Holland America Line

MS Rotterdam VI

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Operator: Holland America Line
Year Built / Last Refurbished: 1997 / 2007
Length / Tonnage: 780 / 61,849
Number of Cabins / Passengers: 702 / 1,404
Officers / Crew: Dutch / Indo/Filipino
Operating Area: Europe, South America
Telephone / Fax: Tel 330 989410 / Fax 330 989411

Did you love the old ROTTERDAM of 1959? We know we did…Sad to see her leave the Holland America fleet to face an uncertain future in the hands of others? We were…But once we took a gander at her replacement, the ROTTERDAM VI of 1997, we changed our tune and FAST…So as far as the old girl is concerned…don’t cry for her…she’s all right…but we wanna tell you, this new one…well, she is something else!!! The new ROTTERDAM is a fabulous ship…and we don’t use THAT word much…actually we don’t use it at all, but this ship IS fabulous! Classy and of the highest quality throughout, she gets our vote for the best ship of the decade of the 1990s and we don’t think there’s anyway to improve on her anytime soon! Stuck in the mindset that no new build can come close to the grace, charm and elegance of the "Grand Old Lady" of the fleet? Anyone lamenting the passing of the "Great Liners" of yesterday needs to open his/her mind to many the new ships and if he can’t accept most of the new ones, he/she needs to have a squint at the gracious ROTTERDAM of TODAY! You can’t help but being wowed as we were. It’s true that never before have passenger carrying vessels offered so much comfort and utter luxury to so many for so comparatively few dollars but of all the ships that sail the seas today, nobody comes near Holland America…The company is OUR first choice when we plan a cruise and the ship we choose is invariably a member of the "S" Class (STATENDAM and her sisters) or the ROTTERDAM and her three near sisters. To my mind and my experience as purser in eight ships (out of a total of 84 that I have sailed in and hundreds I have visited and Chris’ two decades as a travel agent and the 50+ ships HE has sailed in), no ships afloat can touch these Holland America Liners for value ... comfort ... convenience ... accommodations. If only because all EIGHT of these ships, the STATENDAM class and the ROTTERDAM VI and her similar gals offer the best standard cabins today I would rank them near the top of the list, but because of the wide range of their facilities, the high standards of their hotel services, their good food and even for the eclecticism of some of their interior decor....no ships afloat can touch this octet in our eyes!

Let us continue our tale of praise with memories of pampering by the ship's first rate Indonesian and Filipino hotel crew. These hard working, gracious people not only anticipate your desires... they make you think they exist to make you happy. No sullen faces or frosty cold attitude here…ROTTERDAM crew greet you warmly…no matter if they know you or not…from the first, their smiles go a long way to make you feel welcome and at home…that’s important because on many of her cruises, you will BE a long way from home…From the crew in the ROTTERDAM SMILES are genuine and we like that...so should one of those inevitable inconveniences occur, keep calm...the ROTTERDAM crew is there and they will handle it for you.

As Mark wrote in his review of the STATENDAM (his now SECOND favorite ship), these are the new QUEENS of the SEAS! There are some differences between the grand "S" Class ships and the ROTTERDAM group…though the basic lay-out of decks, public areas and facilities are very similar…the ROTTERDAM gals have a few extra features like that beautiful extra restaurant and a midships bank of elevators and stairs…they ARE a bit easier to navigate than the lovely "S" class ships…and with cabins built to the same plan and decorated in the same uniform good taste, a different decor and color schemes in other areas give the ROTTERDAM and the newer ships her own distinctive personality. We've sailed the STATENDAM, MAASDAM and VEENDAM twice, and are going again in the STATENDAM and have booked the RYNDAM for a cruise to South America in late October 2001…and we have sailed the ROTTERDAM, too…and already have our tickets for a 24 day transAtlantic from Piraeus and a booking for two months of the world cruise 2001…we just love these ships…maybe even more than we love our own home… Though each of these beautiful ships has something we like better than corresponding items aboard her sisters, like her companion liners her decor ranges from classic to eclectic, the ROTTERDAM is a great beauty... If a 62,000 ton ship can be called adorable, that’s what the ROTTERDAM is! In the contest to become our favorite ship, the ROTTERDAM is the winner...our undisputed favorite…Let us try to tell you why...

