MS ''Volendam'' is a Rotterdam-class (R-class)

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

belonging to Holland America Line. It was built in 1999 and sails out of Australia, Asia, and conducts cruises of the Inside Passage, traversing British Columbia and Alaska. She is the third ship in the fleet with that name, after

SS Volendam SS ''Volendam'' was a ton ocean liner operated by Holland America Line (Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij). She was built in 1922 by Harland & Wolff Ltd, in Govan, Glasgow. Her sister ship TSS ''Veendam'' was built by Harland ...

(1922-1952) and

(1972-1984).

Design and construction

Built by Fincantieri, Italy in 1999, Volendam is a Rotterdam-class (R-class) cruise ship, with three sister ships in the Holland America Line fleet; ''Zaandam'', ''Amsterdam'' and ''Rotterdam''. She follows the Rotterdam, the lead ship of her class, as the second ship launched in 1999. ''Volendam'' is long, has a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

, and an draft. She has ten decks, and contains cabins for passengers (called

stateroom A state room in a large European mansion is usually one of a suite of very grand rooms which were designed for use when entertaining royalty. The term was most widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries. They were the most lavishly decorated in ...

s) on six decks, with a ship's capacity of 1,432 guests. The ship's theme is flowers, and she features floral designs throughout. The atrium contains a sculpture spanning three decks which was created by Luciano Vistosi. ''Volendam'' was christened by former professional tennis player

Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954), known as Chris Evert Lloyd from 1979 to 1987, is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. Evert won 18 major singles titles, including a record seven French Open titles and a joint-record ...

on 12 November 1999, who became the ship's godmother. ''Volendam'' was refurbished in 2006 and in 2011, when she entered

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

for a refit in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Service history

''Volendam'' first entered the Australian market in 2009. A visit to

Batemans Bay Batemans Bay is a town on the South Coast region of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Batemans Bay is administered by the Eurobodalla Shire council. The town is situated on the shores of an estuary formed where the Clyde River meets the ...

during a trip circumnavigating Australia in 2010 was cancelled with 48 hours' notice due to "operational issues" which was interpreted by local media as a failure by the town's council to meet the requirements set out by Holland America regarding the town's wharf some twelve months prior to the expected arrival of the ship. During 2011 she was chartered to visit match relevant destinations during the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

, which was hosted in New Zealand. In 2016, ''Volendam'' sails out of Australia/New Zealand and South Pacific, and during the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

summer sails out of Vancouver, Canada, conducting cruises of the Inside Passage to Alaska. She hosted an Inside Passage cruise in September 2012 to celebrate a hundred years of the ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

''. In 2013 when ''Volendam'' returned to Australian waters, she visited Kangaroo Island for the first time, after a new landing pontoon was installed on the island to allow for it to become a cruise ship destination. After she left

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

for Asia, she visited a variety of Asian countries including

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. On 9 March 2016 she witnessed a total

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...

in the

Makassar Makassar (, mak, ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, Mangkasara’, ) is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Med ...

Straight while sailing through

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

as part of an extended tour of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, hosting a number of astronomy groups and eclipse followers.

Coronavirus quarantine

On 20 March 2020, due to port restrictions and border closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic, ''Volendam'' was forced to return to

Port Everglades Port Everglades is a seaport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, located in Broward County. Port Everglades is one of South Florida's foremost economic engines, as it is the gateway for both international trade and cruise vacations. In 2019, Port Eve ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

two days ahead of schedule, where passengers debarked, With crew stuck on board, the ship initially remained near the coast of the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. The pause in cruising was extended multiple times and eventually scheduled to end in May 2022.

Accommodation for Ukrainian refugees

In May 2022, as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the City of Rotterdam chartered MS ''Volendam'' to be used as a refugee shelter for Ukrainian refugees for three months, with Holland America Line staff providing meals and services. Docked in the Merwehaven, the ship's charter was later extended to 14 September 2022.

In popular culture

In the 2005 film ''Into the Blue'', ''Volendam'' makes a brief cameo when she was docked in the Prince George Wharf port of

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of the Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in the country. ...

References

External links

HAL official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Volendam Ships of the Holland America Line Ships built in Monfalcone Ships built by Fincantieri 1998 ships