Welcome to the next great adventure, our longest single voyage ever and a wonderfully unique itinerary.
For many years, Holland America has offered a Grand World Voyage that circumnavigated the globe starting and ending in Ft Lauderdale, making diverse stops traveling West to East, and lasting roughly 120 days. We enjoyed those Voyages in 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
This year, they also offered a South to North world voyage from Ft Lauderdale, circumnavigating South America and experiencing Antarctica, sailing to Africa and the Mediterranean, then North to the arctics to explore Norway, Iceland, Greenland and Atlantic Canada before returning to Ft Lauderdale. This exciting new voyage is the Pole-to-Pole Grand Voyage.
Ever since the Pole-to-Pole concept was introduced as a possible future itinerary, we felt it was designed for us. So much of our experience as Hosts and as avid cruisers has revolved around these destinations. Imagine 68 ports, 28 countries, 5 continents, and 8 overnights in 133 glorious days, how lucky are we!
What do we love about this itinerary?
- With all our travels to these regions, there are still new places to see. We get to visit 1 new country - the Dominican Republic and we will have new ports in Chile, Brazil, France, and Greenland.
- There are a dozen places on our all-time favorites list that we get to go back to: Barcelona, Robinson Crusoe Island, Canary Islands, Ushuaia, and the Norwegian fjords to name a few.
- There are so many wonderful small ports that are not well known but provide a fascinating glimpse into the real local life of the countries we visit. We love that we can revisit several on this voyage, including Djupivogur, Iceland; Parintins, Brazil; St Anthony, Newfoundland; Nanortalik, Greenland, and Port Stanley, Falkland Islands.
- With a return to South America, Steve will get to experience Machu Picchu on an overland trip similar to the one Wendy so enjoyed in 2019.
We love the diversity of the itinerary, the excellent combination of sea days and port days, and what is in our opinion, the perfect ship to make this Voyage - the Volendam. After spending 157 days sailing on her in 2024, we’re happy to go back. Holland America assembled an excellent senior staff we know well and with so many crew members we love on board, it will be like going home.
There is still a traditional Grand World Voyage sailing in 2025. So, long-time World Cruisers had to make a choice between the two sailings. Interestingly, they seem to have split down the middle, with half choosing each voyage. The two Grand Voyage ships will meet in Barcelona on April 24th for an historic event and party. Much more about that later.
Fondly,
Wendy and Steve
Continue Reading:
A Bon Voyage! | Costa Rica & Panama | Ecuador and Northern Peru | Wendy's Adventures in Peru | Steve's Adventure in Machu Picchu | Arica and San Antonio, Chile | Robinson Crusoe & Southern Chile | More Chile & Argentina | Antarctica | Falkland Islands | Montevideo & Punta del Este | Brazil | The Amazon | Salvation Islands | Arriving in Africa | Canary Islands & Morocco | Gibraltar and Barcelona | Spain & Portugal | France, Belgium and The Netherlands | Scotland and Norway | More Norway | Iceland | Greenland | Canada & New England | Voyage Summary
See upcoming Holland America World Cruises >>