The Newest Holland America Ships Ranked by Year (2024)

Holland America Line isn’t one of the mega cruise lines with dozens of ships. The fleet sits at a comfortable 11 vessels, launched over the past 25 years.

Unlike some of the bigger brands, Holland America doesn’t rush to release a new ship every year. Instead, the focus is on refined design, consistent quality and a classic cruising experience that appeals to loyal guests.

Positioned neatly between the huge family-friendly fleets of Royal Caribbean and Carnival, and the intimate luxury of Silversea or Regent Seven Seas, Holland America offers a little of both – spacious ships, elegant service and a relaxed, premium feel.

So, which ships are the newest in the Holland America fleet – and are any new builds on the way? Let’s find out.

1. Rotterdam – 2021

Rotterdam is Holland America’s newest ship, having launched in 2021. She is the third and likely final Pinnacle-class cruise ship for the fleet, although there may be plans to expand the class in future.

First announced in 2017, the ship was built in the Fincantieri shipyard and was originally planned to be named Ryndam. Holland America has a history of reusing ship names from former ships in the fleet.

But in 2019, the announcement was made that the ship would, in fact, be named Rotterdam in honour of the ship with the same name that was sold that same year.

The ship also suffered from delays, and her originally scheduled debut sailing and season in Europe in 2021 was ultimately cancelled. Eventually, she set sail in October of that year, with a Transatlantic sailing that took the ship to the Caribbean for the winter, before she returned to Europe in April of the following year.

She now sails itineraries around Northern Europe during the summer months, primarily from Amsterdam. In the winter, she returns to Fort Lauderdale for Eastern Caribbean sailings.

The ship is an almost-identical twin of her sister ships Nieuw Statendam and Koningsdam, which launched the Pinnacle Class. This means that she retains The Retreat – the exclusive area of the ship with an outdoor lounge that requires an extra charge for access.

Like her sister ships, she has a guest capacity of 2,668. This is significantly smaller than some of the new cruise ships to launch for other cruise lines in recent years, but it is another sign of how Holland America is not the type of cruise line to be building gigantic mega-ships.

2. Nieuw Statendam – 2018

Nieuw Statendam was the second of the Pinnacle-class ships to join the Holland America fleet, having first been announced in 2014. Two years later, at the christening ceremony for Koningsdam, the Nieuw Statendam name was confirmed.

As I say, Holland America likes to name ships in honour of ships that once sailed for the fleet, and Nieuw Statendam is no different. There have been 5 Statendam ships sailing for Holland America before the Nieuw Statendam, the most recent of which was sold as recently as 2015.

Similar to her sister ship Rotterdam, she spends half of the year in Europe and half of the year in the Caribbean. She shares her Caribbean home port of Fort Lauderdale with Rotterdam, but during the summer months, she focuses on Mediterranean cruises from both Barcelona and Civitavecchia, the port for Rome.

Again, the Nieuw Amsterdam follows an almost identical template to the other Pinnacle-class ships, and so guests can expect to find popular features such as the Music Walk live entertainment area, including multiple music venues playing R&B, chamber music, pop music and classic rock.

She also has a stunning theatre for even more varied live performances, with incredible 270-degree wraparound screens helping to bring every concert or live show to life.

3. Koningsdam – 2016

Koningsdam was the first of the Pinnacle-class ships to launch for Holland America. While she is now a little older, she definitely counts as one of the newest ships in the fleet, since she helped launch what is now the flagship class of ships for the cruise line.

She was originally planned as a sister ship to the Nieuw Amsterdam, part of the Signature Class of ships for the fleet. However, as the design seemed to be ageing, the Carnival Corporation instead made the announcement in 2012 that two new ships were being built, one of which would be the first of a new class for Holland America.

She was ultimately christened in May 2016 and began a season of sailing between Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. However, unlike her sister ships, she no longer moves between Europe and the US, and she has instead based herself on the western coast of the US. 

Sailings are varied and include Alaska ports, Hawaii itineraries, and cruises to the Mexican Riviera.

As the first ship in the Pinnacle Class, Koningsdam launched a number of new features for the cruise line. Notably, the Pinnacle Class offers more varied dining options than other ships in the fleet, with five speciality restaurants alongside the usual Main Dining Room and buffet.

Of course, the Pinnacle-class ships are also bigger than others in the fleet, and more spacious. They also debuted single-passenger oceanview cabins for the cruise line.

There Are No More Holland America Ships on Order

No plans have been announced for more Holland America Line ships to be built. It may only be a matter of time, though. Holland America has a history of retiring or selling ships as they get old.

Indeed, two of the four Rotterdam-class ships have already gone, leaving the Volendam and Zaandam as the only two left, both of which are over 23 years old.

Read more: Holland America Ships By Size & Age

In 2020, the cruise line sold off ships that were originally built in 1997 and 2000, so the time is probably nearing for the last of the Rotterdam class of ships, which may spark orders for newer ships to replace them.

Even the Vista-class ships are starting to feel like their time might be coming. There are four of those, having been built between 2002 and 2006.

While they likely will remain with the cruise line for the next couple of years at least, it wouldn’t be surprising if they were phased out in favour of updated vessels, as the cruise line has done before.

To Conclude

Holland America doesn’t have quite the exciting lineup of new ships on the horizon, but it doesn’t need to. It offers quality, premium cruising experiences, and the three Pinnacle-class ships still feel very much like they are brand new anyway.

There isn’t a huge demand for growing capacity for the cruise line, especially when she is part of the larger Carnival Corporation with other fleets that are more suited to expansion. Yet it may not be too long until we hear of another Holland America ship in the pipeline.

Related Posts: