This epic world cruise just got longer but will still end on time — find out why

29.10.2024 - 20:51 / thepointsguy.com / Beth Bodensteiner / America Line

When you've booked a sailing that's 132 days long, what's one more day? Fun — that's what. Holland America Line has redone the back half of its 2026 Grand World Voyage, which is now a day longer than originally scheduled — but for an interesting reason.

Due to continued unrest in the Red Sea region, the cruise line recently switched up the last 54 days of its epic sailing on the 1,432-passenger Volendam, which will travel round-trip from Fort Lauderdale on Jan. 4, 2026. Because the cruise has replaced the Middle East and Europe with more destinations in Asia and Central America, the ship will cross the International Date Line twice (instead of once, as originally planned) when sailing through the Pacific Ocean.

When the vessel crosses the invisible IDL — which runs from the North Pole to the South Pole — for the first time heading west, it will skip a day, making the sailing shorter than expected based on its embarkation and debarkation dates. Under the original itinerary, the voyage was 132 days, with the westbound crossing of the line.

Then, on its way back to Fort Lauderdale to end the cruise, the ship will be heading east across the line, thereby repeating a day. The date resets to the previous one when the ship crosses eastbound, in essence sending the ship back in time. That means the revised itinerary will be a day longer but will still conclude on May 17, 2026 — the voyage's originally scheduled end date.

The sailing, which will run just shy of 4 1/2 months, features calls on 51 ports across 23 countries and territories. Originally, the voyage was set to include all seven continents, but with the removal of Africa and Europe, it will now visit five of the seven.

Following the changes, booked travelers will experience overnights in popular ports like Nagasaki, Japan, Tokyo and Hong Kong, as well as previously planned late-night calls and overnights in Rio de Janeiro, Tahiti, Sydney and more. Another notable addition includes a full transit of the Panama Canal.

"We know immersive experiences in exciting destinations are always a main draw for those choosing a world cruise," Beth Bodensteiner, chief commercial officer for Holland America Line, said in a statement about the changes, which will be communicated to affected passengers.

The ship's new, modified route will take guests south from Fort Lauderdale along the east coast of South America. From there, the vessel will cross the equator and head down to Antarctica before sailing to Easter Island and stopping at some of the islands in the South Pacific on its way to Australia. Next are calls on Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan, followed by a second Pacific crossing to Alaska.

Volendam will then sail south from Alaska to Seattle