Holland America Line (HAL)

Holland America Line was founded in 1873 as the Nederlandsche-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij (Dutch-American Steamship Company), in short Holland-Amerika Lijn, a shipping and passenger line, that during the first 25 years carried over 400,000 people from Europe to the Americas. Though transportation and shipping were the primary sources of revenue, in 1895 HAL offered its first vacation cruise, which led to new and new ports of call, but most of its ship were still used for mail and cargo up until the Second World War. During the WW2, HAL had their 25 ships convertedto be able to carry supplies and troops. Only nine remained at war’s end and that marked the end of carrying goods and the beginning of an era of carrying passengers.

It ceased operating as a Dutch line in 1989, when it was purchased by Carnival Corporation for 1.2 billion guilders (€530 million) and headquartered in Seattle in the United States. All HAL ships have a dark blue hull with white superstructure, with the company’s logo featured prominently on the functional smoke stacks.

Due to the history of the cruise line as keeping their traditions and roots, their average passenger age is considered one of the oldest if not the oldest of all cruise lines, which leads to many jokes between crew members.