Holland America Line Expands Casino Space, Switches Up Music Venues On Select Ships
(9:53 a.m. EDT) -- Holland America Line announced Thursday it will increase casino space across five of its ships, adding more than 140 of what the line calls the "newest and most popular slot and video poker machines in the gaming industry."
"Casino play is a key part of their Holland America Line cruise vacation for many of our guests, and we were able to take advantage of some extra space on our Pinnacle Class ships to add more gaming machines," said Daniel Materassi, senior vice president, Guest Commerce and Performance Analytics, Holland America Line. "The slots we’ve added are some of the newest in the industry, bringing exciting gameplay to our guests alongside the popular classic machines."
Casino Expansion to Take Place on Several Pinnacle, Signature Class Holland America Ships
The expanded casinos will be coming to five Holland America Line ships, including the line's flagship, Rotterdam, along with Nieuw Statendam, Koningsdam, Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam. A separate non-smoking area of the casino has been added to Rotterdam, Nieuw Statendam and Koningsdam.
Cruise Critic has contacted Holland America Line to see what venues on each ship have been eliminated to make way for the expanded casinos.
Holland America Changes Up Its Music Walk Venues
Expanded casinos are the latest change to onboard programming from Holland America, which earlier announced it would dramatically switch up its much-loved "Music Walk" venues aboard much of the fleet.
Vista-class ships Zuiderdam, Oosterdam, Westerdam and Noordam will lose the popular B.B. King's Blues Club in favor of a new venue known as the Rolling Stone Lounge, which will offer R&B, rock and pop favorites. Newer vessels Rotterdam, Nieuw Statendam and Koningsdam will have a similar venue known as the Rolling Stone Rock Room.
B.B. King Blues Club will continue to exist on other HAL ships.
Across the fleet, the Lincoln Center classical music venue will lose its dedicated lounge in favor of expanded performances in the ship's main theater. These classical music performances were often held in a carved-out section of the former Explorer's Lounge, and the increased performance space will no doubt be welcomed by music afficionados.
Beginning in February, Zuiderdam, Oosterdam, Westerdam, Noordam, Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam will also be graced with a new band playing in the popular Ocean Bar. The band will perform top hits from the 1960's through present day.