My First Transatlantic: Why I Just Booked Holland America’s Cultural Crossing With Bermuda & London

I’ve cruised a lot over the years — enough that I’ve got a full guide to the cruise industry coming out this December — but there’s one itinerary type I’d never actually done: a transatlantic crossing. That changes on April 4, 2027, when I sail out of Fort Lauderdale on Holland America’s Nieuw Statendam for the 13-day Cultural Crossing With Bermuda & London, arriving in Rotterdam two weeks later.

Here’s why this particular trip, on this particular line, finally got me to say yes.

The appeal of doing nothing at 20 knots

A transatlantic is a strange animal by cruise standards. After a call in Bermuda on day four, there’s nothing but ocean for seven straight days before England comes into view. No ports to rush off to, no shore excursion alarms, no packing and unpacking every other morning. Just the ship, the Atlantic, and however many books I can talk myself into bringing on my iPad.

That’s precisely the point. After years of chasing port days on faster-paced itineraries, a full week at sea — genuinely uninterrupted — sounds less like a scheduling gap and more like the whole reason to go. In fact, it’s the same slow-travel instinct I’ve built a lot of GoingSolo.Life around, just stretched across an ocean instead of a weekend.

Why Holland America, specifically

As you’ll learn in my cruise line chapters in my new book, Holland America isn’t chasing water slides and rock walls as a line. Instead, it’s built for people who want cultural depth over spectacle. Think guest lectures tied to wherever the ship is actually sailing, a slower and more conversational shipboard rhythm, and an evening entertainment model (the Music Walk) built around several smaller live-music venues running at once, rather than one big theater show a night. On a crossing with seven sea days in a row, that kind of programming isn’t a nice extra. It’s what fills the time well.

There’s also the history angle, and it feels almost too on-the-nose for this specific sailing. Holland America was founded in Rotterdam in 1873, running transatlantic passenger service between Rotterdam and New York. Now this ship is going to retrace a version of that same ocean crossing before ending in the city where the whole company started. So sailing into Rotterdam on a Holland America ship isn’t just an arrival port. It’s the line coming home.

Ship FAQ

Nieuw Statendam

What class is Nieuw Statendam, and how many guests does she carry?

She’s a Pinnacle-class ship, Holland America’s newest and largest class, at just under 100,000 gross tons with a normal capacity of 2,666 guests.

When did Nieuw Statendam enter service?

She entered service in December 2018 and was christened by Oprah Winfrey in February 2019. That makes her the second of three ships in the Pinnacle class, after Koningsdam and before Rotterdam.

What’s her standout feature?

The Music Walk. Several genre-specific live venues (B.B. King’s Blues Club, Billboard Onboard, Lincoln Center Stage) all run at once each evening, so a night on board feels more like strolling a small music district than watching one scheduled show.

What’s dining like on board?

Beyond the Main Dining Room and Lido buffet, specialty venues include Pinnacle Grill (steakhouse), Tamarind (pan-Asian), Canaletto (Italian), and Rudi’s Sel de Mer, a Belgian-French seafood brasserie exclusive to the Pinnacle class.

Does Nieuw Statendam have solo-traveler cabins?

Yes. There are 12 dedicated ocean-view solo staterooms (no balcony, but a real window). So she’s one of only three Holland America ships with dedicated solo cabins, alongside Koningsdam and Rotterdam.

What’s Wi-Fi like on board?

Fleet-wide Starlink satellite service, with three tiers: Surf (basic browsing/email, included with Have It All), Premium ($26/day, adds audio and light video), and Stream ($38/day, full streaming). However, Holland America doesn’t guarantee specific speeds, since conditions vary at sea.

The itinerary

• Day 1 (Sun, Apr 4): Depart Fort Lauderdale, 5:00 PM
• Days 2-3: At sea
• Day 4 (Wed, Apr 7): King’s Wharf, Bermuda
• Days 5-11: At sea — the transatlantic stretch
• Day 12 (Thu, Apr 15): Portland, England
• Day 13 (Fri, Apr 16): Dover, England (a straightforward run into London)
• Day 14 (Sat, Apr 17): Arrive Rotterdam, Netherlands

Thirteen nights, one ocean, three countries, and exactly one continent swap.

The part that actually made this trip possible: working from the middle of the ocean

Shipboard internet has changed, and that’s the thing that makes a crossing like this possible now. A few years ago, it would have been unthinkable. Today, newer satellite connectivity supports real video calls and steady streaming, even from open water. That’s a real shift from cruising’s old barely-there email connection. As a freelancer, it’s the difference between two very different trips. One is “unplug for two weeks.” The other is “work a normal Tuesday from a deck chair somewhere past Bermuda.”

So I’m planning to treat the sea days like remote workdays. Mornings go to deadlines. Afternoons are for a lecture or a specialty restaurant I’ve been wanting to try. Evenings mean wandering between the ship’s live-music rooms. Meanwhile, there are no calendar conflicts and no commute, just the best office view I’ll have all year. If this works the way I’m hoping, it won’t be my last work trip built around open ocean instead of a destination.

I’ll document the whole thing here as it gets closer. Packing. Connectivity setup. What solo life actually looks like with this few port days. Ever been curious about a transatlantic? Maybe you couldn’t quite picture a week of nothing but ocean. Follow along, because we’re about to find out together.

Be sure to preorder The Cruise Line Industry & Solo Traveler’s Guide, which will be published on December 7.