Janelle Rutkowski - Holland America Line Personal Cruise Consultant

07/31/2026

What’s a future cruise request? This is for a future cruise that isn’t yet available for sale. Say you know for a special occasion you want to book an Alaska Cruise Tour for 2028 and you want to be sure to get a coveted aft corner Neptune Suite, a perfectly located mid ship interior room for the 2029 World Cruise or a particular hard to get accessible Neptune Suite. This is when you do a future cruise request. It establishes priority to book right before a cruise opens for sale to the public.

The future cruise request requires a $100 per person deposit and once the cruise is confirmed I’d reach out to you to confirm the details of the cruise, pricing and if you decide yes you want to go ahead with it you would pay any remaining deposit due if not you can cancel it and get a refund. The Grand Voyages do have a larger deposit required for future cruise requests its $1000 per person. If you book the future cruise request with me I'd be your contact to follow up with you once we can go ahead to make the booking.

Also if you book the future cruise request while onboard you do get the book onboard benefit once the cruise can be booked and I’d still remain your contact for your booking.

When you do the request you specify the itinerary you are looking for, room type or location, dining preference and whether you want Have it All and side of ship for example. I like to make note of a similar cruise you are looking for the previous year so I can reference the itinerary.

This can be a beneficial tool on those very popular cruises that you may have missed out on in your preferred room category or location. If you have that dream cruise you want to do in the future it may make sense to get a future cruise request submitted. Let me know if I can help you with this.

07/30/2026

Happy Thursday Everyone!

Groups. What constitutes a group. We offer group amenities for groups of 5 cabins or more. These amenities include things like meals at specialty restaurants, onboard credit, lunch on the McKinley Explorer, shore excursion credit, Bon Voyage sparkling wine to name a few. Each sailing we assign a point value and you as the group leader selects amenities that add up to that point value and the first two guests in each room get the same amenities. If you have 8 double occupancy rooms or more you can also earn a tour conductor credit. (some promotions are excluded from groups) The value of the tour conductor credit is based on the average price paid in the group less the taxes. This could be a meaningful amount of money. There is no limit on how many tour conductor credits you could earn. I’ve worked with all sorts of groups over the years. Friends and family, reunions, birthday or anniversary celebrations, craft groups and clubs. It’s a great way to cruise and spend time together but still have your own vacation. Let me know if you'd like to discuss planning your own group.

*(Limited number of groups allowed per sailing)
My best advice is to plan early to get best selection of rooms together in preferred locations, meeting room space, and group dining.

07/23/2026

By now many of you have probably heard about the Holland America Line Evolution Project. I just wanted to highlight a few things about it.

Evolution is a $500 million renovation project updating 6 of our ships in our fleet, the largest undertaking in our company history.

Oosterdam, Zuiderdam, Westerdam, Noordam, Nieuw Amsterdam, and Eurodam.

Holland America Evolution is grounded in extensive guest feedback. Crafted to feel both premium and personal, Evolution builds on our heritage of gracious service, perfectly sized ships, and destination-rich travel while introducing fresh design, expanded spaces, and new updates that enhance how our guests connect to the world and each other, including:

Six ships reimagined from bow to stern
Signature Pinnacle Class experiences expanded to more ships
The addition of guest-favorite venues, including the Grand Dutch Café
Preserving the perfectly sized ship experience that has long defined our brand
Refurbished staterooms and suites, plus new room categories
New experiences and enhancements for more to discover
Refreshed guest spaces throughout the ship

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are adding Vista class suites, and solo verandah rooms that are sure to be very popular. The Pinnacle Suite will be rebuilt to the back of the ship as a re-imagined aft corner suite and a brand new Bridge View suite that faces the front of the ship with a L shaped balcony are a few cabin highlights that are pretty exciting.

When it is happening?....one ship at a time. 1st up is the Oosterdam the work happens in October 2027. The first sailing is 12/2/2027 in the Mediterranean, then will sail a trans atlantic and spend the winter/spring in the Caribbean followed with a Panama Canal Cruise in April 2028. These cruises are now open for sale and can be booked now.

The 2nd ship was just announced as the Zuiderdam. Her cruises with the renovations open for sale 7/30 coming up... The first voyage will be 4/2/2028 and she will sail Europe for the summer 2028.

Here is a link to our website specially created for Project Evolution. You can see photos of some of the new rooms and venues. More updates on this site to come.
https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/onboard-experiences/holland-america-evolution

Give me a call if you would like to be one of the first to sail on one of these amazing ships.

