An intimate ship, an epic journey
There's no gentle easing into spectacle. You sail right for Cartagena, Colombia, whose walled old town is a walker's haven, a weathered pastel cornucopia, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. So it will go on all the segments of the cruise.
Years in the planning, our 2013 Grand World Voyage features the most sought-after sights and experiences the world has to offer.
Visit monuments to human genius -- the Panama Canal, Easter Island statuary, the nested shells of the Sydney Opera House. Explore wonders we can only appreciate – the jungled alps of French Polynesia, the fizzing cauldrons of Rotorua, the Gothic cliffs of Phuket.
This is travel as liturgy: Day after day, World Heritage Sites will unfold before you. You'll visit places that seem torn from the pages of travelers' legends: Pitcairn Island, Ujung Padang, Nosy Be, Fortaleza. You'll overnight in the capitals of the world, like Sydney, Hong Kong, and Singapore. When it's all done, we'll take you back to Fort Lauderdale. The pier will be the same. Will you?
Your ship, the ms Amsterdam, recalls the classic era of ocean travel. It offers industry-leading amenities and activities, yet carries fewer guests to preserve a sophisticated ambiance.
Grand World Voyage Early Booking Amenities
Exciting Early Booking Amenities are available exclusively for our guests who book the 2014 Grand World Voyage aboard the ms Amsterdam sailing on January 5th 2014, roundtrip Ft. Lauderdale. These consist of a series of valuable amenities for our guests who book by May 31, 2013 in select categories of staterooms and suites as detailed below.
Penthouse Suite & Deluxe Verandah Suites (Categories PS - BC):
- Unlimited Luggage Delivery Service
- Per Person Shipboard Credit
Penthouse Verandah Suite: $2,000
Deluxe Verandah Suite: $1,000
Verandah Suite: $750
- Prepaid Hotel Service Charges (Approximate value $1,350.00 per person)
- Complimentary Shore Excursion from the Collections of Holland America Line
- Initial In-suite liquor set-up (4 bottles)
- "Welcome On Board" bottle of Champagne
- Complimentary laundry, pressing and dry cleaning throughout your cruise (PS-SB only)
- Complimentary in-suite bottled water and (PS-SB only)
Large Ocean-view Staterooms (Categories C-F):
- Luggage Delivery Service (2 pieces per person to/from Ft. Lauderdale only)
- $500 per person Shipboard Credit
- Prepaid Hotel Service Charges (Approximate value $1,300 per person)
- "Welcome On Board" bottle of Champagne
Exciting Early Booking Amenities are available for our guests who book a 30+ day segment of the 2014 Grand World Voyage. These consist of a valuable shipboard credit for our guests who book by May 31, 2013 in select categories of staterooms and suites as detailed below.
Penthouse Verandah, Deluxe Verandah & Verandah Suites (Categories PS-BC): Receive a $500 per person shipboard credit
Large Ocean-view Staterooms (Categories C-F): Receive a $300 per person shipboard credit
Exciting Early Booking Amenities are also available for our guests who book a segment up to 29 days by May 31, 2013.
Penthouse Verandah, Deluxe Verandah & Verandah Suites (Categories PS-BC): Receive a $250 per person shipboard credit
Large Ocean-view Staterooms (Categories C-F): Receive a $175 per person shipboard credit
View or print a PDF of the 2014 Grand Voyages early booking amenities.
For additional savings, guests who pay in full by May 31, 2013 will save 3%. Call for details.
All savings amounts shown are in USD.
Cruise to Hong Kong
This is Hong Kong – have you rested? City-state, deep-water harbor, darling of empires, engine of global finance, shopper's paradise, cinematic trend-setter, world's most vertical city. Whew. Cruise to Hong Kong with Holland America Line and join the parade into one of the city's countless markets. Watch the hardworking world of Aberdeen's junks and sampans. Rise above it all on the tram ride to the top of Victoria Peak. Hong Kong is where ancient herbal remedies mix with designer fashions, Buddhist monks mingle with businessmen, and Chinese traditions meet modern international capitalism.
