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Holland America was founded in 1873 as the Netherlands-America Steamship Company (NASM), a shipping and passenger line. Because it provided service to the Americas, it became known as Holland America Line. The company's first ocean liner was the original Rotterdam, which sailed its maiden voyage from the Netherlands to New York City on October 15, 1872—a crossing that took 15 days.

The line was a principal carrier of immigrants from Europe to the United States until well after the turn of the century, carrying 850,000 passengers to new lives in the New World. The line offered its first cruise in 1895; Three years later, HAL owned a fleet of six cargo and passenger ships that also provided service between Holland and the Dutch East Indies via the Suez Canal.

With the growing preference of the public for jet travel to Europe, HAL suspended in 1971 its trans-Atlantic passenger trade and turned to offering cruise vacations full time. It introduced two radically designed vessels-the ‘ new’ Nieuw Amstersdam and Noordam-in the 1980s, which allowed for more space for leisure-cruising activities. HAL, along with Seattle-based Westours and Windstar Cruises, was acquired by Carnival Corporation in 1997.

SHIPS:
MS Amsterdam 1,380 p Netherlands Registry
MS Maasdam, 1,266 p Netherlands Registry

MS Noordam 1,214 p Netherlands Registry

MS Oosterdam 1,848 p Netherlands Regi

MS Prinsendam 793 p Netherlands Registry

MS Rotterdam 1.316 p Netherlands Registry

MS Ryndam 1,258 p Netherlands Registry

MS Statendam 1258 p Netherlands Registry

MS Veendam 1,266 p Bahamas Registry

MS Volendam 1,440 p Netherlands Registry

MS Westerdam 1,848 p Netherlands Registry

MS Zaandam 1,440 p Netherlands Registry

MS Zuiderdam 1,848 p Netherlands Registry

Address:
300 Elliott Avenue West
Seattle, Washington 98119
Tel: 1-877-724-5425
Fax: 1-206-301-5282

Hebridean Island Cruises has been operating cruise ships since 1989.The first vessel, Hebridean Princess, has cruised Scotland’s West Coast waters for the past fourteen years. Hebridean Spirit, joined the line in July 2001. Her year-round program takes her to intriguing destinations from the Arctic to the Tropics.

Ships:
Hebridean Princess 50 p Scotland Registry

Hebridean Spirit 80 p Scotland Registry

Adresses:
Hebridean International Cruises
Kintail House Carleton New Road
Skipton
North Yorkshire
BD23 2DE

UK Tel: +44 (0) 1756 704704

US Toll Free Tel: 1-800-659-2648

Hapag-Lloyd AG was created on September 1, 1970 as a result of the merger of the shipping lines Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (Hamburg-American Line or Hapag), based in Hamburg, and Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL), based in Bremen. At that time these companies, founded in 1847 and 1857 respectively, had been active in ocean shipping for over 120 years. Its cruise division is the leading supplier of cruises in German-speaking countries, offering both sea-going and river cruises. The MS Europa is its flagship. In 2004, the company began offering more bilingual cruises, setting its sights on the American market.

Ships:
MS Hanseatic 194 p Bahamas Registry

MS Bremen 184 p Bahamas Registry

MS Columbus 423 p Bahamas Registry

MS Europa 450 Bahamas Registry

Address:
Ballindamm 25
D-20095 Hamburg
Germany
Tel: 040-3001-4600
Fax: 040-3001-4601