HAL future plans

Holland America Line has said that it has no plans to copy other major cruise lines by home-porting a vessel in the UK and nor will it move into the ‘mega-cruiser’ area. 86,700 tonne Eurodam is the first of HAL’s two Signature-class vessels, holding 2,104 passengers and this is intended to be the biggest capacity vessel in the fleet. HAL does plan to increase its UK presence but says it won’t be homeporting a ship in the UK in the near future – instead it will grow its UK cruise market with a limited number of sailings ex-UK ports and a comprehensive fly-cruise programme. It’s an interesting plan because there is an increasing tendency amongst UK cruise passengers to shun fly-cruises, because of the growing delays at airports and increased security measures, and the tight luggage limits that cause problems if you’re planning a fourteen day formal cruise.