Explore the City Further
Your cruise from Hong Kong will allow you to spend a few days before or (if you are disembarking) after to explore this city more fully. To learn more about hotel packages that will extend your cruise vacation, please contact your travel professional or Holland America Line.
Cruise to Punta Arenas
The southern finial of the South American continent is as fractured as frost crystals, but the inlets, bays, and passages around the Strait of Magellan are home to a million wonders. Punta Arenas is the threshold to them all. From here, cruise visitors can venture to the high scarps of Torres del Paine National Park, the penguin colony at Seno Otway, or the Martian volcanic topography of Pali Aike National Park. Punta Arenas worth lingering in, as well. Visit the tree-lined Plaza de Armas square or walk 10 minutes farther to the top of La Cruz Hill. The city of 150,000 people lies at your feet. 850 miles farther south Antarctica begins.
Shore Excursion Highlights
Cruise to Phuket
Beach after beach bejewels Phuket's fractal coastline. And what isn't beach is mainly mountainous jungle, town, or gothic cliff face. The Thai island sits on the Andaman side of the Malay Peninsula. To swim in its cerulean waters is to risk reordering your life's priorities, with equanimity bumped to the top of your to-do list. Cruise visitors can take in the beaches along western Phuket, visit Phang Nga Bay and James Bond Island; plug into the energy of Patong town; or the feel calm of Phra Taew National Park. Prom Thep Cape, at the southern tip of the island, is the place to watch the sun drop into the Andaman Sea.
Shore Excursion Highlights
- Panoramic Phuket: Temples, mosques, markets, and beaches.
- Phang Nga Bay: See the pocked cliffs of James Bond Island, a village on stilts, and the cave temple Wat Tham Suwan Kuha.
- Thai Cooking Class: First, the market. Second, the cashew nut factory. Third, learn how to cook it all up.
Cruise to Easter Island
We craft monuments to our deities from materials close at hand. On Easter Island the monuments were moai, giant sculptures of ancestors, and the material was almost always tuff, solidified volcanic ash. Craftsmen worked the quarry at Rano Raraku, a volcanic crater at the center of the island and teams of islanders would transport the sculptures to locations all around the island using a method that is still a mystery. After centuries of neglect, the moai are today protected in Rapa Nui National Park, which is honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Cruise visitors can climb up to the craters at Rano Raraku or Rano Kau or drive along the coast. You'll see moai everywhere.
Shore Excursion Highlights
Cruise to Barcelona
Barcelona effuses the ancient, the modernist, and the Gaudi. Legend has it the city was founded by Hercules 400 years before the founding of Rome. Whatever the truth, the city today is a global capital of commerce, fashion, culture, and sunshine (the city gets about 300 days of it a year). Cruise visitors should start with a walk down Las Ramblas, the glorious tree-shaded thoroughfare at the heart of the city. Claim a patch of sand on one of the city beaches. But, most of all, see what visionary architect Antoni Gaudi wrought. Seven of his creations have been honored as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including La Sagrada Familia, the Park Guell, and Casa Mila.
Cruise to Safaga
The ancient Egyptians built a mighty city along the Upper Nile dedicated to the god Amon-Ra. Today, Luxor is an archaeological wunderkammer. The Karnak and Luxor temple complexes are copses of stone columns, monuments, and obelisks. The Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens are sprawling tomb complexes sculpted from the land on the west bank of the Nile. The Ramsesseum is a the mortuary temple of Ramses the Great. There is on the sands of the complex a great granite head, the likeness of Ramses. If it triggers a memory for cruise visitors, it may be because the shattered visage inspired some of the great lines of English poetry in Percy Shelley's sonnet "Ozymandias."
Shore Excursion Highlights
Cruise to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro resists all adjectives. Even if you get that absolute vista from the top of Corcovado Mountain, you'll still thirst for more – for the taste of an acai berry drink, the pulse of samba, and the feel of the Atlantic on your toes. Drink deeply, you have such a journey before you. A cruise to Rio de Janeiro with Holland America Line brings you the stunning setting and joyous lust for life make Rio a cidade maravilhosa, "marvelous city." Ipanema, Copacabana, samba - the words alone conjure Brazilian paradise. Learn more.
