Guest Marijane Carlos has sailed with us many times, and she shared some of her special memories.

Passing Great Piton Mountain as we sail away from St. Lucia on the Noordam.

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Topics: Caribbean, Grand Voyages, Half Moon Cay, ms Amsterdam, ms Noordam | | No Comments

Dear readers, my apologies for not contributing for several days. Towards the end of one’s contract, there never seem to be enough hours in a day. What with social functions, endless paperwork, (reports in various guises) and the everyday responsibilities of commanding a cruise ship, time to sit and write to you seems to be at a premium.

I write from the Atlantic, we are enroute towards Castries, St. Lucia, where we arrive tomorrow, Saturday. Since writing to you, we have called at Fortaleza and Belem, Brazil, and Devil’s Island, French Guyana. We have been blessed with relatively nice weather, being near the equator we have seen increasing humidity, temperatures and rain, nevertheless, our guests seem to have enjoyed it all.

Fortaleza is Brazil’s 11th most populated city in Brazil and lies on its north-eastern coast. Like many ports we call at, it is mainly commercial, however they are building a new cruise-ship berth which will be completed by 2014. The challenge with this port is the swell, it can roll into the harbour and make docking, or more to the point, staying alongside, difficult. Our pilot informs me that we are the first cruise ship to make it for some time, others having to cancel because of the conditions. Even so, with the swell we ranged up and down on the dock and moorings lines had to be tended all day. I spent the day on board, too much to do and hence the photos come from my ‘roving reporter’, Karen.

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Topics: Captain's Log, Grand Voyages, ms Amsterdam, South America | | 13 Comments

Special thanks to HAL’s Director Mariner Society Gerald Bernhoft for this post.

Spring in Seattle brings with it two Dutch treats: Beautiful tulips of every color of the rainbow and soon the return of Holland America Line ships to our fair city. A sight that rarely graces Seattle’s Elliott Bay was the arrival of the ms Amsterdam and ms Zaandam on the same day which was May 13, 2011. A beautiful sight indeed!

Our Alaska season is beginning. Sister ships ms Oosterdam and ms Westerdam will sail two stunning Southeast Alaska cruises this Spring and Summer. The ms Westerdam will sail every Saturday seven-day roundtrip from Seattle cruises with visits to the state capital of Juneau; famed Glacier Bay; Sitka, which is known for its Russian history; Ketchikan, known as the Salmon Capital of the World, and Victoria, B.C., before returning to Seattle.

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Topics: Alaska, ms Amsterdam, ms Oosterdam, ms Westerdam, ms Zaandam | | 1 Comment

Since we left Fort Lauderdale in January, the Project Linus team has been hard at work. More than 170 blankets, not to mention countless hats and bears, have been made. That is twice as many as last year! (Thanks to Brad Elliott for some of the below photos.)

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Topics: Captain's Log, Good Deeds, Grand Voyages, ms Amsterdam | | 4 Comments

Here are some pictures of ‘Mariner Appreciation Night’ aboard ms Amsterdam.

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Topics: Art, Activities & Entertainment, Grand Voyages, ms Amsterdam | | 2 Comments

Amsterdam’s 140th Anniversary cake was more than 3 meters tall and about 4-5 meters wide! It took more than a week to create and was made out of plywood and sponge cake covered in chocolate. It was made in separate sections and put together within one hour on the stage with help of the carpenters, stage crew and of course the galley team led by our Pastry Chef Alex.

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Topics: HAL History, ms Amsterdam | | 3 Comments

Belem, Brazil, with quite a “unique” tender ride using shoreside tenders – wooden boats. It was an adventure yet ran smoothly under the circumstances.

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Topics: Grand Voyages, ms Amsterdam, Postcards from..., South America | | 1 Comment

Theme nights are our favorite aboard Holland America Line! Check out our celebration photos of ‘Carnival Night’ on Amsterdam!

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Topics: Art, Activities & Entertainment, Grand Voyages, ms Amsterdam | | 1 Comment