Cruise Line ProgramsCalm mid-sized ships, live music every night of the week, and a full ship charter that a few hundred people can genuinely reach.
Holland America has been sailing since 1873, and the fleet reflects it — calm, well-mannered ships with an unusually generous amount of space and crew for every guest aboard.
For a corporate program that wants conversation rather than noise, this is an easy recommendation. The ships are mid-sized rather than enormous, which means your group feels like a meaningful presence aboard. Public rooms are designed for sitting and talking. The art collections are real. The music programming, built around live jazz, blues and classical performance, is among the best at sea.
It also sails a superb Alaska program and some of the most interesting long itineraries in the business. See the at-sea overview for the rest of the brands we represent.
Holland America built a dedicated music district into its ships — a blues club, a jazz and pop venue, a classical stage and a rock room, all with working musicians rather than backing tracks. For an evening reception or a post-dinner gathering, it gives your program somewhere with genuine atmosphere and no production required from you.
A steakhouse, an Italian restaurant, a French-leaning venue, a serious seafood program and a long-running partnership with a group of well-known chefs who shape the main dining menus. The kitchens handle group dining comfortably and the standard holds night after night.
The amount of room per guest here is among the most generous at sea. Lounges, libraries, observation rooms and sheltered promenade decks mean your attendees can find each other, sit down and have a real conversation — which on a relationship-building program is the entire point.
Holland America has been sailing Alaska for well over half a century and operates its own lodges and rail service inland, so a program can pair days on the water with time at Denali. The glacier days here are among the best in the business.
A large spa and thermal suite, quiet adult-oriented deck spaces and a calm onboard rhythm. Programs that work hard during the day tend to find people arrive at dinner in a much better mood.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons — Koningsdam (ship, 2016) 004: kees torn, CC BY-SA 2.0; MS EURODAM - - Glacier Bay, Alaska USA: Gordon Leggett, CC BY-SA 4.0; Nieuw Statendam - Restaurant: Akela NDE, CC BY-SA 4.0; Eurodam (ship, 2008) 001: Frans Berkelaar, CC BY 2.0; MS Koningsdam: Richard N Horne, CC BY 4.0.
Holland America sails the Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale in winter, Alaska from Seattle and Vancouver each summer, and Europe from Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Barcelona and Civitavecchia from spring through autumn. There is further deployment to Canada and New England, Mexico, South America, Asia and an annual world voyage.
The mid-sized ships reach ports the largest vessels cannot, which opens up itineraries that feel genuinely exploratory. Tell us where your people are and what you want them to see, and we will tell you what is available.
Buy the Sea has been placing corporate groups and full ship charters with Holland America for twenty-six years. We know the fleet, we know the people, and we know what to ask for and when to ask for it so that your program gets the ship, the spaces and the dates it needs. That is the part we handle.
Bring us a headcount, a budget and a range of dates. We will come back with real options across the Holland America fleet — and across every other line, because we represent all of them and we are paid by the cruise line, never by you. There is no fee, no markup and no obligation. Here is why that matters.
Smaller than most planners assume. The mid-sized ships in this fleet make a full charter achievable for programs well short of filling a mega-ship, and we have priced exactly that many times. Tell us your headcount and we will run the numbers.
For a group block, nine to fifteen months gives you the best choice of ships and dates, and Alaska summer sailings move earlier. For a full charter, plan on eighteen to twenty-four months.
There is none. Buy the Sea is compensated by the cruise line, never by you. More in the FAQ.