ms Maasdam
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ms Maasdam
The Maasdam is a Holland America Line ship offering global itineraries and luxury cruise experiences. Its destinations include Alaska, the Caribbean, Europe, Mexico, the Panama Canal, Asia, and Antarctica. The experience is all-inclusive with a strong focus on gastronomy and wellness, delivering high onboard comfort. Onboard facilities include an outdoor pool, gym, open-air cinema, hair salon, and Wi-Fi, along with included excursions and bicycles available for shore exploration, supporting an active and flexible travel experience. The Maasdam is well suited for travelers seeking a comfortable, destination-rich cruise combining enrichment, wellness, and accessible exploration options.
Itineraries of the ms Maasdam
Price and Availability Notice
Prices displayed are provided for informational purposes only. They reflect the rates in effect at the time of their most recent update and are shown in Canadian dollars, per person, based on double occupancy, unless otherwise specified.
Supplier rates, exchange rates, taxes and fees, room or cabin categories, and promotions are subject to change at any time. The applicable price is the one confirmed by a travel advisor at the time of booking, subject to availability. Only the confirmed price shall be considered valid.
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Technical specifications
- Classe: Statendam Class
- Tonnage: 55575
- Speed: 22.0 knots
- Passengers: 1258
- Decks: 12
- Length: 219 m
- Width: 31 m
History
- 3 décembre 1993: Voyage inaugural
Frequently Asked Questions
She measured 55,575 gross tons, 219.21 metres long by 30.80 metres wide, with 10 guest decks of which 5 carried cabins. Those figures come from the register and from the sale notice Holland America published in 2020, not from a third-party database. The 32-metre beam CruiseMapper shows is wrong: the register gives 30.80 metres, and her sister Veendam, off the same drawings, carries exactly the same value. The 220-metre length quoted elsewhere is an acceptable rounding, but 219.21 metres is the real one.
Aegean Myth, and this is the most common error on this fleet. Seajets bought Maasdam and Veendam together in July 2020, renaming Maasdam Aegean Myth and Veendam Aegean Majesty, two near-identical names that explain the muddle. Compagnie Française de Croisières then bought Aegean Myth in August 2022 and renamed her Renaissance. Maasdam's full chain therefore runs to three names, Maasdam, Aegean Myth, Renaissance, while Veendam has carried only one since Holland America.
She was the second of four, delivered in 1993 between Statendam and Ryndam, and the only one besides the lead ship built at Monfalcone. Holland America gave her longer-than-average voyages in Alaska and the South Pacific, while Veendam worked the Caribbean, Bermuda and Europe. Her 55,575 gross tons sit slightly under Veendam's 57,092, because she never received the same verandah-addition campaign. She is today the only one of the four sailing in French.
As Renaissance, for Compagnie Française de Croisières, between Europe and the Caribbean. Summer runs out of Dunkirk and Marseille: Norwegian fjords, the Mediterranean, the Greek islands, Corsica, Sardinia, the Adriatic and Scotland. In winter she moves to the Caribbean and works from Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, calling at Antigua, Tortola, Saint Martin, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Bonaire and Curaçao. Transatlantic repositioning crossings link the two seasons.
The pattern holds in 2027, Europe in summer and the Caribbean in winter, which makes air planning straightforward. Air Transat has made Montreal-Pointe-à-Pitre year-round at two flights a week, Tuesdays and Saturdays, and Air Canada also serves Guadeloupe: that is the simplest access, nonstop, straight to her Caribbean base. For the Mediterranean season, Air Transat launches a weekly Quebec City-Marseille on Thursdays from 21 May to 8 October 2026, alongside its Montreal services to France. Dunkirk needs a flight to Paris or Brussels, then rail to Lille and a road connection.
Of roughly 630 cabins, 149 have a balcony, 352 are outside including 29 facing the promenade, and 128 are inside. The 32 spa cabins suit guests planning to use the thermal suites, and the hundred or so single cabins are genuinely rare on a ship of this generation. Eighteen cabins are wheelchair accessible and 102 interconnect, which helps family groups. Promenade-facing cabins book early: they were already the regulars' favourite in Maasdam days.
The main room is the 792-seat Grand Restaurant Vatel, backed by the Belle-Île buffet and the Louchebem grill, with a twelve-seat chef's table and Saigon for Asian cooking. Two Holland America names survived untouched: the Ocean Bar and the Italian restaurant Canaletto. The lounges read French, from the Fou Chantant piano bar to the 291-seat Panoramique, by way of the Bar du Prado, the Salon Hector B and the Casino de France. The La Belle Époque theatre seats 600 across decks 7 and 8, and the Moana pool sits under a retractable roof.
The hull is over thirty years old and it shows: only a quarter of cabins have a balcony, the inside ones are small, and the corridors keep 1992 proportions. The operator is young and runs a single ship, which leaves few fallbacks if something breaks. The start was rough, with a first cruise announced for February 2023, pushed to 14 May, and actually sailing on 29 June. She has had two heavy yard periods in three years, Damen Brest then Lloyd Werft, which speaks as much to upkeep as to age.
No, she left Holland America in August 2020 and the package no longer concerns her. At Compagnie Française de Croisières the logic differs: dining and entertainment are included, while drinks, internet and shore excursions are sold as separate options. On the eleven remaining Holland America ships, Have It All bundles specialty dining, a shore excursion, a beverage package and internet into one fare. A client who knew Maasdam has to redo the arithmetic from scratch.
It went with the Dutch flag. Under Holland America a daily per-person amount was charged to the cabin account and shared out among the crew, with a service charge added to bar purchases. At Compagnie Française de Croisières the practice follows French custom and gratuities are settled onboard, without the automatic daily charge of the North American model. That is a difference in operating culture rather than in service quality.
Yes, as an option, which is how Compagnie Française de Croisières works: drinks are not folded into the fare by default. The ship carries a wine bar, Le Décanteur, the Fou Chantant piano bar, the Bar du Prado, the Bar Moana and the Ocean Bar inherited from Holland America, all covered by the package. On current Holland America ships a beverage package exists separately too and also sits inside Have It All. No amounts appear here: ask for the package in force at the time of booking.
No, internet access is sold as an option at Compagnie Française de Croisières, like drinks and excursions. The ship had a full technical overhaul at Lloyd Werft in early 2025, but it covered machinery, scrubbers and shore power rather than connectivity. A client used to the current Holland America fleet will find the service slower, particularly on a transatlantic crossing. Download your documents before embarkation.
Yes, but with nothing comparable to the Club HAL of Holland America days, which went with the change of flag. She offers children's and teen spaces, a Place des Lices pétanque court, basketball, paddle tennis and shuffleboard, but the whole remains modest. The clientele is largely French and adult, and two-week cruises suit teenagers better than small children. A Quebec family wanting a real youth programme is better served on a Vista or Signature-class ship.
Yes, every day spent onboard before August 2020 stays on the record and counts towards the Star tiers up to 5 Star. Maasdam ran a lot of long itineraries, Alaska and the South Pacific, which pushed accounts up quickly. Cruises taken since on Renaissance do not count: Compagnie Française de Croisières has no link to the Mariner Society programme. A client who wants to keep accruing has to come back to a Holland America ship.
At 55,575 gross tons she moves more than an 82,820-ton Vista-class ship, and her itineraries do not always help. Departures from Dunkirk cross the Channel and the North Sea, often lively, and the November transatlantic to Pointe-à-Pitre asks for a steady stomach. Her stabilisers work well under way and the full promenade deck lets you walk outdoors, which helps a great deal. Pick a low, central cabin and start medication the day before embarkation.