Tour Highlights
Explore the City Further
Your cruise from Rio de Janeiro will allow you to spend a few days before or (if you are disembarking) after to explore this city more fully. To learn more about hotel packages that will extend your cruise vacation, please contact your travel professional or Holland America Line.
Cruise to Komodo Island
The largest varanus komodoensis measured more than 10 feet long and weighed 366 pounds. Komodo dragons, as they're popularly known, hunt in packs, produce a toxin that sends their prey into shock, and are generally terrifying. Found only on Komodo Island, one of more than 17,000 Indonesian islands, they are protected in Komodo National Park. UNESCO has declared the park a World Heritage site for its beauty and the evolutionary singularity of its resident lizards. The island as a whole is characterized by dry savannah, rugged hills, blue waters, and beaches composed of white sand, with one pink exception.
Shore Excursion Highlights
Cruise to Mumbai (Bombay)
Start with either of two Mumbais. First is the ancient religious India you see at Elephanta Island. Lying about 6 miles south of Mumbai, the hilly island contains a network of caves that Hindu and Buddhist artisans have sculpted over the last 1,500 years into monuments to their faiths. Second is the British colonial India manifest in the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus. The railway station is the busiest in India and its architecture a mixture of high Victorian gothic and Indian palace. Both the caves and the railway are UNESCO World Heritage Sites; the city itself is merely the pulsing economic and cultural dynamo of the world's most populous country. Cruise visitors can start anywhere – perhaps with a delicious bhelpuri and a walk along Marine Drive – then jump in.
Shore Excursion Highlights
Holland America Line is hosting some of the world’s most celebrated guest culinary experts who will showcase their expertise and share culinary tips with guests aboard ms Amsterdam's 115-day Grand World Voyage.
| Jan. 5 - 14 |
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John Alonge - Author of The Wine Heretic's Bible |
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Popularly known as the Wine Heretic, Alongé is the founder of the San Diego Wine & Culinary Center, an 8000-square foot event venue in the heart of the city dedicated to food and wine events and education. He began his career working in the vineyards of the Loire Valley in France, and served as Director of Food and Beverage for a major San Francisco-based hotel and restaurant group. His latest book is The Wine Heretic’s Bible, and he was previously selected as Best Wine Coach for San Diego Magazine’s Best of San Diego. |
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View Culinary Guest Biography
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| Jan. 15 - 29 |
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Christina Peters - Food Photographer / Owner / Instructor, MDR Photography, LA, Chicago, New York |
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While onboard the Amsterdam Christina will hold food styling and food photography classes. The class attendees can expect to be taking photos everywhere from the galley to the Lido Café to the Main Dining Room for commemorating their culinary experience while onboard. |
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View Culinary Guest Biography
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| Feb. 15 - 26 |
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Denise Vivaldo - Founder of Food Fanatics |
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Denise has catered more than 10,000 parties and has cooked for such guests as Prince Charles, Bette Midler, Suzanne Somers, Merv Griffin, Cher, and Maria Shriver. She began her culinary training at the Ritz Escoffier and La Varenne in Paris, and then graduated Chef de Cuisine from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. Denise spent numerous years as a professor at UCLA’s Culinary Program and at her alma mater, The California Culinary Academy. She is the author of How to Start a Home-Based Catering Business, which is in its sixth printing, and How to Start a Home-Based Personal Chef Business. |
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View Culinary Guest Biography
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| Mar. 11 - 20 |
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Naomi Kakiuchi - Sushi Expert, Educator and President NuCulinary, Seattle |
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An expert in Asian cuisine, Naomi runs the Chef Program for the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance's seven urban farmers markets in greater Seattle. She is Executive Producer of The Art of Sushi, a series of educational DVDs. In 2008, the American Dietetic Association included Naomi’s recipes in their cookbook, Cooking Healthy Across America. Naomi believes that the dinner table is the staple of a balanced society and by sharing that table with all cultures, we expand our ability to create peace through a keen understanding of our global neighbors. |
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View Culinary Guest Biography
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| Mar. 21 - Apr. 7 |
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George Geary - Former Pastry Chef, Disney Corp. Culinary Journalist, Author and Educator Corona, CA |
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The award-winning author of nine cookbooks, Chef Geary previously worked in the film and TV industry, creating food styled and consumed on-air. He also conducts culinary tours of major cities in America and abroad, and was recently awarded the 2013 Culinary Tour Guide of the Year Award. He was also named Best Domestic Culinary Tour Guide and European Tour Guide by Frommer’s in 2009. When George is not traveling onboard our ships, you can see him teaching food segments on television stations across the United States. |
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View Culinary Guest Biography
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| Apr. 9 - May 1 |
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Chris Smith - Healthy Living / Healthy Cooking Motivational Speaker |
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Chris is a dynamic motivational speaker and healthy living guru. While onboard the Amsterdam the guest can expect to be educated and entertained with such workshops as Attaining Flavor – Learn how to spice up your food with healthy garden-fresh herbs or 30-Minute Meals – Menu development for busy people who want to eat healthy while on the run. |
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View Culinary Guest Biography
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Do You Offer A Cancellation Protection Plan?
