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Elegant and spacious, Volendam takes her décor cues from the garden. Her grand public spaces are graced with floral fabrics and tapestries, as well as huge vases of fresh floral arrangements. Enjoy regional cooking demonstrations and food and wine tastings with Port to Table programming. Relax with a spa treatment at the Greenhouse Salon & Spa. Or dine in one of our selection of fine restaurants.
Ft. Lauderdale is sometimes called the Venice of America because of its many canals and waterways. It’s home to the annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, one of the largest in-water boat shows in the world; one of the many reasons our Fort Lauderdale cruise guests love visiting. . Guests of Ft. Lauderdale cruises can easily get a taste of the area’s nautical lifestyle by cruising the Intracoastal Waterway on an old-fashioned paddle wheeler. Other options include hopping aboard one of the popular water taxis or Venetian gondolas that glide down the historic New River that flows right through town.
While Ft. Lauderdale is often overshadowed by its flashy neighbor, Miami, the port city is expanding rapidly as major developers and high-end resorts build up the beachfront and surrounding neighborhoods. Visitors will find world-class shopping on famous Las Olas Boulevard, celebrated restaurants and a cultural explosion in the Riverwalk Arts & Entertainment District. It’s clear that the city is solidifying its place as a sophisticated destination, and one of the reasons our Fort Lauderdale cruises are a popular choice for many vacation goers.
When you take a St Maarten cruise with Holland America Line Cruises we not only want you relax and enjoy yourself, we want you to have and experience like no other. This Leeward island has been famously bisected into French and Dutch territories since 1648, and is referred to both as Saint Martin and Sint Maarten. In their respective capitals—Marigot and Philipsburg—there are ancient stone forts and candy-colored buildings lining winding streets. The Dutch side has a slightly larger population but is a bit smaller, at 34 square kilometers (13 square miles), versus the 53-square-kilometer (20-square-mile) Saint Martin.
Named for its founder John Philips, Philipsburg, the capital of the Dutch side, has some excellent international art galleries, thumping discos and popular casinos. Farther afield are beautiful beaches and a seemingly endless array of nature conservancies. With them come extensive opportunities for adventure—hiking, biking and zip lining—and amazing wildlife sightings in the sea, on land and in the sky.
On the French side, there are cafés serving café au lait and pain au chocolat and sidewalk bistros offering chilled rosé and savory crepes. A variety of luxury shops and cosmopolitan boutiques beckon to sophisticated shoppers who love a good bargain—the entire island has no sales tax. So, when you cruise to St Maarten with Holland America Line Cruises be sure to bring your sense of adventure and prepare to make unforgettable memories that will last a lifetime.
Stunning mountain peaks, lush rainforest, and perfectly turquoise water. Discover this Caribbean gem on a Cruise to St. Lucia. This Caribbean island offers a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the raw power of Mother Nature at her finest. On a Cruise to St. Lucia, visit the only drive-in volcano in the world, explore the natural wonders of the wild or simply relax with a good book on an even better beach. St Lucia truly has it all. Book a Caribbean cruise and discover St. Lucia’s sandy white beaches, vibrant tropical foliage, and authentic island food.
Barbadians, or Bajans in local parlance, consider their island nation the most British of the Caribbean: Queen Elizabeth II is still head of state, and English products are stocked in many of its stores and restaurants. Barbados is known as the birthplace of international pop star Rihanna, but it has also produced some of the biggest Caribbean calypso and soca music stars. The summer Crop Over festival is a huge carnival event. With live music and crafts for sale, the popular Friday fish fry at Oistins Bay is a fun place to mingle with the locals.
Centered around a waterway called the Careenage and its handsome Chamberlain Bridge, the historic center of Bridgetown, the country’s capital, was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 2011 for its wealth of British colonial architecture dating from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Among the famous figures who visited Bridgetown when it was at its peak was none other than George Washington, who spent two months in 1751 in a house that still stands today, on his only trip abroad.
Barbados is only 34 kilometers (21 miles) long, and even if your time is limited, you can explore much of the island using Bridgetown as your base. The less populated, rugged east coast of this coral island is strikingly beautiful and home to a number of different turtle species. The west coast, often nicknamed the ‘Platinum Coast,’ is where you’ll find some of the island’s most popular beaches and biggest mansions. The interior, with its 340-meter-high (1,115-foot-high) Mount Hillaby, historic sugar plantations and lush gardens, will lure you away from the beach for a few hours.
