Big news, New Englanders: You can now travel to Caribbean without ever getting on a plane.
This week, Netherlands USA announced it will add a trip from Boston to the Caribbean and back on schedule in 2024.
According to the spokesperson, the 21-night trip is the first of its kind by the well-known travel brand — at least when it comes to the records the company has available for inspection. Holland America’s roots go back 150 years, which makes it difficult to trace every past journey.
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No other cruise line has a round trip to the Caribbean from Boston on its schedule. As of this week, the most northerly port from which any shipping line is operating round trips to the Caribbean is New York City.
Most Caribbean cruises depart from Miami, Port Canaveral and Fort Lauderdale in Florida; Galveston, Texas; and New Orleans. Other home ports for round trips in the Caribbean include Baltimore; Tampa; Cell Phones, Alabama; Norfolk, Virginia; and Charleston, South Carolina.
While Boston serves as a hub for cruises, it’s usually for trips to Bermuda or New England and Canada. Several tour companies occasionally offer trips from Boston to the Caribbean. However, they are all one-way trips.
Holland America’s new round-trip cruise from Boston to the Caribbean, called the “Perfect Trip to the Caribbean,” will begin October 19, 2024. The cruise will feature multiple stops in the Caribbean, including including Half Moon Cay, Holland America’s private island in the Bahamas; Grand Turks, Turks and Caicos; Curacao; Aruba; Cartagena, Colombia; Colonel, Panama; Puerto Limon, Costa Rica; and Bimini in the Bahamas.
Related: 5 best destinations you can visit on a Holland America ship
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The trip will also include transits of part of the Panama Canal, which is only a fraction of a small portion of Caribbean voyages. This would give New Englanders driving to Boston Harbor the very rare option of being able to visit the Panama Canal without flying.
Additionally, the itinerary will include a visit to Bermuda and a stop in Port Canaveral, Florida, allowing passengers to take day trips to theme parks around Orlando.
The trip will take place on the 1,964-passenger Dutch Zuiderdam.
2nd trip to Fort Lauderdale
In addition to the 21-night round-trip from Boston in 2024, the Zuiderdam will operate a 14-night one-way trip from Boston to the Caribbean ending in Fort Lauderdale.
Scheduled to begin November 9, 2024, the “South Caribbean” cruise will feature stops in St. Thomas, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados, Curacao and Half Moon Cay. It will also have a port call in Bermuda.
21- and 14-night departures can be combined to form a 35-plus-night Caribbean experience that begins in Boston and ends in Fort Lauderdale.
The new itineraries are on a long list of new Caribbean sailings announced in late 2024 and early 2025.
Among other unusual trips, the airline plans a 21-night Caribbean cruise from Fort Lauderdale departing January 4, 2025. That trip includes stops at Half Moon Cay; Amber Bay, Dominican Republic; San Juan, Puerto Rico; dumplings; Saint Maarten; Antigua; Dominica; Saint Lucia; Barabado; Saint Vincent; Grenada; Bonaire; Aruba; Ocho Rios, Jamaica; and Grand Cayman.
The new trips are part of a shift at Holland America to offers a variety of long and unusual rides – something for which it has long been known. In doing so, the line is focusing more than ever on what has set it apart over the years from rivals like Celebrity, Royal Caribbean And Norwegian Cruise Line.
A new season of longer rides that Holland America announced in recent months also includes epic 28 night trip to Alaska is scheduled for 2024. Announced in January, it will be four times longer than Alaska’s typical cruise and take the cruisers far beyond the southeastern Alaskan ports most ships visit, such as such as Juneau and Skagway.
Holland America also announced plans for two 14-night trips to Alaska in 2024, including visits to Anchorage – a relatively rare occurrence. Few trains take the time to travel upstream of the Cook Inlet to reach the city.
Additionally, in recent months, the airline has also announced plans for more European excursions of 14 nights or longer by 2024. These include multiple “Last Viking Explorers” extended trips. 21 nights to Iceland, Greenland and Scotland can be combined with 14-night trips to Norway, Germany, Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Denmark to create 35-night trips.
March, Netherlands USA announced a new collection of Legendary Trips will last from 25 to 59 nights and offer special programming.
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