We thank Holland America’s lucky stars that Carnival bought the company! If nothing else, and there is plenty more, and we can’t say enough nice things about them, Carnival is run by some very smart people. Taking control of Holland America Line, their first order of business was to expand the fleet...and expand they did with the projection of a series of four big new ships. Signing a contract on November 29, 1989 with Italy's fabulous ITALCANTIERI, shipbuilders extraordinaire, construction of the first of them was set into motion. Just over a year later on December 10, 1990 the first steel was cut and on January 7, 1991 the first unit fabrication began at the shipyard at Monfalcone, near Trieste, Italy. Unnamed as yet, she had a number...5881...and as such her keel was laid on July 22, 1991. Because this brilliant new cruise ship was built in a drydock instead of on stocks, there could be no traditional launch...no gala running down the ways. Instead, a "coin under the mast" ceremony was held on April 2, 1992 and on the following day in lieu of the traditional launch, the new ship was floated out of her drydock. From that moment until her contract delivery date of January 7, 1993 was not all that much time for workers to fit the interior and turn the newly named STATENDAM into one of the finest ships ever seen. And that is just what they did because in my opinion, this ship and her sisters are ships so passenger friendly we have not a moment's hesitation in telling you we think these are the finest ships ever built for passengers! The STATENDAM led the way and a fleet of glorious sisters and near sisters followed…triumphs all of them…the ROTTERDAM our favorite! Three of the four "S" class sisters was in service thrilling, delighting and pleasing passengers on January 14, 1995 when the contract to build a new ROTTERDAM was signed with Italcantieri. Because the yard had its hands full at the time, the first steel wasn’t cut until January 8, 1996 and on the 20th workers started to fabricate the units that would be put together to become this wonderful ship. Her keel was finally laid on June 3rd of that year…and a few months after the VEENDAM came into service, the men at the yard were joined by the assorted poobahs and bigwigs of Holland America and Carnival for the "Coin Under the Mast" ceremony on December 21st. Two days later they reassembled at the shipyard for the floating out ceremony. Then came ten months of fitting out and on September 30, 1997 the grand new flagship of the Holland America Line was delivered. We won’t tell you that she didn’t have some teething troubles…she did…but like other grand and glorious liners that had a couple of rocky starter days…these minor items couldn’t stand in the way of a great ship like this one…and in short order everything was put to rights and if a ship is more perfect than the ROTTERDAM…we just might not want to know about her because we are so comfortable in her!

As was true when Italcantieri built the COSTA CLASSICA and COSTA ROMANTICA, a pair of new cruise ships of very similar particulars and more than a few shared design features, not everyone in the American travel market was prepared for this new ship...That was true when the STATENDAM and her sisters MAASDAM, RYNDAM and VEENDAM came out. Some people actually said that they HATED the ROTTERDAM and her great interiors...For the life of us, we just don’t see it…she is a beauty, tasteful, gorgeous…a dream!

As is the custom at Holland America the ROTTERDAM's public rooms all make bold design and decor statements but it sure does work! Lead designer F.C.J. Dingemans says: …"through the use of dark woods and rich colors, we’ve attempted to create an atmosphere of great elegance and refinement, slightly more formal than the other ships."… he and his team certainly succeeded and we’d venture to say that you could put the ROTTERDAM’s interiors up against those of any of the "Great Liners of the Past" and the ROTTERDAM would still win!

From its base on Lower Promenade Deck, the 26-foot-high clock tower based on a 36 inch tall Flemish original, is replete with 14 different clocks telling time in 14 different places. This grand tower dominates the three-deck atrium around which much of the ship's public spaces flow. In the impressive, balconied 557-seat Queen’s Lounge performers dazzle you, and some of them even outshine the sequined stage curtain!. Not only a show lounge, but a Main Lounge, too, the Queen’s Lounge is a modern exponent of the traditional hub of social life aboard the traditional Atlantic liner. Captain holds his receptions in here, lectures hold forth on any number of topics…High atop the ship on Sports Deck is the Crow's Nest. A room with a view…a 320 degree view forward and to the sides if not directly aft, this is an ideal observation lounge by day. It has some of the most beautiful, comfortable furniture ever seen aboard a ship, we wanted to order some of it from the manufacturers for delivery at home! In the evening it's also a great place for cocktails where those in the know come for drinks and hot appetizers. Others take their pre-dinner refreshments in the Ocean Bar where a quartet plays dance music both during cocktail time and after dinner. No longer is cigar smoke tolerated inside and the traditional after-dinner smoke in the Explorer's Lounge is now a memory but every night at 9:00 PM the Rosario Strings begin to play and anyone who likes the refined atmosphere of an evening salon of an upper class home comes here for cognac, specialty coffees, fresh chocolates and good conversation. And need I mention that there is also a library, a separate card room, a gymnasium and fitness center as well as the usual beauty salons? The sauna and steam rooms are great and on the top deck is a jogging track.

