Page 27 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL WINTER SPRING 2022

no news of outbreaks or port closures, and
everyone seemed to enjoy the ship and the
shore experiences. In the end, there’s always a
risk in travel. Veteran travelers accept that, do
their homework to minimize woes, and cross
their fingers. We did all three. Clutching our
vaccination cards and negative Covid test
results we joined 800 fellow passengers,
including our travel buddies, Ira and Barbara
Gruber, boarding the Koningsdam on a
postcard sunny winter day in our hometown.
One of the few silver linings of the
pandemic was time, according to Frits van Der
Werff, vice president, hotel and food and
beverage for Holland America Line: Time to
rethink the cruise experience from top to
bottom and fast-track some key initiatives
they had in the planning stages.
“With the Pinnacle-class ships [the
Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam, and
Rotterdam] we have taken a quantum leap in
the product and experience we deliver to our
guests,” he said in an interview. “The standard
is that we can deliver a premium product, but
still have a ship that is what we call perfectly
sized. We can deliver the experience of the
small luxury ships but also have all the
entertainment and activities you find on larger
ships. Our food and beverage, our hotel
product, is on par with what you find on the
small luxury ships.”

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