line has arrived with ms Westerdam, the primary of the cruise line’s ships to set sail Down Underneath in additional than two-and-a-half years.
The Vista-class ship will now homeport from Sydney for the season, after finishing an epic 37-night repositioning cruise from Seattle after the conclusion of the Alaska season.
Westerdam Arrives in Sydney
Westerdam arrived in Sydney, Australia on Monday, November 7, 2022, the primary Holland America Line ship to go to Australia for the reason that industry-wide pandemic shutdown started in March 2019.
The ship left Seattle on October 2, 2022, and adopted a prolonged and unique route to achieve Sydney. Alongside the best way, Westerdam visited ports of name in Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, New Guinea, and Queensland, providing friends unparalleled alternatives to get pleasure from wonderful locations.
“We’re excited to be crusing once more Down Underneath to offer an immersive, premium cruise expertise for friends from around the globe,” mentioned Gus Antorcha, president of Holland America Line. “The welcome now we have obtained at our Australian port visits has been great, and we thank our native Australia companions for his or her assist as we resume cruising.”
Now, the ship will start its very first season within the area, providing a restricted sequence of immersive voyages in southern Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand.
These longer cruises vary from 13-30 days and go to extra ports and extra distinctive locations than many shorter sailings are in a position to supply.
In early January, the ship will reposition first to Singapore after which, in late February, to Japan to supply a number of Asian sailings, very fascinating itineraries in a area that has struggled with journey restrictions which have restricted cruising for for much longer than in different components of the world.
After spending the rest of the winter in Asia, Westerdam will reposition as soon as extra, arriving in Seattle in Might 2023 to supply 7-night roundtrip sailings exploring the Final Frontier, earlier than returning to Asia for a full season in October 2023.
Noordam to Arrive Quickly
A second Holland America Line ship, ms Noordam, sister ship to ms Westerdam, will arrive in Brisbane later this week. This would be the first time since 2016 that Holland America Line has positioned two vessels within the Australia area in the identical season.
Noordam will supply a spread of distinctive itinerary choices, offering much more selection for vacationers desperate to discover the distinctive tradition, historical past, and pure great thing about Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, and elsewhere within the South Pacific area.
Of particular curiosity is the ship’s 35-night Australia Circumnavigation cruise, which will probably be roundtrip from Sydney and departs on Saturday, November 12. In the course of the unbelievable voyage, Noordam will go to greater than a dozen ports of name, together with in a single day stays in Fremantle and Melbourne.
After ending the Australia season in April 2023, Noordam will reposition to Vancouver, Canada to supply Alaska sailings from Vancouver and Whittier, Alaska, earlier than returning to Australia in November 2024.
Evaluating Sister Ships
Whereas Westerdam and Noordam are each Vista-class sister ships within the Holland America Line fleet, they do have some delicate variations.
Westerdam joined the fleet in 2004, and weighs in at 82,305 gross tons, with a passenger capability of 1,916 friends. Noordam is the youthful sister and youngest of the road’s Vista class, having first set sail in 2006. Noordam could be very barely bigger at 82,318 gross tons and with a passenger capability of 1,924 at double occupancy.
Westerdam and Noordam now be part of different cruise traces which have not too long ago restarted operations in Australia, together with Royal Caribbean Worldwide and Carnival Cruise Line, each of which have a number of ships crusing Australian itineraries this winter.
