Zuiderdam

Zuiderdam was the first of the four Vista-class ships Holland America took from Fincantieri between 2002 and 2006, and at twenty-four years old she is the oldest hull in this group by six years. Joan Lunden christened her at Port Everglades and she went on her maiden voyage in December 2002. She is also the smallest ship here (1,964 guests at double occupancy, against 2,668 on Rotterdam) which is either the best thing about her or evidence that she is overdue, depending on what you want.

Holland America has decided it is both, which is why she is being rebuilt.

The 2025 refresh, and why it was not enough

She came out of a two-week dry dock in the Bahamas on 6 December 2025 and went straight into a seventeen-night Caribbean sailing from Miami. The work was cosmetic and sensible: new carpet on decks five through ten, reupholstered seating in Canaletto and the Lido buffet, refitted bathrooms in a selection of suites and cabins, new furniture on the outdoor decks, fresh paint in the atrium. Eleven new ocean-view staterooms were built on decks one and seven, which nudged her capacity up slightly.

The one change with any ambition was the Crow’s Nest. The forward observation lounge was redesigned around a proper bandstand with real lighting and sound, which is the same move Holland America made on Rotterdam four months later, putting live music into rooms that previously had none, as the old four-room Music Walk format is dismantled across the fleet. She carries the Rolling Stone Lounge, the smaller version; the full Rolling Stone Rock Room with a five-piece band is on the three Pinnacle-class ships only.

None of that changes the fact that the ship underneath is from 2002.

What 2028 will do to her

Zuiderdam is the second ship in Evolution, Holland America’s $500 million rebuild of its six Vista and Signature hulls, the largest fleet program in the company’s 153-year history. Oosterdam goes first, in fall 2027. Zuiderdam follows in a late-2027 dry dock and returns in spring 2028 with thirty-two Solo Verandah cabins purpose-built for single travelers, two 900-square-foot Bridgeview Suites forward above the bridge, a rebuilt 1,550-square-foot Pinnacle Suite, fourteen upgraded Vista Suites, and a Grand Dutch Café; the all-day café that until now has been a Pinnacle-class feature.

This matters for booking. A Zuiderdam sailing in 2026 or early 2027 is a twenty-four-year-old ship with new carpets. A Zuiderdam sailing in mid-2028 is substantially a different product at what will probably be a similar price. The gap between the two is worth planning around, and the thirty-two solo cabins in particular are a genuine change: single supplements are the standard complaint about this line and this is the first structural answer to it.

Where she sails

Amsterdam in summer, Miami in winter. Her European season is the longest of any ship in this group, Norway, Iceland, the British Isles, the Baltic and the Mediterranean, with roughly fifty sailings a season out of Amsterdam and itineraries stretching past a month. Winters she runs the Caribbean and Bahamas from Miami and Fort Lauderdale, and she picks up a short run of Canada and New England sailings out of Boston in the fall. Bookings run from four nights to twenty-eight, with a typical one around a fortnight.

Who she suits

People who want the smallest ship Holland America still runs at this end of the fleet, and who care more about a Norwegian fjord season out of Amsterdam than about the age of the hull they see it from. She is easy to get around, she is rarely crowded, and at under 2,000 guests the tendering and the disembarkations are quick.

She does not suit anyone who wants a modern ship, not until 2028, and honestly about that. She does not suit families. And if you are booking eighteen months out, check which side of the rebuild your sailing falls on before you compare her to anything else.