The Holland America Line has announced the newest details surrounding it's latest Signature of Excellence enhancements, and is putting in quite the investment. The ships that are receiving such improvements are the ms Rotterdam, ms Maasdam, ms Ryndam and ms Statendam lines. However, the ms Veendam will be the first ship to sail with it's new look.
“Veendam looks spectacular,” said Richard D. Meadows, CTC, executive vice president, marketing, sales and guest programs. “The enhancements are going to impress our guests and engage them in exciting, new ways. This continued investment reaffirms our commitment to our fleet of mid-sized ships and our ongoing leadership in the premium category by continually raising the bar in terms of products and services.”
The Signature of Excellence upgrade begins in the staterooms and bathrooms that encompass the floors of the cruise. A new category of stateroom, the Lanai stateroom, will be added along with several new staterooms on the aft portion of each ship. The highlights of these particular enhancements will be the resort pool feature called The Retreat, the Showroom at Sea and the new Mix, three specialty lounges midship. A shallow end will be added to The Retreat so that guests can bring lounge chairs into the island-style area to dip their feet into the water while bathing in the sun. This new resort style pool also offers a new pool bar, so cruisers don't even need to leave the water for any reason at all. Outside of the pool bar there is an upscale pizzeria called Slice and an area with an LED screen for evening movies.
A new canopy and wind screens will be added to the Lido Restaurant, as well as additional covered seating. In the Lido restaurant, Canaletto comes to life for dinner when a section is transformed each evening into a specialty restaurant with glass partitions and an Italian ambiance.
To complement their contemporary reputation of entertainment, a new Explorations Team employs the cruise staff, each specializing in a particular area to educate and entertain guests with an expanded menu of activities including flower arranging, hands-on cooking, dancing, and working with digital photos, blogs and movies.
The staterooms will receive new décor, carpeting and soft goods and bathrooms will see an “extreme” makeover with new vanities and cabinetry. Plans are for each ship to have an additional 44 to 46 staterooms, 32 with verandahs and the remaining will be inside staterooms.
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