Featured in the ROTTERDAM and the newer AMSTERDAM are a children’s play area, a Concierge Deck for suite passengers complete with small lounge for them and an alternative restaurant…

Two decks high and with windows on three sides on both of them is the La Fontaine Dining Room. It is a very stylish room, differing in atmosphere from the Rotterdam Dining Rooms aboard the "S" class, though built to the same general plan. There is no canopy of Venetian glass flowers here, this room’s ceiling is black with a panoply of stars…it’s quite dramatic and very conducive to intimate tete á tete dinner conversation…Though it seats up to 747 happy diners at a time you would never know it’s that capacious…it feels intimate and charming, which is just about the neatest trick we’ve EVER seen done in a big dining room…and NO ONE eating here is unhappy! You might fear that such numbers would make for a bottleneck at the main entrance…Never fear…that never happens here because the designers provided entrances on both decks the room occupies and a pair of curving staircases just inside on the upper level allow those seated on the lower level but entering above to make a true grande descente... This place is so roomy, tables are quite well spaced so you don't need to whisper when you bill and coo in here. And the dark ceiling, specially provided to keep acoustic levels quiet keeps the noise down! Smokers are usually segregated (sic!) in the upper level of the dining room but we prefer a table up there...Need we remind you that with floor to ceiling windows on both sides and aft...views are MAGNIFICENT! From the rolling cart bearing freshly baked goods for breakfast to the last savory at dinner, the food is good to great...Called to dinner by a bellboy ringing chimes as he walks through the ship, you enter this grand dining room on sailing night and can’t help but smile at the beauty of this room…Inspired by the two-deck tall mural on the bulkheads of the Ritz Carlton room in the ROTTERDAM of 1959, Dutch painter Klaas Posthuma created especially beautiful wall treatments for the forward bulkheads of the La Fontaine Dining Room aboard the new ship…Against black backgrounds bright bold swaths of color come alive…

By the way.. Breakfast and lunch are served at open sitting but Holland America likes passengers to take lunch in the Lido Restaurant where an elaborate buffet offers more extensive selections than the Dining Room menu... Out by the Lido Deck pool is the grill where burgers, franks and sausages are cooked for you PLUS there is an outstanding selection of cold cuts, Mexican, Chinese or Italian food and sometimes curry...and the scallop curry is divine…so your only lunchtime problem ought to be that you haven't enough room for as much as you would like.

Dinners are served at two sittings and menus offer great selections of Continental, American and other specialties ...sometimes Asian delights... Food here gets better and better as Holland America strives to win top honors for its food and I think it's only a matter of time before the line will get them! If you CAN...save a bit of room for the midnight buffet...a wide selection, again...of foods..and usually ethnically themed...one night French, another German...even Japanese... But buffet highlight here is the INDONESIAN lunch buffet... WONDERFUL but for the novice, watch it...it's VERY spicy! But there is also an ice cream bar should you need to cool your palate...

A hotel service charge of US $10 per passenger is automatically added to each guest's shipboard account on a daily basis. Passengers can adjust this amount at the end of the cruise by visiting the hotel manager's desk. A 15% service charge is automatically added to bar charges and dining room wine purchases.

The ROTTERDAM's alternative restaurant… is the ODYSSEY Restaurant. Dingemans explained: "It’s a very opulent room (and we agree), with gold picture frames and baroque style candelabra. Very much the style the Doges would have appreciated. In this room we’re to create a party atmosphere (a party, but a very GRAND party…we’d say), so that coming here will be a special occasion." On the world cruise, the menus here vary…reflecting one cuisine in the region the ship is in…otherwise Italian dishes prevail…We ate here once and it was great but the regular menu in the La Fontaine Restaurant was so compelling we regretted missing even that one dinner!