Devil’s Island, part of a three-island chain called Îles du Salut, in French Guiana, was home to one of the most infamous—and impregnable—prisons of the 19th and 20th centuries. Opened in 1852, it received worldwide renown in the mid-1890s when French military captain Alfred Dreyfus was sentenced to life imprisonment after being wrongly convicted of selling military secrets to Germany. Although Dreyfus’s sentence was commuted after five years, more than 80,000 political prisoners and hardened criminals endured years of mistreatment and abuse among disease-ridden conditions. Few were able to escape, though Henri Charrière, author of the book Papillon, allegedly succeeded by filling sacks with coconuts in order to float to the mainland. The prison was officially closed in 1953. In 1965, the French government transferred responsibility of the island to the Guiana Space Centre, and in recent years, tourism facilities have been added. Devil’s Island and its two smaller neighboring islands receive more than 50,000 visitors each year.
The Amazon is a river, and a region, of superlatives. It’s the world’s largest river when measured by volume. With 209,000 cubic meters (55 million gallons) of water flowing into the Pacific each second, it’s five times the size of the Congo, the next largest river. The basin it drains is some 7 million square kilometers (2.7 million square miles), making it the largest drainage basin in the world. (By comparison, the contiguous United States is roughly 8 million square kilometers, or 3.1 million square miles.) What most impresses visitors to the Amazon, however, is rarely these numbers. Instead it’s the area’s cultural and natural riches and the experience of seeing the rain forest extend in every direction.
As you travel along the length of the Amazon, you’ll call at villages that are not just geographically remote, but are far from contemporary culture as well. Some 400 indigenous peoples live in the Amazon, as they have for centuries. On the same journey, you can visit the 19th-century opera house at Manaus and the colonial-era churches in Santarém, Macapá and other cities. Biologically the basin is home to some 10 percent of all the world’s known animal and plant species. From jaguars to macaws and pink dolphins to glass frogs, the Amazon is an area of astounding and unique biodiversity.
If you are looking for a destination where you can have the bragging rights of being the first one of your friends to have visited, Macapá will fit the bill. The Brazilian city may describe itself as the capital of the middle of the world because the equator runs through it, but there is no denying it is far off the beaten tourist path. In fact, there are few paths at all that reach Macapá; most visitors arrive by air or sea to this city, which straddles the Atlantic Ocean and the mouth of the Amazon.
For many, a visit to Macapá is just a stopping point en route to the Amazon, but the city, which enjoys tropical warmth moderated by ocean breezes, does have some interesting attractions to fill a day’s visit. While Macapá is Brazil’s fifth-wealthiest city, at the same time it has the dubious distinction of making some lists of the world’s most dangerous cities. Street crime is an issue, and even if you are used to heading out fearlessly in foreign cities, this is a destination where the company of a group or a knowledgeable and trusted guide is highly recommended.
The Amazon is a river, and a region, of superlatives. It’s the world’s largest river when measured by volume. With 209,000 cubic meters (55 million gallons) of water flowing into the Pacific each second, it’s five times the size of the Congo, the next largest river. The basin it drains is some 7 million square kilometers (2.7 million square miles), making it the largest drainage basin in the world. (By comparison, the contiguous United States is roughly 8 million square kilometers, or 3.1 million square miles.) What most impresses visitors to the Amazon, however, is rarely these numbers. Instead it’s the area’s cultural and natural riches and the experience of seeing the rain forest extend in every direction.
As you travel along the length of the Amazon, you’ll call at villages that are not just geographically remote, but are far from contemporary culture as well. Some 400 indigenous peoples live in the Amazon, as they have for centuries. On the same journey, you can visit the 19th-century opera house at Manaus and the colonial-era churches in Santarém, Macapá and other cities. Biologically the basin is home to some 10 percent of all the world’s known animal and plant species. From jaguars to macaws and pink dolphins to glass frogs, the Amazon is an area of astounding and unique biodiversity.