Holland America Line's Cancellation Protection Plan (CPP) is available for purchase on Holland America Line Cruises and CruiseTours, and is offered as a Standard Plan or a Platinum Plan. CPP is designed to protect your vacation investment from loss. Be it illness, family matters, unforeseen work events - anything, CPP is a product that enables you to cancel your vacation plans before you leave, for any reason and receive a refund.
Four reasons to choose the Holland America Line Cancellation Protection Plan:
- YOU CAN CANCEL BEFORE DEPARTURE FOR ANY REASON. Even if it's up to 24 hours before departure under our Standard Plan or right up to departure with our Platinum Plan. For any reason whatsoever, your reservation may be cancelled with ease.
- YOU GET MONEY BACK. Only Holland America Line refunds 80-90% of eligible amounts paid, regardless of your reason for canceling, as long as you cancel more than 24 hours prior to departure (right up to departure with the Platinum Plan).
- SAME PRICE FOR ALL AGES. We offer the same excellent protection for everyone, at the same cost.
- NO PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS. Our Standard and Platinum Plans do not contain pre-existing condition exclusions.
Our Standard and Platinum plans at a glance
Unforeseen events do happen. When you book your next cruise, be sure to ask about our Cancellation Protection Plans to protect your cruise investment.
CPP Standard Plan – Provided by Holland America Line
Our Standard Cancellation Protection Plan (CPP Standard Plan) will allow you, for any reason, to provide written cancellation up to 24 hours prior to the start of your scheduled travel (sea, land and/or air) arrangements made by Holland America Line and receive a refund equal to 80% of the eligible amounts paid. CPP Standard is available to all guests, regardless of residency.
In addition, Holland America Line (HAL) automatically assumes an additional $500 (USD) of liability for lost, damaged or delayed baggage of guests who purchase the CPP Standard Plan still subject, however, to the limitations in our baggage policies. For example, we do not cover losses while baggage is in the custody of airlines. Please review our Baggage Policy.
The CPP Standard Plan is not insurance, and is administered by Holland America Line; it provides no rights other than those explained above. For example, it does not protect double-triple-quad occupancy rates should one or more members of your party cancel, nor does it cover expenses or unused services due to trip interruption.
CPP Platinum
Our Platinum Cancellation Protection Plan enables you to supplement the benefits provided under the CPP Standard Plan with higher cancellation reimbursement and extends the eligible cancellation period up until the start of your scheduled travel (sea, land and/or air) arrangements made by Holland America Line. CPP Platinum also provides insurance coverage for trip delays and interruptions, medical expenses and much more. In addition, CPP Platinum includes 24-hour worldwide emergency assistance services. CPP Platinum is comprised of the following:
SECTION I
Cancel for Any Reason Waiver
Provided by Holland America Line
You may cancel for any reason prior to the start of your scheduled travel (sea, land and/or air) arrangements made by Holland America Line and receive reimbursement equal to 90% of the eligible amounts paid to Holland America. Note: CPP Platinum does not protect double-triple-quad occupancy rates should one or more members of your party cancel prior to departure.
