‘Pole-to-Pole’ Cruise Announced by Holland America Line

The Volendam will sail a roundtrip from Port Everglades in 2025 on its first-ever “Pole-to-Pole” Grand Voyage. Meanwhile, the Zudierdam will cruise around the globe.

“This will be a truly historic pair of voyages,” said Gus Antorcha, cruise line president. It is an incredible way to offer our guests two travel options worldwide. Within the past decade, our Grand World Voyage has traveled east to west, and the other Grands have focused on one region. Choosing this first-of-its-kind route that explores south-to-north roundtrips from the U.S. has become an incredible way to offer our guests two options to travel globally.

In January 2025, the cruise line will simultaneously sail two 133-day Grand Voyages, marking the first time it has ever sailed two Grand Voyages of more than 120 days at once.

Volendam’s Pole-to-Pole voyage covers five continents, while Zuiderdam’s Grand World Voyage covers six.

The voyage was carefully planned to ensure we were visiting destinations when the weather was favorable, and we included locations such as the Amazon River, Greenland, and Iceland, along with Antarctica and the Arctic, according to Paul Grigsby, Holland America Line‘s vice president of deployment and itinerary planning. “We have designed two voyages where we will spend several nights in ports for those memorable moments. It was even planned so both cruises would spend an overnight in Barcelona.

Grand Voyage 2025: Pole-to-Pole departs Fort Lauderdale on January 25, 2025. As part of the cruise, the ship sails through the Panama Canal to Antarctica, then to Argentina and Brazil, before reaching the Amazon River. After cruising in Antarctica for four days, the Volendam will get to the North Cape.

Over 28 countries and five continents are visited on the voyage.

From Fort Lauderdale, the Grand Voyage departs on January 4, 2025. After transiting the Panama Canal, the ship will head to Easter Island and then reach Australia. During the voyage, 46 ports of call will be made across six continents in 32 different countries.

On April 24, 2025, the two ships will meet in Barcelona for an overnight stop. The rare occasion will be celebrated with special events involving both ships.