The ship departed on a 12-day Holy Lands and Ancient Kingdoms cruise that includes an overnight at Haifa and additional ports in Israel and Greece.

To mark the occasion, HAL held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the terminal attended by the ship’s captain and senior officers, and there was a flag-waving fanfare from team members who lined up to greet guests as they boarded the ship.

"Our teams work incredibly hard getting the ships ready for a return to service, and the smiles when they see our guests walking up the gangway that first time are so heartfelt and sincere," said Gus Antorcha, president of HAL.

"Each ship back to cruising means more team members back to sea, and we look forward to the restart being complete next month."

Since HAL restarted cruising in July 2021, Eurodam, Koningsdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Nieuw Statendam, Noordam, Rotterdam and Zuiderdam have returned to service with cruises in Alaska, the Caribbean, Europe, Mexico, California and the South Pacific.

Volendam is currently under charter by the Netherlands government, positioned alongside in Rotterdam accommodating Ukrainian refugees.

Following its first cruise back in service, Oosterdam will spend the summer in the Mediterranean, offering seven- to 19-day itineraries round-trip from Trieste. The ship will explore the entire region with ports in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Montenegro, Croatia, Albania and Malta.

After the Mediterranean season, Oosterdam will depart on a transatlantic crossing to Fort Lauderdale before heading through the Panama Canal and down the western coast of South America to position for a winter season of cruises around the tip of the continent between San Antonio, Chile, and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

HAL will complete the restart of the remaining ships in the fleet through June with Zaandam from 12 May in Fort Lauderdale and Westerdam on 12 June in Seattle.