One reason we so much like to cruise in the ROTTERDAM is that entertainment goes far beyond the standard cruise ship fare...Since cruises generally begin with an early evening sailing I begin with evening entertainment... What to do after a typically delicious ROTTERDAM dinner? Not fond of the lavish Broadway/Vegas glitzy shows replete with thousands and thousands of feathers and constellations of sequins? ...NO MATTER....for here aboard ROTTERDAM you will be able to enjoy any of a number of evening entertainments from throwing your coins into the slots or playing cards with a professional player in the ship's airy Casino to dancing to the combo in the Ocean Bar to a first run movie to the classical quiet of an evening in the Ambassador’s Lounge…you’ll LOVE it when Perry Grant is aboard and works this room…or the Explorer's Lounge with its string orchestra and fresh coffee. Or you could attend the screening of a movie in the cinema or even watch one on your in cabin TV... Daytime offers well...with so much deck space ... and those classic wooden deck chairs topped by padded cushions...a nap on deck is just the ticket once in a while...or maybe a snooze on deck near one of the ship's pools... The daily program spells it out for you on the ROTTERDAM and the choice IS yours. The company allows cruise directors a little leeway in initiative but you won't find daily programs too different from the other ships of the line…but since the ROTTERDAM is the company’s world cruising flagship and spends summers in Europe...the activities are usually geared up a bit to suit the mentality of voyagers and not one-week Caribbean cruise partiers…Holland America has been around for over 125 years so you MUST know they do it right!

Our readers already know that we care more about cabins than the next guy...maybe it's because we spend so much time traveling that ship's cabins and hotel rooms are our biggest concern. Kym Anton chose fabrics reminiscent of Indonesia to compliment warm earth tones in the 658 cabins and suites aboard the wonderful msROTTERDAM. At the top of the price list are the four 1260 square feet penthouses, apartments whose decor is not really our tastes but is very popular with moderns... Who could not LOVE the ROTTERDAM's thirty-six 565-square foot suites for their supreme comfort, wide, long balconies and sitting areas as much as for the line's suite amenity package. Suite passengers get their laundry done...free of charge...personalized stationery, afternoon canapes, use of terry bath robes while aboard...and on longer cruises an invitation to the Suite Dinner... a special dinner taken in one of the two small dining rooms off the upper level of the Rotterdam Dining Room.

These suites are associate editor Chris Smith’s idea of heaven! But, for all that it's the 284 square feet (including verandah), deluxe category A and Category B cabins that do it for Goldberg! Each of these 120 rooms comes with its own VCR, minibar, sitting area and bathroom complete with whirlpool tubs (and DON'T put bubble bath in and turn it on...unless your life is an "I LOVE LUCY" episode - in which case go ahead). But there is not a thing wrong with any of the 381 outside and 117 inside standard cabins. I think they are the best standard cabins at sea, designed for living and long cruises. At almost 200 square feet, each one has a sitting area and all of them have plenty of closet and drawer space. This is one company that takes comfort seriously and when the Dutch say "WELTERUSTEN" - Have a pleasant (night's) rest - they mean it, so the fluffy pillows for the beds and the blankets will speed you on your way into the arms of Morpheus.

Preferred by experienced cruise passengers the ROTTERDAM is also VERY first-timer friendly. Because most of her cruises are longer...she attracts a lot of older folks, too, but European sailings and even the World Cruise get a wide range of ages and with the line's new shore excursions for kids as well as for teens...look for increasing numbers of families during the summer and school holidays. This is not really a ship for any of the loud action crowd though the two we met aboard told me they LOVED it. We don't blame them!

The ROTTERDAM will spend the first three months of the year offering a series of extended Panama Canal transits. In April she moves to the Caribbean for a month, before heading up to New England and Canada. In July she is scheduled to cross the Atlantic both ways on extended 16-day itineraries. When she returns to New York she will pick up the New England and Canada itineraries before finishing up the year back on the Panama Canal route.

With the coming of spring the cruise ends at New York and Fort Lauderdale. Then the ROTTERDAM makes her spring transAtlantic crossing to put her in place for another season of her nifty European itineraries…

The ROTTERDAM is our favorite ship...We can’t think of anything to add, we’ve screamed it at you ENOUGH already…See you on board!!