Holland America Ship’s Transatlantic Voyage Gets Ditched
Some Holland America cruise guests will be kicking off the weekend on a sour note after learning that their upcoming transatlantic cruise has been cancelled.
Indeed, booked passengers were informed that Nieuw Statendam’s one-way sailing from the Netherlands to Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida, scheduled for October 2026 has been cancelled – with no reason given for the abrupt change.
“Nieuw Statendam canceled for the 2026 transatlantic sailing October 31, 2026!,” one impacted cruiser shared.
“Just got an email from cruisesonly.com that my transatlantic cruise next year has been canceled! Extra OBC for changing to another sailing. No rhyme or reason mentioned as to why it was canceled…Might want to check your email,” they continued.
Notably, this voyage had two separate embarkation dates – both of which were cancelled. A longer 29-day sailing would have embarked from Rotterdam on October 17, with more passengers joining the ship during another visit to Rotterdam on October 31 for a 15-day voyage.
“HAL cancelled our cruise (Nieuw Statendam J665A 29-Day Northern Lights Cultural Crossing Collectors’ Voyage – Rotterdam to Fort Lauderdale October 17, 2026) yesterday and gave us a whole $50pp credit to rebook,” another cruiser posted.
Both of the voyages would have featured calls on Zeebrugge (Bruges), Belgium; Portsmouth, England; Cherbourg, France; Brest, France; and Falmouth, England.
The longer version also included calls throughout Norway on destinations like Alesund, Trondheim, Tromso, Gravdal, Alta, Andalsnes, and Bergen – as well as a day in Lerwick, Shetland Isles.
Interestingly, it seems like the transatlantic portion of the voyage was the sticking point – as other sailings that are supposed to be operated by the 2,666-guest ship in the same time frame have not been cancelled at this point.
For example, the 14-night sailing that was also scheduled to set sail on October 17, 2026 – which is a special Arctic Journey & Northern Lights Cruise that is part of a partnership with the History Channel – is so far going ahead as planned.
The Theories Abound
For the passengers who just learned that their sailing is cancelled, something that makes the news sting a little bit more is that Holland America didn’t give a clear reason as to why.
However, the cruise community has been having a field day brainstorming the possibilities.
For example, some thought the History Channel partnership was a charter sailing – meaning booked guests got the boot so the company could secure a full ship for their themed voyage.
While this does happen from time to time – with news breaking just this week of a 2026 sailing onboard Carnival Liberty getting cancelled in favor of a charter cruise – the History Channel partnership was never meant to be a charter situation.
If another group did do a charter, it likely wouldn’t be a full ship charter as the October 17 History Channel sailing remains unaffected – at least so far. The unique voyage is available to book as of the time of this writing.
Read Also: What Is a Transatlantic Cruise?
Some also theorized that the cruise line added a visit to dry dock for the 2018-launched vessel while she is still in Europe – as her last visit was to the Fincantieri Trieste Shipyard in Italy at the end of 2023.
“It almost sounds like a dry dock time frame, but who am I to guess,” one cruiser wondered.
As cruise ships are required to visit dry dock at least once every three to five years for routine maintenance and inspections, this wouldn’t be outside of the realm of possibility.
Further supporting this theory, there is a gap in the 99,902-gross ton vessel’s service for the entire month of November 2026 and most of December.
The first voyages available to book after the break are a simultaneous 7-night and 14-night Western and Eastern Caribbean cruise that both embark from Fort Lauderdale on December 20, 2026.