• Prinsendam 

• Ryndam   

• Rotterdam VI   

The Holland America Line was founded in 1873 as the Dutch-America Steamship Company, a shipping and passenger line. Headquartered in Rotterdam and providing service to the Americas, it later became known as Holland America Line because it carried great numbers of immigrants from Holland to America.. In 1989, HAL became a wholly owned subsidiary of Carnival Corp., the largest cruise line. Today, the company operates 15 ships to 7 continents and carries nearly 700,000 cruise passengers a year.

Holland America may now be a U.S.-based cruise line, but it continues to maintain strong ties with its Netherlands heritage. Ships in its fleet -- since the 1890's and continuing today -- bear the suffix "dam." Most of the names are inspired by actual dams that traverse the rivers of the Netherlands. In other cases, such as with its Vista-class of ships, the names represent points of the compass (Oosterdam is East, Westerdam is West, Noordam is North, etc.). Many of the names are in their fourth, fifth or sixth incarnations. Eurodam, HAL's newest offering, was christened in Rotterdam in July 2008 and by none other than the Netherlands' Queen Beatrix.

One of the nice things about Holland America's onboard ambience is that its arty, colorful ships, though all carrying an individual decorating theme, have a pleasant consistency. Holland America ships have numerous traditions -- such as afternoon tea, gentlemen hosts for dancing on cruises over 10 days and a quaint "chime ringing" to announce dinner -- that are consistent throughout the fleet.

The line distinguishes itself with an eclectic yet thoughtful collection of artwork onboard, and art tours are definitely worthwhile. New self-guided iPod tours are available. The devices can be borrowed from each ship's Explorations Cafe.

Holland America offers some special-touch services not found on other cruise lines. If you're on a warm weather itinerary, you'll find waiters roaming the decks with tall glasses of iced tea or lemonade. In Alaska, you'll warm up on the outside decks with mugs of delicious Dutch pea soup.
Holland America offers one of cruising's most varied fleet schedules. Each year, its ships sail to more than 320 ports of call on all seven continents. Its itineraries are more diverse than most cruise lines because they sail from so many different home ports (35 in 2009). New ports for 2009 include Cardiff, Wales; Batumi, Georgia; Maputo, Mozambique; Kristiansund, Norway; and Vaasa, Finland.ss