Every voyage has a starting point. For Holland America\u2019s Vista Class fleet, that starting point has a name: Zuiderdam<\/em>.<\/p>\n The first Vista Class ship delivered to the fleet, Zuiderdam<\/em> arrived in 2002 as a vision for the next generation of cruise ships. Her ocean view-forward design, expansive verandahs, and \u201cperfectly sized\u201d methodology influenced every Holland America ship built since and the standard that drives our identity today.<\/p>\n Now, more than two decades later, Holland America Evolution brings the story full circle \u2014 back to the ship where our modern story began.<\/p>\n<\/div> Zuiderdam<\/em> didn’t just arrive as another addition to a fleet. Zuiderdam<\/em> was the largest vessel Holland America had ever built when she entered service in December 2002, and her design was a deliberate break from what came before: more natural light, dramatically more verandah accommodations, and expansive public spaces that established what \u201cperfectly sized\u201d would come to mean.<\/p>\n For her official christening, Zuiderdam<\/em> was named on American soil at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. The location choice was a symbol of unity during an uncertain time, as was the choice of Godmother, media icon Joan Lunden, longtime co-host of Good Morning America<\/em>. As the face of morning television for nearly two decades, Lunden was a welcome and familiar presence in living rooms across the country. Choosing such a recognizable figure as godmother, in North America, reflected Holland America’s growing prominence on the continent and the new audience the Vista Class was built to serve.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>Setting the Vista Class Standard<\/h2><\/div>