Holland America Line is changing the name of its newbuild from Ryndam to Rotterdam and designating it the new flagship of the fleet when she arrives in July 2021.
The seventh ship to bear this historic name, Rotterdam, pictured, will be delivered on 30 July, 2021, pushed back slightly from its original delivery of May 2021 due to the global health situation.
The renaming follows the decision to sell the current Rotterdam to Fred Olsen.
When Rotterdam is delivered from Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard in Italy, it will spend the summer exploring Northern Europe and the Baltic on roundtrip cruises from Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
“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.”
The third in the Pinnacle Class series, Rotterdam will carry 2,668 guests, weigh 99,500 tons and feature highly successful amenities and innovations introduced with her sister ships, including the 270-degree surround screen World Stage, Rudi’s Sel de Mer and Grand Dutch Café.