Holland America Line has welcomed Zuiderdam back to service, with the ship cruising from the Port of San Diego.
The ship is the sixth in the line’s fleet to restart operations. It is also the second HAL ship to resume service in San Diego, following Koningsdam in October.
Zuiderdam‘s first cruise is a 10-day Mexico and Sea of Cortez itinerary. This will be followed by Panama Canal departures and a 35-day South Pacific cruise.
Koningsdam’s schedule includes a series of seven-day cruises to the California Coast or Mexico and two longer Hawaii voyages that run through to 3 April 2022.
HAL’s Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam will each make one call at San Diego in spring 2022.
For the upcoming 2021/22 season, the line said it will bring more than 81,000 guests to the city, resulting “in more than $35 million in direct spending”.
Holland America Line president Gus Antorcha said: “San Diego is an important homeport for us, and we are excited to have two ships back in full-time operation here with the restart of Zuiderdam today.
“We are proud to be part of the San Diego community, which has continued to show us tremendous support throughout our restart.
“There’s no better way to kick off Zuiderdam‘s season than with a holiday cruise full of joyful guests and our grateful crew who are happy to have them back on board.”
In October 2021, the line’s new ship Rotterdam departed on its maiden voyage.
The 2,668-guest vessel was delivered in July 2021 and is the third in the line’s Pinnacle class and the seventh ship to bear the name.
In 2022, HAL will celebrate 75 years of cruising in Alaska.