Holland America Line has been exploring the world since 1873. Our ships offer innovative features and enriching experiences focused on destination exploration and personalized travel, inviting guests to savor the journey.

The Holland America Summer Internship Program is a 10-week paid summer internship opportunity designed to provide exposure and insight to professional careers in the amazing leisure travel, cruise industry.  The selected interns will work on departmental projects as well as participate in professional development and enrichment activities.

2026 Program Dates

• Program runs 10 weeks from June 15th - August 21st. 

Eligibility

• Eligible candidates are enrolled in a Ph.D. program and have a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

• MUST NOT be a graduating in the summer 2026.

Compensation

• Ph.D. - $45.00/hr

Intern Project Details

As a Data Scientist Intern, you will be a member of the Holland America Revenue Science and Analytics team, specifically focused on using your data science skills to conceive and develop new opportunities to optimize revenue and enhance understanding and decision making within our business. You will work closely with the planning teams for Holland America and Seabourn to develop enhanced modelling capabilities to help the teams in making decisions in where to position our ships to maximize revenue and guest satisfaction.

Responsibilities:

• Design and build proof of concept models for using AI to combine past voyage performance data with online trends, reviews etc, to be used by Holland America and Seabourn deployment teams in determining the best deployments for our ships. This variable should consider past deployments, survey results and geopolitical impacts. This should also expand to building appropriate models to determine the best mix of port days versus sea days by itinerary type.

• Apply and adapt knowledge and experience of theoretical, mathematical concepts to develop advanced modelling and analytics to understand the relationship between the itinerary desirability and the overall port content.

• Develop suitable analytics visualization to create tools and analyses that accurately reflect the underlying mathematics whilst being visually engaging and easy-to-use for the business teams. Lead the implementation of this with the deployment and Shore Excursion teams.

• Work closely with senior stakeholders to ensure the relevancy and usability of all models and tools delivered is maintained; Use strategic and tactical thinking to determine how to best manage and configure the models to best reflect current business activity and future.

• Prove the validity of your models by verifying their predicted outputs against recent sailed cruises.

• Suggest further opportunities as appropriate to continue to develop and enhance our modelling capability in this space.

Requirements

• Proficiency using MS office Suite including Outlook & MS Teams

• Ability to work independently, remotely and self-manage

• Well organized and able to communicate effectively with colleagues and managers. 

• The types of duties the students will perform will vary and may require some technical tasks, projects and/or work that may require specific proficiencies, technical abilities and/or computer skills.

Majors Preferred

Data Science, Optimization, Operations Research, AI

Skills Preferred

• A high-class Masters’ Degree in a quantitative discipline such as Operations Research, Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Applied Statistics, AI or related field 

• Experience in at least one coding language such as R, Python, C++ etc…

• Strong analytical capabilities with a high level of attention to detail

• Creative and innovative problem-solver

• Ability to communicate technical information to non-technical audiences 

• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively.

What You Can Expect 

• Gain valuable experience. Gain confidence.
• Explore a new career path.
• Opens the opportunity to a future full-time job after graduation.
• Develop and refine skills.
• Network with professionals in the field.
• Develop an understanding of the type of working environment, field and industry that align with your career goals.
• Obtain job-related skills and experiences that will enhance your qualifications for future opportunities.

Deadlines

• Our 2026 application period will close on November 30, 2025.
   

Our Culture… Stronger Together

Our highest responsibility and top priority is compliance, environmental protection and the health, safety and well-being of our guests, the people in the communities we touch and serve, and our shipboard and shoreside employees.  Please visit our site to learn more about our Culture Essentials, Corporate Vision Statement and our Core Values at:  https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/our-company/mission-values.html

Holland America is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 

Holland America will provide reasonable accommodations with the application process, upon your request, as required to comply with applicable laws. If you have a disability and require assistance in this application process, please contact [email protected]

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