Fred Olsen Cruise Lines Has Purchased Two New Cruise Ships

After a tough start to 2020, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines is looking ahead to the future, having just announced it’s purchasing two new cruise ships.

The cruise ships are being bought from Carnival Corporation’s Holland America Line, who announced they are selling a total of four ships.

Holland America Line is selling four cruise ships in pairs, Amsterdam and Rotterdam and Maasdam and Veendam.

While the buyer for the other two ships remains undisclosed, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines confirmed that it is the buyer for the line’s Amsterdam and Rotterdam ships.

The beloved R-Class ships will be renamed as renamed Bolette and Borealis after previous Fred Olsen ships.

Bringing the Fred fleet up from four to six ships, Amsterdam and Rotterdam will carry 1,380 and 1,404 guests, respectively.

Announcing the exciting news, Fred Olsen Junior, chairman of Fred Olsen Cruise Lines said: “We have chosen these vessels as they will fit seamlessly into our existing fleet of small ships, each carrying under 1,500 guests, bringing with them new and larger public areas whilst not compromising on our small ship experience.

“This increase in our capacity demonstrates our confidence in the future. With these new additions to the fleet, we will come out of this current situation stronger than ever, ready to deliver the award-winning itineraries that we are famous for.”

We have a very exciting announcement we would like to share with you from our chairman Fred. Olsen Jnr.#newships #FredOlsenCruiseLineshttps://t.co/SvO1GFON1B pic.twitter.com/4bX8fdtr7X

— Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines (@FredOlsenCruise) July 16, 2020

Passengers booked onto these four HAL ships will sadly have their future cruises cancelled, with the 2021 Grand World Voyages aboard Amsterdam now postponed until 2022. The world voyage will now sail aboard the line’s ship, Zaandam.

The Grand Africa Voyage departing October 10, 2021, on Rotterdam will sail aboard Zaandam on the same dates.

Cruises that are now cancelled include Amsterdam‘s sailings to Canada/New England and its Grand Voyages, Maasdam’s Mexico, South Pacific, Austalia and Asia itineraries, Caribbean, Europe, Panama Canal, Hawaii and South American cruises on Rotterdam and Caribbean and Europe cruises on Veendam.

“It’s always difficult to see any ship leave the fleet, especially those that have a long and storied history with our company,” said Stein Kruse, chief executive officer of Holland America Group and Carnival UK.

“However, Holland America Line has a bright future ahead that includes recent Pinnacle-Class additions, with a third sister ship next year that will continue to maintain our overall capacity in the marketplace.”

Amsterdam and Rotterdam will join Fred Olsen’s friendly family of ships later this year after being transformed into their new identities Bolette and Borealis.