Holland America Line's Koningsdam departed on its first cruise from the Port of San Diego on Oct. 10, marking the cruise line's first cruise from the West Coast departure since the industry-wide pause. The mood was celebratory amid cheering crew members, waving flags and a "Welcome Home" sign greeting passengers.
The Pinnacle Class vessel will operate 23 seven-day cruises to the California Coast or Mexico through April 3, 2022.
"We are thrilled to get back to cruising from San Diego and to supporting this wonderful city and the ports we visit along the West Coast - from Mexico to Washington," said Gus Antorcha, president of Holland America Line. "Our guests are eager to be back on board and our team members look forward to reconnecting with them and providing a memorable vacation. We're ready for a successful season of cruising."
Starting in December, Zuiderdam will sail round-trip cruises from San Diego on longer Mexico explorations, a month-long voyage to Tahiti, and Panama Canal departures.
Zuiderdam will operate four nine-, 10- and 14-day "Mexico and Sea of Cortez" cruises from December 2021 through April 2022. A 35-day "Hawaii, Tahiti & Marquesas" voyage will depart Feb. 27, 2022.
The ship also will operate two 14-day Panama Cruises in January and one five-day cruise from San Diego to Vancouver, departing April 22, 2022.
Also, Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam will each make one call in spring 2022, on April 25 and April 26, respectively.
Holland America Line has been homeporting out of San Diego since the 1990s. For the upcoming 2021-22 season, the cruise line will bring more than 81,000 guests to the city, which will result in more than $35 million in direct spending.
Operationally, each ship visit directly contributes $364,000 to the local economy in provisioning (fuel, food, flowers, piano tuning, supplies), port taxes, and spending. When Koningsdam and Zuiderdam call at San Diego, both ships will be using shore power, reducing the ships' carbon footprint. Throughout the years, Holland America Line has been actively involved with more than 30 nonprofits in San Diego County through giving, shipboard lunches and cruise donations, including La Jolla Playhouse, San Ysidro Health and Girl Scouts San Diego.
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