HAL revealed last week that its second Pinnacle-class vessel will homeport in Amsterdam from late April 2019 after spending its inaugural winter season in the Caribbean.
Lynn Narraway, UK and Ireland managing director, said the closeness of the Dutch city and the similarities between Nieuw Statendam and sister ship Koningsdam meant agents “already have a really good grounding” for recommending the ship to clients.
“We’ve had more than 1,000 travel partners onboard Koningsdam since the ship launch [in February 2015] so having that knowledge does definitely help when it comes to Nieuw Statendam,” she told TTG. “Having our newest ship so close is so exciting.”
Nieuw Statendam, due for delivery on December 1, will sail 7 and 14-night itineraries covering the Norwegian fjords, the Baltic, Iceland and North Cape until September, before relocating to Civitavecchia (Rome) with three 10-day cruises exploring the eastern and western Mediterranean.
The ship then departs Civitavecchia on October 27, 2019 for a 14-day cruise to Fort Lauderdale.
Narraway explained how during a 14-day Northern Isles cruise next August the ship would call at Newcastle and South Queensferry, where she hopes to “have a few hundred [agents] onboard”. She said Koningsdam would call in Southampton on September 18, 2018, and that Zuiderdam would overnight at the port on June 20.
“The more travel partners we can bring onboard, the better,” she added.