SECTION II
TRAVEL INSURANCE PROGRAM
Underwritten by Stonebridge Casualty Insurance Company
- Trip Interruption: Enables you to cancel or interrupt your cruise vacation for illness, injury or death to you, an immediate family member or a traveling companion, as well as certain other non-medical reasons affecting you or your traveling companion, and receive up to 150% of your cruise vacation cost.
- Trip Delay: If you miss the departure of your cruise due to carrier-caused delays or other specified reasons, you will be reimbursed up to $500 for additional accommodations, meals and “catch-up” transportation expenses.
- Baggage Protection: If your baggage or personal property is lost or damaged, you will be reimbursed up to $1,000. If your bags are delayed or misdirected by a common carrier for more than 24 hours, you will be reimbursed up to $500 for the purchase of necessary personal effects.
- Medical Expense Coverage: Should you become injured or sick during your vacation, you will be reimbursed up to $10,000 for medical expenses.
- Emergency Evacuation/Repatriation: In the event that serious illness or injury requires air or ground transportation to a specialized facility or to return home, you will be provided up to $50,000 in covered medical services and supplies (coordinated by our 24-hour assistance provider) to help ensure your safe transport. Repatriation coverage provides for shipment of remains in the event of death during the cruise vacation.
The Travel Insurance Program is underwritten by Stonebridge Casualty Insurance Company, a Transamerica company, Columbus, Ohio; NAIC #10952 (all states except as otherwise noted) under Policy/Certificate Form series TAHC5000. In CA, HI, NE, NH, PA, TN and TX Policy/Certificate Form series TAHC5100 and TAHC5200. In IL, IN, KS, LA, OR, OH, VT, WA and WY Policy Form #'s TAHC5100IPS and TAHC5200IPS. Certain coverages are under series TAHC6000 and TAHC7000.
SECTION III
WORLDWIDE EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE SERVICES
Provided by On Call International
Provides 24-hour assistance services including: pre-cruise health, safety and weather information; assistance with travel changes; lost luggage assistance; emergency cash transfer assistance; emergency medical and dental assistance; lost travel document assistance; and emergency medical payment assistance.
IMPORTANT: This is only a brief description of the program. Please refer to the link below for a summary of the terms, conditions, and exclusions. Note that the benefits and services provided in CPP Platinum are available only to guests who enroll in and pay the appropriate program cost to Holland America Line. Please note that payment of the required cruise deposit does not automatically activate enrollment in CPP Platinum Protection. In order to activate enrollment, you must pay the appropriate program costs in addition to the required cruise deposit amount. The CPP Standard and CPP Platinum Plans are optional and are available for purchase prior to the date on which cancellation fees begin to accrue. Payment for the plan is due at time of purchase and is non-refundable. The per person, per cruise costs for both plans are listed with the cruise fares. To add our Cancellation Protection Standard or Platinum Plan to your new or existing cruise booking, please call us at 1-877-932-4259.
This program was designed and is administered by Aon Affinity Berkely Travel. Aon Affinity, is the brand name for the brokerage and program administration operations of Affinity Insurance Services, Inc.; (AR 244489); in CA, MN & OK , AIS Affinity Insurance Agency, Inc. (CA 0795465); in CA, Aon Affinity Insurance Services, Inc., (0G94493), Aon Direct Insurance Administrators and Berkely Insurance Agency and in NY and NH, AIS Affinity Insurance Agency. Affinity Insurance Services is acting as a Managing General Agent as that term is defined in section 626.015(14) of the Florida Insurance Code. As a MGA we are acting on behalf of our carrier partner.
For New York residents only: The Holland America Cancel For Any Reason Waiver may be purchased separately from the Travel Insurance Program. Contact 1-877-538-3815 for details.
This plan provides insurance coverage that applies only during the covered trip. You may have coverage from other sources that provides you with similar benefits but may be subject to different restrictions depending upon your other coverages. You may wish to compare the terms of this policy with your existing life, health, home and automobile policies. If you have any questions about your current coverage, call your insurer, insurance agent or broker.
Review Terms, Conditions and Plan Sponsors
updated 02/13
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