SEATTLE — Ahead of its new July 30, 2021 delivery date, Holland America Line’s Ryndam has officially changed its name to Rotterdam in honour of the company’s most memorable ships in history.
Designated as the line’s new flagship, the Rotterdam is the seventh ship to bear this historic name. Holland America’s first ship was called Rotterdam, which sailed its maiden voyage from the Netherlands to New York on Oct. 15, 1872. This voyage would lead to the founding of the company on April 18, 1873.
The latest Rotterdam VII, a newbuild carrying 2,668 guests, will be the third in Holland America’s Pinnacle Class series. Its delivery next year has been slightly pushed back from its original delivery date of May 2021 due to the global health crisis.
“The first ship for Holland America Line was the original Rotterdam, the company was headquartered in the city of Rotterdam for many years, and the name has been a hallmark throughout our history since 1872, so clearly the name is powerful and symbolic,” said Gus Antorcha, Holland America Line’s president. “With the current Rotterdam leaving the company, we knew we had a unique opportunity to embrace the name as our new flagship and carry on the tradition of having a Rotterdam in our fleet. Seven is a lucky number, and we know she’s going to bring a lot of joy to our guests as she travels across the globe.”
Upon delivery, the Rotterdam will begin cruising on Aug. 1, 2021 with the seven-day Premiere Voyage departing from Trieste, Italy to Civitavecchia (Rome), featuring port calls throughout the Adriatic Sea and southern Italy. It will then sail Aug. 8 from Civitavecchia on a 14-day cruise through the western Mediterranean and on to Amsterdam.
From Aug. 22 through Oct. 10, the ship will sail roundtrip from Amsterdam on three seven-day itineraries to Norway, one 14-day to the Baltic and one 14-day to Norway, Iceland and the British Isles. A trans-Atlantic completes the inaugural Europe season with a 14-day voyage from Amsterdam to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
To accommodate guests booked on cancelled itineraries of Ryndam from May through July, Nieuw Statendam cruise itineraries also will see some changes to match up as much as possible with former Ryndam sailings.
“Guests and travel advisors will be notified today of this news and coming changes to current itineraries,” added Antorcha. “We ask everyone, though, to please bear with us just a few weeks for all of the details as we rebuild itineraries and put the finishing touches on several desirable alternatives. We will follow up with specific details very soon so everyone knows their options.”
Guests booked on the originally scheduled Premiere Voyage will be rebooked on the Premier Sailing for Rotterdam, departing Aug. 1, and will receive a US$100 per person shipboard credit. All other guests who were booked on impacted Ryndam or Nieuw Statendam cruises will be automatically rebooked to a similar future cruise date during the summer at the same fare paid. Guests will receive a $100 per person shipboard credit for cruises 10 days or less and $250 per person for itineraries of 12 days or more. Guests are asked to wait until they receive updated booking confirmations in the next several weeks before contacting Holland America Line for additional changes to the booking.