07/22/2026

Hello everyone. I hope you are enjoying the summer and are able to stay cool. We have alot of exciting things happening at Holland America Line.

First up is that we have a lot of new 2028 cruises opening for sail soon.

Europe 2028 opens 8/3/26
Alaska 2028 opens 8/27/26
Canada New England opens 10/1/26

Guests who have sailed with Holland America Line in the past can get onboard credit if you book in the first 90 days a cruise is open for sale.

6-9 days $50 pp/$100 per stateroom
10-20 days $100 pp/$200 per stateroom
21+ days $200 pp/$400 per stateroom

When new cruises are open for sale the pricing has a low starting point and as demand increases the pricing will increase. So it pays to be some of the first to book. We also offer our popular Have it All Early booking package which includes a elevated and more valuable amenity package vs booking our Premium Have it All package later on which is still a deal however it doesn't include as much value compared to booking early.

Cruises that are already opened for sale include:
(I've included the book by date for the mariner OBC)

Fall 2027 Caribbean/ Winter-Spring 2028 -exp 9/29/26
Fall 2027-Spring 2028 Australia New Zealand
Winter Europe 2027/2028 exp 8/25/26
Fall 2027-Spring 2028 South America
Fall 2027-Spring 2028 Asia

04/20/2026

The Largest Fleet Update in Our 153-Year History
We are undertaking the most ambitious enhancement in our history, evolving six of our Signature and Vista Class ships with a thoughtful blend of new, elevated experiences and guest favorites inspired by our Pinnacle Class. From bow to stern, we are reimagining these ships to create more experiences too good to hurry through.

Holland America Evolution is grounded in extensive guest feedback. Crafted to feel both premium and personal, Evolution builds on our heritage of gracious service, perfectly sized ships, and destination-rich travel while introducing fresh design, expanded spaces, and new updates that enhance how our guests connect to the world and each other, including:

Six ships reimagined from bow to stern
Signature Pinnacle Class experiences expanded to more ships
The addition of guest-favorite venues, including the Grand Dutch Café
Preserving the perfectly sized ship experience that has long defined our brand
Refurbished staterooms and suites, plus new room categories
New experiences and enhancements for more to discover
Refreshed guest spaces throughout the ship
We look forward to welcoming you on board as Holland America Evolution comes to life.

Orange floral banner announcing Open for Sale May 6, 2026, inviting guests to experience the Holland America Evolution aboard the cruise ship Oosterdam.

Book Mark this page for Evolution Updates

Holland America Evolution is the largest fleet update in our history, enhancing cruising with elevated dining, refreshed staterooms, refined design, and beloved experiences. This new experience debuts on Oosterdam Fall 2027.

02/17/2026

Join us in Vancouver, B.C. for the Alaska Cruise & Travel Show March 14, 2026!
Discover Alaska through live music, cultural presentations, hands-on activities like gold panning and axe throwing, plus exclusive cruise offers. Meet with specialists, explore itineraries, and enter to win an Alaska cruise for two or one of six $500 Holland America Line gift cards. Be sure to come say hello I'll be attending this year booking cruises at the travel show.

Free admission—reserve your spot at alaskatravelshow.com

12/18/2025

Happy Holidays everyone!

Our biggest sale of the year is here! Book now with the Have It All package to receive up to 30% off fares, FREE balcony upgrades, FREE kids’ fares, 50% Reduced Deposit, and for a LIMITED TIME: Up to $500 Onboard Credit and up to $200 Shore Excursion Credit on Alaska cruises and cruisetours. Contact me to learn more and secure your dream cruise vacation!

1-800-355-3017 ext 29336

12/12/2025

Holland America is honored to have earned multiple USA TODAY 10BEST nominations — vote now in the following categories!
o Best Alaska Cruise
o Best Caribbean Cruise
o Best Ocean Cruise Line
o Best Cruise Line for Families
o Best Cruise Line for Shore Excursions
o Best Cruise Line for Solo Travelers
o Best Cruise Ship for Dining
 Koningsdam
 Rotterdam
o Best Cruise Ship for Entertainment
 Koningsdam
 Rotterdam

Holland America has been cruising around Alaska since 1947, holding more Glacier Bay permits than any line. Six ships offer the most glacier experiences (although all of its Alaska cruises includes a glacier viewing). Cruisers appreciate the award-winning Alaska Up Close programming featuring wildli...