Holland America Begins UK Season for First Time in 10 Years
For the first time in 10 years, Holland America Line has launched a UK-based cruise season, sending its 99,500-gross-ton Nieuw Statendam on a roundtrip voyage from Dover, England.
The ship, which can carry 2,666 passengers, began its new season with much fanfare, setting sail on a sold-out two-week cruise to the Canary Islands, Morocco, and Portugal on April 19, 2025.
Guests boarded the ship at the base of the famous white cliffs and marked the first time since 2015 that the cruise line has offered back-to-back sailings from Dover, a historic port long associated with transatlantic and European cruising.
It’s not just a one-off, either. Nieuw Statendam will sail from Dover 10 times in 2025, through September.
Onboard Nieuw Statendam, guests enjoying the inaugural sailing were treated to a British-themed dinner – a nod to the ship’s homeport.
The cruise line also marked the occasion with a donation of 200 Lindt chocolate bunnies to the Dover SmART Project for Easter.
The donation to the local charity supporting disadvantaged youth in Dover is part of a broader partnership between Holland America and Lindt, whose branded chocolates are offered on dessert menus and in shops across the fleet.
“Returning to the famous white cliffs marks an exciting new chapter for us, and reflets the growing demand we’re seeing from guests from the UK,” said Karen Farndell, Holland America Line’s UK director of sales and marketing.
Itineraries will include destinations like the British Isles, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Iberia, and the eastern Mediterranean.
The inaugural sailing, for example, is cruising to Rotterdam to visit Amsterdam; Casablanca and Agadir, Morocco; Arrecife and Tenerife in the Canary Islands; Funchal, Madeira; and Porto, Portugal, before returning to Dover on May 3, 2025.
“We’re thrilled to offer a rich variety of itineraries on our doorstep over both 2025 and 2026, as part of a wider, long-term investment in the local market,” said Farndell.
Cruising through 2026
The 2025 season includes 10 departures from Dover aboard the Pinnacle-class Nieuw Statendam. The shortest sailing is 14 days, and the longest is 42 days.
The cruise line is betting on strong interest from the UK market with its renewed Dover schedule after returning to the port for calls in 2024, but says many passengers are also arriving from the US.
Additional offerings will feature 14-night “Wild British Isles” sailings that call in Newcastle, England, and multiple ports in Scotland and Ireland, including an evening call in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Longer voyages extend the sailings to 28 nights and sail on to multiple ports in Norway within the Arctic Circle. The 42-night journey extends the adventure by sailing to four cities in Iceland and four in Greenland.
Passengers can expect to visit a variety of off-the-beaten-path destinations like Trondheim and Hammerfest, Norway; Husavik and Akureyri, Iceland; and the Shetland, Faroe Islands, along with the Isle of Man and Isle of Skye.
Nieuw Statendam’s last Dover day will be September 6, 2025, when she heads to the Mediterranean to visit Portugal, Spain, Malta, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, and Egypt.
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While she will only stay in the region until mid-November, before wintering in the Caribbean, Nieuw Statendam will return to Dover on April 17, 2026, for another summer season of fun around the UK and Scandinavia.
That lineup includes 7- and 14-night cruises to the Norwegian fjords, the Canary Islands, and Iceland and will extend through October 2026.
Holland America Line will be operating from a total of nine European ports in 2025, with a number of its fleet positioned in Alaska during the summer months.