Rendering of Holland America Line’s Rotterdam ship, due for delivery in JUL 2021.
Holland America Line's flagship MS Rotterdam has left the fleet, moving over to Fred Olsen Cruise Line in the fall. But the legacy Rotterdam name will live on. HAL is changing the name of its newbuild from Ryndam to Rotterdam and designating it the new flagship of the fleet.
The seventh ship to bear this historic name, Rotterdam will be delivered on 30JUL, 2021, pushed back slightly from its original delivery of MAY 2021 due to the global health situation.
“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 HAL president, Gus Antorcha.
“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.”
Rotterdam, the third ship in HAL's Pinnacle Class series, will spend its first summer exploring Northern Europe and the Baltic on roundtrip cruises from Amsterdam. The ship's seven-day Premiere Voyage departs 01AUG from Trieste, Italy, to Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy. In OCT 2021, Rotterdam will sail a 14-day trans-Atlantic voyage from Amsterdam to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Guests and travel advisors with clients booked on former Ryndam itineraries through 30JUL are being contacted with rebooking options, says HAL. Nieuw Statendam cruise itineraries also will see some changes to match up 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 01AUG, and will receive a $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.
Anna Kroupina Journalist
Anna is OJ's newest member and she joins the team as a writer/reporter. She co-writes the daily news and covers events. Although she's new to the industry, pursuing a career path in travel/tourism has been a goal since her first family road trip to the Florida Keys sparked a desire to discover the world and this exhilarating, fast-paced industry.