The equator is an essential component of our planet’s geography—even though it’s just an imaginary line drawn on a map. In addition to being the widest spot on the planet—a full 43 kilometers (27 miles) wider than at the poles—this is also the planetary dividing line for the Coriolis effect, which explains why cyclones rotate clockwise north of the equator and counterclockwise south of it. It’s also the place best suited for launching spacecraft because the gravitational pull gives rocket ships an extra boost out of the stratosphere. And for a bit of light-hearted fun, if you’re onboard a craft where any of the crew are crossing this imaginary line for the first time, you’ll likely witness a King Neptune (or Crossing the Line) ceremony. This ancient naval tradition puts newbies, or “Pollywogs,” through a series of pranks and tests to prove themselves worthy of being a son or daughter of Neptune, the Roman god of the sea.
The Amazon is a river, and a region, of superlatives. It’s the world’s largest river when measured by volume. With 209,000 cubic meters (55 million gallons) of water flowing into the Pacific each second, it’s five times the size of the Congo, the next largest river. The basin it drains is some 7 million square kilometers (2.7 million square miles), making it the largest drainage basin in the world. (By comparison, the contiguous United States is roughly 8 million square kilometers, or 3.1 million square miles.) What most impresses visitors to the Amazon, however, is rarely these numbers. Instead it’s the area’s cultural and natural riches and the experience of seeing the rain forest extend in every direction.
As you travel along the length of the Amazon, you’ll call at villages that are not just geographically remote, but are far from contemporary culture as well. Some 400 indigenous peoples live in the Amazon, as they have for centuries. On the same journey, you can visit the 19th-century opera house at Manaus and the colonial-era churches in Santarém, Macapá and other cities. Biologically the basin is home to some 10 percent of all the world’s known animal and plant species. From jaguars to macaws and pink dolphins to glass frogs, the Amazon is an area of astounding and unique biodiversity.
Perched alongside the Rio Tapajós deep inside the Amazon between Manaus and Belém (but 800 kilometers, or almost 500 miles, from both!), Santarém is a muggy but intriguing jungle town and a jumping-off point for a bevy of surrounding attractions. Established as a Jesuit mission in 1661, Santarém suffered from the same rubber boom-and-bust cycle as Pará’s capital, Belém. The town later had a moment in the spotlight as the nearest major significant port to Henry Ford’s American utopian jungle experiment, Fordlândia, which tried and failed between 1928 and 1945 (its ruins are located 12 hours downriver by boat).
Today, Santarém does a brisk business in tourism thanks to the crystalline waters of the Tapajós River, which account for over 105 kilometers (65 miles) of postcard-perfect river beaches in its environs. Alter do Chão, a Brazilian dream destination of idyllic sands, has been called the Caribbean of Brazil; and Floresta Nacional (FLONA) do Tapajós, a pristinely preserved 2,100-square-kilometer (811-square-mile) piece of Amazon beauty, boasts massive Samauma trees and a few burgeoning eco-tourism enterprises. Both Alter do Chão and FLONA can be experienced as day trips from Santarém. The city itself boasts a pleasant riverfront promenade, a few worthwhile museums (keep an eye out for evidence of the city’s little-known past as a refuge for sympathizers to the Confederate cause who emigrated here after the Civil War; their descendants, Confederados, still live here today) and several great restaurants.
Surrounded by the Amazonian rain forest, Boca da Valeria, a small Brazilian settlement of fewer than 100 people, boasts no tourism infrastructure. Yet the destination lures travelers by offering an authentic glimpse of the simple river life that the Amerindians have followed for centuries. Meaning ‘Mouth of the Valeria River,’ the remote fishing and trading village sits at the convergence of the Amazon and the Rio da Valeria. The local children guide visitors along a dirt footpath and pose for pictures in their native costumes, often with exotic animals in tow. Boca da Valeria, which is located between the towns of Parintins and Santarém, stands in stark contrast to nearby urban centers such as Manaus, where residents live with all the comforts, and complications, of contemporary life—but therein lies the appeal to the world adventurer.
