Think of a cruise and you might consider a week-long trip to the Caribbean. But itineraries come in all sorts of sizes, from three-day trips to The Bahamas all the way to epic around-the-world cruises that can take literally months and circumnavigate the globe.
In fact, major cruise lines from Royal Caribbean to Princess offer these sorts of once-in-a-lifetime cruises that allow you to explore the entire planet in a matter of months. Now, Holland America has announced what we think is one of the most unique world cruises ever seen.
The cruise line plans to sail a 133-day “Grand Voyage ‘Pole-to-Pole'” that will go round trip from Fort Lauderdale, departing January 2025.
Most trips that take you on extended trips around the world move east to west (or west to east), taking passengers to major spots like Europe and Asia. What’s unique with this itinerary is that it will focus more on moving north and south, with an itinerary that will visit both Antarctica and the Arctic Circle in one trip, in addition to the Panama Canal, Norwegian fjords, and more.
The cruise, aboard Holland America’s Volendam, leaves January 25, 2025 from Florida. It will sail south through the Panama Canal and down the western side of South America to Antarctica, spending four days cruising the continent.
Then it will turn north to visit Argentina and Brazil (including exploring the Amazon River), before crossing over to Africa. After that, it’s up to Europe, the North Cape in Norway, Iceland, Greenland and then over to the East Coast of North America.
In total, the cruise will encompass 68 ports, five continents and 28 countries. It will also feature eight overnight stops, including Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona, and Reykjavik (Iceland).
This cruise will sail at the same time another ‘Grand Voyage’ — a 124-day trip aboard Zuiderdam — will also be sailing. In fact, the two ships will meet up during their trips.
“We’ve created two voyages that linger in ports for memorable moments and several overnight stays. We even timed it so the two voyages will meet-up to share an overnight experience in Barcelona,” said Paul Grigsby, vice president for deployment and itinerary planning for Holland America Line.
What we don’t know yet is just how much the ‘Pole-to-Pole’ cruise will cost and how the trip will be broken into segments. Typically these lengthy trips can be booked in their entirety, or they are broken into shorter segments that are also available.
While passengers can call the cruise line and make a deposit for their spot as of now, the trip isn’t officially open to the public until May 24 — about a month from now.
We can get some sense of pricing from the upcoming ‘Grand World’ cruise aboard Zuiderdam that will depart January 3, 2024. That cruise starts at $23,599 per person for and interior cabin (before taxes/fees) for the entire 128-day trip according to the Holland America website. The least expensive segment is a 24-day portion that visits east Asia, starting at a price of $4,899 per person.
For more details on the upcoming ‘Pole-to-Pole’ you can visit the Holland America website or call the cruise line at 877-724-5425.
