Tours - ss Rotterdam

Spectacular. Nice to see the Dutch care about their maritime history. A fantastic liner to explore and not at huge cost. Well, free if you only want to explore a couple of decks. Extra for the bow, bridge and engine room. The ship herself has a semi art-deco interior; fancy but not over the top, like say, the SS Normandie. Easy to see this was once a grand vessel; part liner, part cruise ship. One can see that the ship had been designed for at least two classes of passenger, as areas are indeed quite separate. The utilitarian and the extravagant areas are definitely apart. One really needs a few days to fully explore this vessel. Wishing she stays in good shape for years to come. The car parking is reasonable.

The former cruise ship S.S Rotterdam retired in September 2000 after 40 years of travelling between Holland and Amerika. Since then the cruise is a hotel & event location. There are also guided tours and there is an escape room. We did the all-in guided tour where you get several tours and you can also walk around freely with an audio book which is available in multiple languages. (Tour was in Dutch though) It is really great, the tour goes from the machineroom with all the steam generators to even the captain’s bedroom. Even more great is that the tour is given by former workers! They tell you great stories from themselves! Price is 16,50 for this experience but is definitely worth it!

The extensive tour done, so with a guide through that part that provided the drive, very impressive. It is necessary, now in this Corona time, to make a reservation in advance with regard to a certain time for this part of the ship, then you can use an audio phone on your own through the other parts of this ship.

It's impressive from the outside, I haven't been inside yet

I did the audio tour "Blowing Away and Waving". Totally unable to listen to the audio. This is because of all the very friendly volunteers who told a lot about the ship and life on board. That of course was much more fun and interesting than the audio story. I was there during a quiet period, so people had all the time. But even if it is busier, it is certainly worth it. Definitely recommended if you do a weekend in Rotterdam.