If ever a city were a model for boom and bust, it would be Manaus, which lies at the confluence of Brazil’s Amazon River and Rio Negro, more than 1,450 kilometers (900 miles) from the Atlantic Ocean. Like in America’s Old West, great fortunes were amassed in no time here and vanished just as quickly during the boom years of rubber production in the late 19th century. The most enduring memorial of that time is the great opera house and theater that are still in use today, and whose existence in the Amazon helped inspire the 1982 movie Fitzcarraldo, about one man’s maniacal obsession with bringing opera to the jungle.
These days, Manaus is downright huge—perhaps surprisingly, it’s Brazil’s seventh-largest city. A swank new soccer stadium was added for the 2014 World Cup, and a three-kilometer-long (two-mile-long), cable-stayed bridge opened in 2011 across the Rio Negro. The Ponta Negra suburb has modern high-rises, buzzing restaurants and beaches that rival those of any town on the sea. But within minutes, visitors can find themselves in the watery jungle, the source of the Amazonian specialties like pirarucu fish and acai berries on the menus of Manaus’s restaurants.
If a world record exists for the most remote festival on the planet, then Parintins should win hands down. This cow town of sorts sits on an island in the Amazon River, some 1,100 kilometers (700 miles) inland from the Atlantic. Its claim to fame: the spectacular Boi Bumba festival, held over three days in June. The town’s 60,000 inhabitants spend the year preparing for the festival, building fantastic floats that depict giant pink porpoises, fierce jaguars and the like. Two rival camps, the red-colored Garantido and the blue-colored Caprichoso, compete in song and dance performances staged in a massive stadium glowing like a UFO that landed in the Amazon jungle.
The festival is based on a long-told folk tale with indigenous, African and European elements: A cowboy kills a prized bull (boi in Portuguese) for his pregnant wife, who craves ox tongue; facing death by the landowner, he is ultimately saved when a shaman brings the bull back to life. As tens of thousands of spectators cheer wildly, ‘Indian’ maidens sing while perched high on the floats, and huge dance troupes move to the rhythms of hundreds of samba drummers. The winning team grabs bragging rights for the year. During the rest of the year, visitors are treated to samples of the big shows to come in June.
Not for nothing is Alter do Chão known as the Caribbean of the Amazon. Taken as a whole, the village’s white powdery beaches, transparent blue-green waters and hang-loose vibe would make a perfectly convincing addition to the Lesser Antilles. Of course, there are tip-offs that you’re still in the midst of South America’s River Sea, not least the neighboring rain forest and the pink dolphins—those local mascots—that periodically surface in the water.
This uncommon tropical charm lies at the heart of Alter do Chão’s appeal—but the place becomes outright irresistible when you factor in the curiously cosmopolitan inhabitants (expat hippies, herbalists and nature lovers in addition to Brazilians) and the cute little shops, cafés and businesses they’ve created.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a more relaxing or beautiful stop in which to enjoy a drink by the water (or even sometimes in the water, seated in a slightly submerged chair—a local tradition) before doing a little exploring by boat or on foot.
The equator is an essential component of our planet’s geography—even though it’s just an imaginary line drawn on a map. In addition to being the widest spot on the planet—a full 43 kilometers (27 miles) wider than at the poles—this is also the planetary dividing line for the Coriolis effect, which explains why cyclones rotate clockwise north of the equator and counterclockwise south of it. It’s also the place best suited for launching spacecraft because the gravitational pull gives rocket ships an extra boost out of the stratosphere. And for a bit of light-hearted fun, if you’re onboard a craft where any of the crew are crossing this imaginary line for the first time, you’ll likely witness a King Neptune (or Crossing the Line) ceremony. This ancient naval tradition puts newbies, or “Pollywogs,” through a series of pranks and tests to prove themselves worthy of being a son or daughter of Neptune, the Roman god of the sea.
The Amazon is a river, and a region, of superlatives. It’s the world’s largest river when measured by volume. With 209,000 cubic meters (55 million gallons) of water flowing into the Pacific each second, it’s five times the size of the Congo, the next largest river. The basin it drains is some 7 million square kilometers (2.7 million square miles), making it the largest drainage basin in the world. (By comparison, the contiguous United States is roughly 8 million square kilometers, or 3.1 million square miles.) What most impresses visitors to the Amazon, however, is rarely these numbers. Instead it’s the area’s cultural and natural riches and the experience of seeing the rain forest extend in every direction.
