We have been following along on a cruise line story that caught our attention several years ago. Holland America President Orlando Ashford, then new to Holland America Line had taken into account the line’s history, where it had been and where it might go.   Introducing the concept of Collective Intelligence to the Holland America organization, Ashford began a process that draws on the capabilities, knowledge and abilities of everyone in the organization. The dream: to craft new onboard programming, culinary operations and steer the line toward a bright future.  Taking the pulse of Holland America Line in Fort Lauderdale for the annual Seatrade cruise industry convention I was curious. How will that collectively intelligent vision resolve in the future? Quick Twitter answer: Better than ever.

At the top of ranking lists on everything from ethics to itinerary diversity, we saw Holland America as a line in transition, becoming more relevant while simultaneously protecting their loyal, long-time customer base.  During a special event at Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades, we saw a glimpse of those efforts and more coming to fruition.

See This Is Holland America Line? Yes It Is And They’re Playing Our Song!

Readers who have been following along on the evolution of Holland America Line know a lot has been going on there.  The most recent gigantic headline was Oprah’s Alaska Adventure cruise which did far more than attract fans of the TV icon.  Taking full advantage of the closed environment a cruise ship provides, Holland America, in Alaska for 50 of the line’s 145, added onboard programming designed to capitalize on an experience that expands our horizons already.  That partnership continues going forward.

See The Collectively Intelligent Cruise Cake Gets Iced

In addition to a number of themed sailings, featuring stars from the Oprah organization, special Oprah elements that fit like a glove, fleetwide, on every sailing.  This part could easily be a thing Holland America does that is meaningful but does not get enough attention. I have good reason to fix that right now

When Holland America Line partnered with ABC to bring us Dancing With The Stars At Sea, one element of that partnership that proved enduring as dance lessons.  Now think about this a moment before dismissing this notion with your (and my) thought “I have two left feet, keep reading”.  How about this: dance lessons with the dancers on the ship; the crew you see in shows (or not if you have written off cruise line shows as uninteresting long ago).  That gave passengers (myself included) the opportunity to obtain., learn or refresh their dance skills.  It’s not a big item on the reasons we sail but there is a pretty common saying that applies: ‘what happens at sea stays at sea’.  Brilliant: let me make a fool of myself in front people I know I will probably never see again…sort of like how we like to try new recipes while on a cruise: why not?  If you don’t like it they can bring you something else. No real gamble there right?  Hold that thought.

Simply mixing up menus, checking the competition to see what’s being offered and tapping into trends would provide a great amount of data for menu planning.  Not enough to be of any value to a collective effort of evolution.  That reality brought Holland America Line’s Culinary Council originally and refreshes it in 2018.

Holland America Line’s Culinary Council brought not one celebrity chef but six to the table. Led by industry veteran and Master Chef Rudi Sodamin, members of the Culinary Council also have a collective effort going on as interesting menu items evolve that make sense.

 

 

Buffets? Holland America Line has them but the scene is different than we might find elsewhere when people and unlimited food are paired.  Unlimited portions are reasonable, allowing most of us to enjoy many culinary delights without having ten pounds to work off after sailing.  As Lisa and I get more into splitting things or just ask for an extra plate at restaurants, this sounds really attractive.

That thought, that movement by Holland America passengers to more healthy options is not by accident.   This is six respected chefs/restauranteurs bringing a diverse background to the table tops of every dining venue on every Holland America ship.  Stop right there and you have about five times more heads in the game than a line with one exclusive chef.  But here again is where the collective effort comes in, taking menu ideas from multiple sources.  That’s really important on ships full of thousands of people, each who has dining likes and hates of their own.  Then there are the places in the world that Holland America sails.  They range from the Caribbean to Alaska, Europe, Asia…pretty much the entire planet.

The 14 ships of Holland America Line offer more than 500 cruises to more than 400 ports in 98 countries, territories or dependencies around the world.  Their destination-seeking passengers have a hunger for more that Ashford’s team hoped would satisfy the craving a little bit more with a unique Holland America BBC partnership. It has and now, it will be even better as Holland America introduced Planet Earth II in Concert on nearly all ships in the fleet.

Combining live music with a backdrop of breathtaking footage from the new, award-winning BBC Earth television series “Planet Earth II,” the exclusive show immerses guests in the most spectacular landscapes and habitats on Earth, bringing them eye-to-eye with the animals on screen.

We’ll come back to this story and a bunch of associated topics over the next few weeks because there is a whole lot of story here that stretches fleetwide. in addition, Holland America has another new ship coming out this December. We have details of that too.  Lots of details.  Details galore for those who revel in them. Right now, clear all that off the table. During our visit to ms Eurodam at Port Everglades, we enjoyed catching up on what is happening, much of which is noted here. One slide in a presentation caught our attention a bit more because if speaks to the way this cruise line thinks and is operating right now

When possible, we align our efforts here with brands that make a positive impact on our world.  We liked the concept of collective intelligence, in theory, for that simple reason.  Holland America Line has delivered everything they promised and more with no end in sight.  I don’t know what more we can ask for.