Cruising from San Diego is continuing to move forward step by step. We were on hand to help celebrate another milestone with Holland America Line's Koningsdam and couldn't be more excited. In addition to the Koningsdam crew receving their second dosage of the Pfizer vaccine, we learned of Holland America Line's Fall 2021 San Diego cruise schedule, and the exciting news that the Port of San Diego now offers shore power support for Koningsdam while in port as well as plans to shortly enable this for a second vessel as well. In total, between Zuiderdam and Koningsdam, Holland America Line will offer 40 cruises from San Diego between September 2021 through April 2022!
Holland America Line 2021-2022 San Diego Cruise Season Highlights:
- Zuiderdam: Sept. 18, 2021, to April 22, 2022: 17 cruises from San Diego — eight Mexico, four California coast, three Hawaii and two Panama Canal.
- Koningsdam: Oct. 10, 2021, to April 3, 2022: 23 cruises from San Diego — 15 Mexico, six California coast and two Hawaii cruises.
- Seven-day cruises along the California coast include a new itinerary that calls at Catalina, Santa Barbara and San Francisco for a late evening stay, along with Ensenada, Mexico. Additional "Classic California Coast" cruises include California calls at Santa Barbara, San Francisco and Avalon, and at Ensenada.
- A new 21-day Panama Canal cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam from Seattle, Washington, to Fort Lauderdale departs Oct. 2 and includes calls at San Diego; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Fuerte Amador (Panama City), Panama;; Oranjestad, Aruba; and Half Moon Cay.
- All seven-day "Mexican Riviera" cruises feature three Mexican ports of call: Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and Cabo San Lucas.
- "Mexico and Sea of Cortez" itineraries are between nine and 12 days and call at a combination of Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán, Cabo San Lucas, Guaymas, Topolobampo, Pichilingue (La Paz) and Loreto, Mexico.
- "Circle Hawaii" cruises are 17 or 18 days and call at the Hawaiian ports of Lahaina, Hilo, Honolulu, Nawiliwili and Kona, and Ensenada.
- Two 14-day cruises through the Panama Canal from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale on Zuiderdam depart Jan. 2 and Jan. 30, 2022.
Shore Power Upgrades At Port of San Diego:
As a passionate cruise fan who is also an enthusiastic proponent of "doing the right thing where you can", I welcome innovations such as cruise ships being able to use shore power when in port. This is something you see in other ports as well but is relatively new to San Diego. Anyone who has cruised the Caribbean and been in port on a busy day will notice that there's a haze that hangs in the air. This would otherwise be odd on area far from major cities but in fact, cruise ships are floating cities. When it port, most cruise ships must run their engines to maintain the power generation that serves waste management, lights, computer systems etc.
The Port of San Diego initially installed this support in 2010 making it one of the first in California. Now, with the doubling of shore power capability by September 2022, the Port of San Diego continues to be one of the best and most environmentally concious cruise ports on the west coast. In April, the commisioners approved $4.6 million to fund shore power at both the B Street and Broadway Pier cruise ship terminals. This will allow for two ships to dock at the same time and both can connect to shore power and turn off their diesel axuilary engines.
California's California Air Resources Board (CARB) is driving part of this with their mandate that all ships calling on California ports must use shore power by January 2023.
This will result in a nearly 90% overall reduction in pollutants such as NOx and Diesel Particulate Matter as well as generally reducing greenhouse emissions.
Other Environmentally Friendly Initiatives The Port Of San Diego Is Doing Include:
- The Port’s current development of a Maritime Clean Air Strategy;
- New shore power system with at least two shore power outlets by 2025 at the National City Marine Terminal;
- Adding an additional shore power outlet to the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal’s existing shore power system, which includes two shore power outlets, by 2031;
- Vehicle and cargo handling equipment electrification at our cargo and cruise terminals;
- Public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations along the bayfront;
- Infrastructure improvements including a 700 KW solar PV system with storage and microgrid at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal; and
- Innovative technology along Harbor Drive to smartly manage cargo truck traffic passing through Barrio Logan and National City.
We will be onboard Holland America Line's Koningsdam in October providing live updates about what it is like to cruise again from the west coast.
