23-04-2025
Ready to leave the country for 129 days? These Holland America world cruises are calling.
Ready to leave the country for 129 days? These Holland America world cruises are calling.
Show Caption
Hide Caption
How to find the best price, perks when booking a cruise
Find the cruise that works for your budget with these tips.
Problem Solved
Holland America Line announced two new Grand Voyages for 2027, one to South America and Antarctica, and a world cruise.
The Grand South America & Antarctica Voyage is a 70-day journey aboard the Zaandam, departing January 3, 2027.
The 129-day Grand World Voyage will sail on the Volendam, starting January 5, 2027, visiting 28 countries across six continents.
Two new Holland America Line cruises will take on months-long voyages to hard-to-reach places – and then back home to the U.S.
The company revealed its 2027 Grand Voyages on Wednesday, including a 70-day Grand South America & Antarctica Voyage, and its 129-day Grand World Voyage to 28 countries in six continents. Both will sail round-trip from Fort Lauderdale.
'When you sail on one of our Grand Voyages we know you're looking for experiences you can't get anywhere else, and because of that we have carefully curated itineraries with unique ports of call,' the cruise line's president Beth Bodensteiner told guests aboard its 2025 Grand World Voyage on Zuiderdam on Wednesday.
Here's what to know.
When are Holland America's 2027 Grand Voyages?
The Grand South America & Antarctica cruise will depart on Jan. 3, 2027, aboard the line's 1,432-guest Zaandam ship.
The Grand World Voyage will follow two days later, on Jan. 5, 2027, aboard Volendam. The vessel has the same guest capacity.
Where will the cruises go?
▶ Guests aboard Zaandam will transit the Panama Canal before traveling along the west coast of South America. 'This is something we're really excited about,' said Bodensteiner. 'It's one of the most in depth cruises to the region.'Passengers will enjoy scenic cruising in the Chilean fjords before crossing the infamous Drake Passage, a notoriously treacherous waterway between Argentina and Antarctica.
Once they reach the White Continent, a four-day Antarctic Experience will follow. Guests can take in the sights, from icebergs to sea birds (though they will not disembark due to the ship's size; only ships carrying fewer than 500 passengers can take them on land).
The ship will explore South America's east coast and the Caribbean on the way back. The 31-port itinerary includes five overnight stops, including in Montevideo, Uruguay; Buenos Aires; and Rio de Janeiro.
▶ The Grand World Voyage will also sail along South America's west coast and visit Easter Island, followed by the South Pacific and Australia. The cruise's 53-port itinerary also includes Singapore, Thailand and Sri Lanka, along with lesser-visited destinations like Georgetown on Ascension Island and Jamestown, St. Helena.
'St. Helena is best known for hosting Napoleon during his second and final exile; and the settlement in Georgetown formed when the British began to garrison the island as a precaution against Napoleon's presence,' the cruise line said in a news release. 'These two islands in the South Atlantic Ocean are nearly inaccessible, and to visit both in one journey is rare.'
Africa, Europe and a transatlantic crossing round out the itinerary. Many ports on both cruises are exclusive to Grand Voyages.
What are world cruises?: It's not a 'shoot-from-the-hip decision'
How much do the cruises cost?
Pricing information was not available before publication, but travelers can make Future Cruise Requests by calling the Holland America World Cruise Reservations line at 1-800-522-3399 or contacting their travel advisor.
Contributing: Kathleen Wong, USA TODAY
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@
