Holland America Announces First “Pole-to-Pole” Cruise

In 2025, Holland America Line will sail the first Grand Voyage “Pole-to-Pole” roundtrip from the United States. Details of the upcoming 133-day sailing and a simultaneous 124-day Grand World Voyage in 2025 were announced today aboard Zuiderdam to Grand World Voyage passengers presently travelling in the North Sea by President Gus Antorcha.

With the Grand Voyage: Pole-to-Pole and Grand World Voyage sailing in January 2025, Holland America Line will be operating two Grand Voyages of more than 120 days simultaneously for the first time. The Grand Voyage: Pole-to-Pole onboard Volendam covers five continents on a south-to-north itinerary, while the Grand World Voyage aboard Zuiderdam covers six continents on an east-to-west route, both sailing roundtrip from a U.S. homeport.

“This will be a historic pair of voyages,” Antorcha said to the guests. “Because our Grand World Voyage travels east to west and our other Grands focus on one region, designing this first-of-its-kind route that explores south to north roundtrip from the U.S. is an incredible way of offering our guests two distinct choices for travelling around the world.”

“Detailed planning went into this voyage to ensure we visit places when the weather is favourable, and we included sought-after locations like the Amazon River, Greenland, and Iceland, in addition to Antarctica and the Arctic,” said Paul Grigsby, vice president for deployment and itinerary planning for Holland America Line. “We’ve designed two voyages that linger in ports for memorable moments and several overnight stays, and we’ve even timed it so that the two voyages will meet up in Barcelona for an overnight experience.”

Pole to Pole 2025 Grand Voyage Highlights: 133 days. Roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale on 25 January 2025.

Follows a south-north-south course through the Panama Canal, down through South America’s west coast to Antarctica, and then up through Argentina and Brazil to the centre of the Amazon River. The ship then sails over the Atlantic Ocean to Africa, north through Europe and up to the North Cape before sailing west across the northern Atlantic Ocean via Iceland and Greenland and ultimately along North America’s eastern coastlines.

Pole to Pole: The Volendam spends four days picturesque sailing in Antarctica before crossing the Arctic Circle to the North Cape.

There are 68 ports spread over five continents and 28 countries.

Fuerte Amador, Panama; Callao (Lima), Peru; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Barcelona, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; and Reykjavik, Iceland, are the eight overnight stops.

Memorable Moments: Passing through the Panama Canal, Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, exploring the Amazon River, the Strait of Gibraltar, Norwegian fjords, the North Cape, Iceland, and Greenland.

Highlights of the 2025 Grand World Voyage — Zuiderdam

124 days. Roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale on 4 January 2025.

Travels through the Panama Canal to Easter Island before crossing the South Pacific to Australia. Explores the Great Barrier Reef en route to Indonesia and Sri Lanka, then sails south to Cape Town, South Africa, via Seychelles, then back up along Africa’s eastern coast, through the Suez Canal to Portugal, before crossing the Atlantic.

There are 46 ports in 32 countries spread over six continents.

Callao (two nights); Easter Island; Papeete, Tahiti; Sydney, Australia; Singapore; Cape Town; Mombasa, Kenya; Safaga, Egypt; and Barcelona are among the nine overnight calls.

Manta, Ecuador; Seychelles; Cape Town and Durban, South Africa; Aqaba, Jordan; Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy; and Gibraltar, United Kingdom.

Memorable Moments: Panama Canal transit, two nights in Callao, including time to see Machu Picchu and Easter Island, magnificent cruise on the Great Barrier Reef, two full days in Cape Town, the opportunity to visit Petra from Jordan and experience Luxor from Safaga.

Barcelona Grand Rendezvous

Volendam and Zuiderdam will meet in Barcelona, Spain, for a joint overnight call on 24 April 2025, bringing the two Grand Voyages together for a celebration. The specially planned two visits will be marked by special events involving both ships.