It’s my favorite area to cruise! The 2024 Canada/New England cruise season got underway in Boston on Thursday April 24 with the arrival of Holland America Line’s Volendam.

I’m sad that I was unable to get a photo—yet I’ll have plenty of opportunities this year as she will be at Cruiseport Boston 10 more times between now and September 28.

While we have not (yet) been on Volendam, we have had the pleasure of meeting two of her sister ships, the former Rotterdam (in photo) and Amsterdam. It’s a great size for this itinerary—1,432 pax and roughly 61,000 gross tons, allowing entry to less-frequented ports and not overcrowding others.

Volendam is currently on a repositioning cruise that began in Fort Lauderdale on April 21 and is set to end in Montreal on May 4. She called on Newport RI Wednesday and is scheduled to visit Portland ME, Halifax, Sydney NS, Charlottetown, Îles de la Madeleine, and Québec City.

She’ll then do a series of one-way, seven-night cruises with alternating weekly departures from Montreal or Quebec City and Boston, along with a couple of Boston round trips and a 24-nighter that also calls on several ports in Iceland.