Holland America Line has announced significant changes to the 2026 World Voyage itinerary for the MS Volendam, citing the ongoing security concerns in the Red Sea region.
The cruise line will bypass the Red Sea, as well as Europe and Africa, on its 133-night voyage. Instead, the itinerary will now focus on five continents, with visits to Asia, the United States, and Central America.
The revised itinerary affects the last 54 days of the voyage, which will now include 51 ports across 23 countries.
The ship will no longer travel from the Maldives to Egypt via the Suez Canal, as initially planned for early April 2026, and will also skip its European stops.
This change results in the removal of 19 ports, including those in the Maldives, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway, and England.
Additionally, stops in Phuket, Thailand, and Colombo, Sri Lanka, have been removed to facilitate a more efficient route back to North America via the Pacific Ocean.
In place of the removed ports, new destinations have been added to the itinerary, including ports in Vietnam, Taiwan, and Japan.
From 24 March to 12 April 2026, MS Volendam will visit a trio of Vietnamese ports: Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My), Nha Trang, and Halong Bay near Hanoi.
The ship will also make overnight calls in Hong Kong, and Nagasaki and Tokyo, Japan. In Taiwan, the ship will call at Kaohsiung and Keelung (Taipei).
The new itinerary offers a diverse and enriching travel experience, allowing passengers to explore a wide array of cultures and landscapes. The addition of an extra day, due to crossing the International Date Line, further enhances the voyage, making it one of the longest around-the-world cruises available.
There have been concerns over the Red Sea for some time now, but Holland America Line had previously held off on announcing changes to the itinerary in case the situation de-escalated.
However, it can’t announce a change as significant as this with short notice, which is why the cruise line has decided to act now.
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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.
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