Vista class
When Holland America Line announced the building of this new class, it was intended to built six ships. The class was already referred as the Vista-class and this caused a problem, because the ships would be called after the points on the compass: Zuiderdam, Oosterdam, Westerdam, Noordam and ehh... Because parent company Carnival Corporation is very good in transferring ships between her daughters, this problem was eventually solved when Holland America recieved four ships, Cunard Line one and the last one was cancelled (first, later to be added again in another shape). These ships would be the biggest ships ever built for the old Dutch company, surpassing the 60.000 GRT Rotterdam-class by 20.000 tons. What makes the Vista's directly recognizable is an unusual feauture of modern ships and that's two working funnels. This was last seen on the transatlantic Italia-liners Michelangelo and Raffaello in the mid 60's. Also, the glass elevators on the outside are innovative, though not brandnew. We've seen them a little bit earlier on Celebrity's Millennium-class.
What you hear among Dutch people is that they do not like the looks of modern ships, especially the HAL-ones, but the Vista-class looks are pretty good. Of course it helpes that the second Vistaship Oosterdam was named in Rotterdam, spectated by thousands of people along the riverbanks and the Erasmusbridge. It also helps that they were not built to look like an old HAL-ship, because that result can never be truly popular.
The first Vista-ship was the Zuiderdam of 2001, named 'Zuiderman' due to little mistake by her godmother. The ship measures 82.305 tonnes and started sailing the Caribbean. She was followed by Oosterdam in 2003, with 81.769 tonnes somewhat smaller in size then her older sister. This ship was named in Rotterdam on the 29th of july, where she was joined for the occation by her fleetmate and flagship Rotterdam. It was the first time since 1958 that a Holland America ship was named in the Dutch port and it was also the first time in decades that two HAL-ships were berthed together in the big city.
Westerdam joined the fleet in april 2004 and also called at Rotterdam in her inaugural year, welcomed by many people. This third ship had the misfortune to suffer a fire when she was fitted out in Italy, but this damage did not affect her deliverydate. It was the thirth time that a HAL-ship was named Westerdam, the second one had just left the fleet in 2002 to become Costa's Costa Europa. The new Westerdam measures 81811 tonnes, so again a slight variation with the first two.
In the beginning of 2006, the fourth HAL-vista was delivered to the company. A little bit redesigned and with a tonnage of 82.318 just slightly bigger than her earlier sisters, the fourth Noordam sailed the Med in her inaugural season, after being repositioned to North America and the Caribbean. In july 2010, Noordam came over for a ten day overhaul at the Blohm & Voss-wharf in Hamburg, before sailing her first Northern European cruise. Originally, it was planned to use her as an accomodationship during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, but due to overcapacity there she was directed to Hamburg for her overhaul. The day after she left Hamburg, she sailed for Bremerhaven where she arrived at the 12th of july to start the cruise. Sadly, a tragic accident occured when a diver who was supposed to free the ship from some fishingnets at her props lost contact with the people on shore. A rescueoperation was put into action, but in the strong currents of the river Weser the man was not found. Noordam's cruise started though, and she sailed for her homeport Rotterdam for the first time. Her arrival in early morning of the 14th of july did not bring many spectators out to bring her in, sadly, because it was a beautiful summermorning. Also, no spraying tugboats were there to accompany the ship to her berth.
