Holland America Liners 1950-2015

Founded in 1873, the Holland America Line provided services carrying passengers and freight between the Netherlands and North America. When World War II ended, only nine of its 25 ships had survived, and the company set about rebuilding. The pride of HAL's post-war fleet was SS Rotterdam, completed in 1959, which was one of the first ships on the North Atlantic equipped to offer two-class transatlantic crossings and single-class luxury cruising. However, competition from airlines meant that in the early 1970s Holland America ended their transatlantic passenger services; in 1973, the company sold its cargo shipping division. Now owned by the American cruise line Carnival, Holland America offers round-the-world voyages and cruises in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and Asia. In this book, renowned ocean liner historian William H. Miller takes a look at Holland America Line and its postwar fleet up to 2015.