A festive event to mark Holland America bringing its 500,000th passenger to Montreal

From left to right: Jean-Charles Côté, Coordinator Cruise and Guest Service for the Port of Montreal, the Zaandam Hotel Director Bart Groeneveld and Captain Christopher Norman, Tony Boemi, Vice-President Growth and Development for the Port of Montreal, Patrizia Dri, Director, Media, Leisure Market & Member Services for Tourisme Montreal, John and Tina Grondin.© Thierry du Bois / Cosmos Image

Saturday the 10th of August was a day of free family activities on the green roof of the Port of Montreal’s Grand Quay to celebrate the arrival of the 500,000th Holland-America cruise passenger since the line first started coming to Montreal.

The honour went to John and Tina Grondin of Cleveland, Ohio, who were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary aboard the Zaandam, which serves Montreal and the ports of the St. Lawrence and New England. They took the opportunity to visit Montreal for a few days.

During this festive event, visitors were treated to a jazz show, a water cannon show by tugboat, marine knotting workshops and a number of organized games.

On top of all that, a contest was organized to award a free tour of the ship and lunch for two on board.

“Holland-America Line is a cruise partner that has been visiting us for 23 straight years. I want to thank the company for its loyalty and also for its advice when we were designing the new cruise terminal. The Grand Quay of the Port of Montreal is now one of Montreal's must-see landmarks, and we are especially happy to be able to welcome the 500,000th passenger from Holland America Line," said Sylvie Vachon, President and CEO of the Montreal Port Authority (MPA), in the press release issued for the occasion.