19-Day Panama Canal

Learn how technology can make your voyage more meaningful and memorable with our complimentary small-group courses at the new Microsoft Studio. Designed for all abilities using the latest Surface Laptop 2 devices, our Microsoft-trained hosts will show you everything from creating photo albums and movies to using 3D effects and staying safe online. Drop in during scheduled times for courses or join our Creative Studio Time every day to work on your projects.

Learn New Skills

Days at sea are the perfect time to explore new skills. Learn how to design postcards with 3D effects, create incredible videos, paint a landscape with a digital pen, build a trip journal and organize your life, photos and files online.

Available Classes

Choose from an array of travel-centric workshops offered multiple times and days throughout your cruise or stop in during our Creative Studio Time to work on all the content you’ve created and make it into something special.

Take It Home With You

Take digital course handouts with you and continue your cruise experience on your home device. They’re sure to come in handy when you use all the newfound skills you learned in the Microsoft Studio!

Each voyage brings a guest chef on board to guide you through the culinary traditions of your destinations. Try local flavors at a food & wine tasting, add a new recipe to your repertoire at a live cooking demonstration or indulge your senses at a fine dining event.

For those looking to continue their epicurean immersion on shore, guest chefs lead select shore excursions*, exploring local cuisines while sharing their gastronomic expertise in the field.

Explore On Board

Savor the region through cooking demonstrations and tastings on board. Learn to make Malaysian roti with curried chicken. Discover which wines pair well with coconut. Enjoy a lavish feast featuring the cuisine of Western Australia.

Explore On Shore

Take a culinary tour with the guidance of a chef’s palate. Shop for French pastries in one of Tahiti’s open-air markets. Scour the Thai countryside for the perfect pad Thai. Compare world-class rieslings at a Tasmanian winery.

*Shore excursions and fine dining events require an additional cost.

Explorations Central™ (EXC®), Holland America Line’s exclusive destination programming, is designed to deepen your understanding of the places you visit. Its indispensable travel resources and opportunities to engage with experts and local insiders, make exploring each port of call more vivid and meaningful. Enjoy the programs listed below and visit our Explorations Central discovery center on board.

EXC Talks

Get an insider’s perspective at these informative onboard talks. In select regions, EXC Talks feature multimedia presentations that bring each destination to life with captivating storytelling and expert commentary.

EXC Culture

Start your immersion in a destination’s culture and history before you even step on shore, with help from local experts, artists and performers.

EXC Port To Table

Food is the gateway to understanding a culture. Delve into each region’s culinary traditions through onboard cooking demonstrations, and food and wine tastings (fleetwide Jan. 1, 2020).

EXC Photography

Learn to capture your most memorable travel moments with expert photography instruction and unique opportunities to use your newfound skills in port.

Unique Shore Excursions

Choose from our award-winning shore excursions and immerse yourself in authentic, engaging travel experiences—easily, comfortably and conveniently.

We have partnered with BBC Earth to bring you unforgettable new ways to experience the world's natural wonders. Through the innovative and breathtaking programming, guests will be taken closer to the ocean and the natural world through groundbreaking concerts and films.

Planet Earth II In Concert

Experience sensational footage from the natural world and get closer to the animals, landscapes and wildlife dramas on our planet than ever before. With a stunning score by award winning musicians Hans Zimmer, Jacob Shea and Jasha Klebe.

Alaska In Concert

Celebrate Alaska, one of the last great wildernesses. With footage from the TV series, Wild Alaska, audiences will enjoy the Alaskan seasons and will see this place is as unforgiving as it is beautiful. Music by world leading composer Timo Baker.

Inside Earth

Inside Earth is a series of films that provide insight into how the BBC’s extraordinary content is captured. Each episode includes stories from different television series and locations.

Blue Planet II: Underwater Adventure

A 25 minute film experience based on BBC Earth’s multi-award winning Blue Planet II television series. This film will take you on a breath-taking submarine journey of our vast oceans.

BBC Earth Experiences is brought to you by BBC Studios and licensed by Holland America Line

The BBC is a trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation and is used under license. BBC logo © 1996