Orange Night on Holland America: What to Wear (and How to Show Up Ready)
Cruise Apparel · Holland America · Orange Night
The Night Everyone Wears Orange — Show Up Ready
Holland America’s Orange Party is the one night every cruise when standing out means fitting in. Here’s what to know — and how to arrive wearing something worth remembering.
If you’ve booked a Holland America cruise — Alaska, Caribbean, Pacific Coast, it doesn’t matter — there’s one night built into every itinerary you should know about before you pack. It’s called the Orange Party, and it’s not an optional side event. It’s the night the whole ship turns orange.
Orange is the color of the Dutch Royal Family, a tradition rooted in the House of Orange-Nassau and brought to life on every Holland America sailing through what the line now calls Dutch Day. The evening features Dutch-inspired cuisine, Bols cocktails, live music, and one very clear dress code: wear orange.
“It’s the one time in your cruise when you’ll see people let loose and get silly. Everyone’s in orange. The ship transforms.”
The ship’s gift shop sells orange accessories for guests who forget to pack something. But if you’re traveling with a group — a family reunion, a travel club, a group of friends who booked the same sailing — you have an opportunity that most passengers miss entirely.
You can show up with a real shirt. Custom printed. With your group’s name, your trip dates, or whatever message you want to carry through the evening. Something that photographs well. Something people will hold onto after the cruise ends.
What Actually Happens on Orange Night
Holland America formalized the Orange Party into its broader Dutch Day programming in 2024, but the tradition goes back years. On most sailings, Dutch Day falls mid-cruise. The dining room features a Dutch-inspired menu — think Bami Goreng, Dutch Apple Pie, Daelmans Stroopwafels at turndown. The ship is decorated in orange accents. The Crow’s Nest bar and deck venues host the party after dinner.
The dress expectation is clear: orange attire, any style. Guests who bring something get photos they keep. Guests who forget buy a hat or a pin from the gift shop and feel slightly underdressed next to whoever did plan ahead.
If you’re a travel agent escorting a group, Orange Night is also a practical moment — it’s when your group is visibly together, identifiable, easy to photograph as a unit. A custom shirt turns that into a memory and a marketing asset at the same time.
Custom Screen Print · Orange Night Ready
The Holland America Orange Night Tee
Custom screen printed in Santa Ana, CA · Available blank or decorated
Custom screen printed orange tee · Group orders from 12 pieces · Ships nationwide
Why a Custom Shirt Beats Whatever’s in the Gift Shop
The onboard shop will have orange accessories. A hat, a scarf, maybe a branded pin. They’re fine. They’re also exactly what every other unprepared passenger is buying at the same time, at cruise ship retail prices, with your ship’s branding on them — not yours.
A custom screen printed shirt is different. It’s yours before you board. It fits correctly. It carries whatever you want it to say. And when the photos from Orange Night get posted — and they always do — your group is wearing something identifiable, something that holds together visually, something that tells a story.
What to put on a custom Orange Night shirt
- Your group name and year — family reunions, travel clubs, friend groups
- The ship name and sailing dates — a detail people actually want to remember
- A Dutch tulip graphic — simple, recognizable, on-theme
- Orange on white or white on orange — both photograph cleanly at night
- A phrase in Dutch — “Proost” (cheers) works better than you’d think
For Travel Agents: This Is a Value-Add Worth Offering
If you’re a travel agent who regularly books Holland America sailings — and especially if you book group cruises — Orange Night is a practical opportunity you’re probably leaving on the table.
A custom shirt for each passenger in your group costs less than one specialty dinner. It arrives before the cruise. Your clients wear it on the most photographed night of the sailing. Every photo that goes on social media has your group looking unified and prepared. That’s the kind of detail people mention when they refer friends to book with you.
We work with travel agents directly. Small runs — 12 shirts, 24 shirts — are our bread and butter. We print in Santa Ana, we ship nationally, and we can work with your timeline as long as it’s not the week before departure.
Alaska Makes Orange Night Different
Alaska itineraries departing Vancouver have their own energy. You’re sailing through some of the most dramatic scenery on earth — Glacier Bay, Juneau, Ketchikan — and Orange Night typically falls mid-cruise when everyone is loose and comfortable with each other. The light in Alaska at that time of year is something else. Photos from an Alaska Orange Night, taken against that backdrop with the right shirt on, look like they belong in a travel magazine.
It’s worth planning for. We’ve already made one for a Holland America Dutch Heritage sailing out of Vancouver. We can make yours.
Ready for Orange Night?
Custom orange shirts for groups of 12 or more. Screen printed in Orange County, CA. Ships nationwide. Built around your cruise dates.
Made in Orange County. By people who earned their second chance.
