During our Senior Management Conference taking place on ss Rotterdam in Rotterdam, Captains Peter Bos and Edward van Zanne visited the ship’s bridge. Captain van Zanne was captain on ss Rotterdam in 1994. Captain Bos was the last HAL Captain to sail on ss Rotterdam before the ship was sold in 1997. Both Captains enjoyed reminiscing about life on the bridge there and related stories of their time on board.

Captain van Zanne, left, and Captain Bos on the bridge of ss Rotterdam.

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The Culinary team onboard the Oosterdam did a real outstanding job of the making of the cake for our 140th Anniversary celebrations. So many guests were impressed.

From left: Assistant Pastry Rowel Salvador, Assistant Pastry Kathleen Tilbe, Tournant Chef Gurunathan Sudulaimuthu, Executive Chef Udo Sandering, Patissier Nandy JR Alejandro Pablo, Assistant Pastry Jovelyn Duran and Culinary Operations Manager Csaba Desvari.

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Celebrating the 140th anniversary of Holland America Line, we dedicated several events to this special occasion. First, a Dutch-themed dinner in the dining room, then a birthday party by the pool, and finally a special dessert extravaganza presented to our guests, showcasing the talent of our galley team, led by Executive Chef Daniel Hrgic and Pastry Chef Alex Latayan, who was mainly responsible for those sweet creations.

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Today and tomorrow morning are your last chance to enter our contest on Facebook that will award four fans a cruise for two on any Holland America Line sailing of up to 14 days in an ocean-view stateroom, subject to availability.

To enter the sweepstakes, click on the “4 Corners of the World” image in the right navigation bar on the blog to access the sweepstakes on Facebook or simply go to our Facebook page. Visitors to Holland America Line’s Facebook page must “like” us, click on the “Win a Cruise” tab then submit the required information. Easy as that!

The sweepstakes ends May 8, 2013, at 10 a.m. PDT, and the four winners will be selected in a random drawing on or around May 13, 2013. (The sweepstakes is limited to legal residents 18 years of age or older from the United States, District of Columbia, Canada — except Quebec — the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.)

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After publishing a post from Julian H. Preisler, we got this incredible note from a reader. What a random and exciting discovery!

My name is Nicholas Van Herpen and am a 4 Star Mariner and regularly check out the H/A blog. Today I found a photo from a Mr. Julian H. Preisler showing some photos of his Mother traveling on the Nieuw Amsterdam back in 1954. The photo that immediately got my attention was the one with people resting in their deck chairs. The couple in the middle of the photo along the railing and dressed all in black are indeed my grandparents Johannes and Cornelia Van Herpen. I know this to be true since they visited us in the USA in 1954 and traveled on the old Nieuw Amsterdam.

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Here is the Prinsendam team proudly celebrating 140 years of success with the officers serving the crew a delicious meal. Here’s wishing HAL many more to come!

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Thanks to Jerrol Golden, HAL’s manager of international public relations, for this fun post.

As part of the 140th Anniversary celebrations, a group of Holland America Line VIPs and media participated in a walking tour of Rotterdam between ss Rotterdam and the Hotel New York along the Wilhelminapier and Katendrecht with 13 stops along the way.

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Thanks to Photo Manager Gokhan Susoy for sending in these photos from Noordam’s 140th Anniversary celebrations.

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Topics: HAL History, ms Noordam | | No Comments