As you travel along the length of the Amazon, you’ll call at villages that are not just geographically remote, but are far from contemporary culture as well. Some 400 indigenous peoples live in the Amazon, as they have for centuries. On the same journey, you can visit the 19th-century opera house at Manaus and the colonial-era churches in Santarém, Macapá and other cities. Biologically the basin is home to some 10 percent of all the world’s known animal and plant species. From jaguars to macaws and pink dolphins to glass frogs, the Amazon is an area of astounding and unique biodiversity.
The twin island nation of Trinidad and Tobago is a mere 11 kilometers (seven miles) off the coast of Venezuela, but geography aside, South America is not the dominant influence here. In fact, the country is the definition of a true melting pot. Locals speak a language all their own—mainly English, but peppered with Creole and patois. Along with Afro-Trinis, there are citizens of Indian descent, both Hindu and Muslim, who have maintained their ethnic heritage. As is true in much of the West Indies, many locals have Chinese and Middle Eastern roots as well.
In the late 2000s, the island nation’s capital, Port-of-Spain, went on a modernization spree—adding new hotels and shopping to make its once warehouse-clogged shoreline an attractive draw and building a glassy, shell-shaped national arts center. Yet amid the construction boom, the city has still managed to retain much of its historical charm, with ornate, early-20th-century mansions lining its central Savannah district.
But Trinidad is best known for its carnival—matched only by Rio and New Orleans in its festive grandeur. Steelpan orchestras with as many as 100 members join a procession of outrageously costumed dancers. You’ll also hear calypso and soca, two styles of music that originated on Trinidad and Tobago.
There is so much to see and do on our cruises to Curaçao. This precious island has a good mixture of history and modernism which all of our guests can truly enjoy. The capital of Curaçao, Willemstad, is almost as old as a more famous Dutch settlement—it was founded in 1634, just 10 years after New Amsterdam, later called New York. But while the Dutch control of New Amsterdam was relatively brief, Curaçao remains a part of the Netherlands to this day. Our Curaçao cruise takes you to its historic center which is a unique mixture of Dutch architecture and Caribbean pastels, its gabled row houses overlooking Sint Anna Bay, a waterway dividing the city in two and connecting the Caribbean to the protected Schottegat Bay. The entire historic center of Willemstad has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While Willemstad’s legendary days of yore can be explored at institutions like the Kura Hulanda and Curaçao Maritime Museum, this is a vibrant, living city too. Our Curaçao cruise highlights this multicultural melting pot which might include a stop at its floating market and a visit to a Curaçao distillery to taste the famous local liqueur. Natural wonders await as well: Some of the Caribbean’s most stunning diving and snorkeling spots are here. Finally, a meal in Willemstad will let you experience the diversity of the island through the surprising flavors of its cuisine, which reflects European, Caribbean and Latin American influences.
Located off the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia, the windswept Dutch island of Aruba feels like another world. When you take a cruise to Aruba, you can relax in the shade of a swaying Divi Divi tree on a pristine beach or explore untamed coastal cliffs in an exotic landscape filled with cacti. Just one day on an Aruba cruise can lead to a lifetime full of stories.
Ft. Lauderdale is sometimes called the Venice of America because of its many canals and waterways. It’s home to the annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, one of the largest in-water boat shows in the world; one of the many reasons our Fort Lauderdale cruise guests love visiting. . Guests of Ft. Lauderdale cruises can easily get a taste of the area’s nautical lifestyle by cruising the Intracoastal Waterway on an old-fashioned paddle wheeler. Other options include hopping aboard one of the popular water taxis or Venetian gondolas that glide down the historic New River that flows right through town.
While Ft. Lauderdale is often overshadowed by its flashy neighbor, Miami, the port city is expanding rapidly as major developers and high-end resorts build up the beachfront and surrounding neighborhoods. Visitors will find world-class shopping on famous Las Olas Boulevard, celebrated restaurants and a cultural explosion in the Riverwalk Arts & Entertainment District. It’s clear that the city is solidifying its place as a sophisticated destination, and one of the reasons our Fort Lauderdale cruises are a popular choice for many vacation goers.
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