2025 June 01 Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

And so the good ship ms Nieuw Statendam arrived in Rotterdam at 07.00 in the morning. My movie team had been given permission to board with the pilot boat and film the arrival of the ship sailing from the pilot station to the dock. An early day for the movie people but an nice experience for landlubbers to climb a pilot ladder and see a cruise ship in full operation.

Hotel New York which was from 1901 to 1983 the head office of Holland America.  Now it is a very successful hotel in the center of Rotterdam. The cargo sheds of the company have all been taken down and replaced by sky scrapers, either with offices or with apartments.

Then just before arrival they moved from the bow to the stern as the captain swung the ship around at the Waalhaven entrance and went astern a mile so the ship could dock bow out at the passenger terminal at the Wilhelminakade. That is a HAL tradition from the good old HAL days. Always dock nose out so incase the ship has to leave suddenly, there is no delay due to having to swing around. When the pier was still in use by HAL the ships could swing just off the dock but the NSDM is 300 meters long and that is too long to swing off the dock. Hence with such a length you to swing down river where the very wide “Waalhaven” entrance can handle ships for a swing of up to 400 meters.

Holland Amerika Lijn Glory days. This is what the Wilhelminakade looked like in the early 60.s The ss Rotterdam (V) is departing from the passenger terminal for New York. The ss Nieuw Amsterdam (II) is docked behind. Opposite the head office in the Rijnhaven, two Holland America freighters alongside. As you can see the ships are all docked “nose out”.

Rotterdam is the official change over port for the cruise and disembarkation started at 07.00 hrs. with silent disembark which was very popular with the Dutch as a lot of them went home by public transport, which even on a Sunday, is very good here. Metro to the central train station and the train from there home. The North American contingent went by coach or taxi/limousine to the airport. There were a large number of coaches for the Belgians, mostly from the Dutch speaking Flemish side as Holland America is been very active in promoting the HAL cruises there. For a while the local trams (the ones you see outside the dock when you have a cruise that calls at Brugge/Bruges), sported a Pinnacle class ship over the whole length of the tram.

Captain Henk Draper seen here on the bridge of one of the older Holland America Line ships before his transfer to the Pinnacle class.

Captain in command of the ship is Captain Henk Draper. He joined Holland America in the 1990’s.  He came from the Rotterdam cargo company “Van Nievelt Goudriaan” which sailed to South America. I had him as second officer on the old N ships when I was chief officer there. He must have liked the change as he is still here.

Cafe Courzand in Rotterdam is an old Art Deco building, built in 1915 as the entertainment Hall for a nearby shipyard. It survived the years nearly unscathed and is now a successful cafe/restaurant. The water taxi stops there on its circle around the port. They proudly have the old Holland Holland America Line logo (1938 – 1973 and 1986 – 2016) on the backwall. This is the side wing where we had the interview. The main hall is much larger and full of Art Deco features. https://courzand.nl/nl/impressie)

So while the captain was involved with the turnaround of the ship, I was picked up by the movie crew to take them down memory lane in the port of Rotterdam. The idea behind it all is to make a documentary about our old head office, now hotel New York that will be 125 years young in 2026. The building was built in 1901 and then extended and embellished in 1919. So we went by water taxi through the port to an art deco cafe for the interview. The result of the interview will be as the connecting story through the documentary as there will be other experts providing inside in the construction, the Art Deco facades, and the history after Holland America left Rotterdam and the first squatters took over the building. After a short spell when there was talk about demolishing the building, it became a Hotel /Restaurant which it still is. Eventually it all it will be a documentary in movie style. Released during the Rotterdam Film Days in 2026 and then go for general release into the Dutch Cinema’s.

The “Wilhelmina Stone”. Part of the reason for the Water-taxi was to see this stone/inscription. On 30 May 1890 the Prinsessekade was named in Wilhelminakade by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. As reminder of the occasion a engraved stone was placed in the sea wall of the head of the pier, so you can only see it from the waterside. (Photo courtesy: Lesley Schoonderbeek)

Transport in the port was by Water-taxi and is of interest in case you ever have a day on your cruise in Rotterdam. It is a good 30 minute walk from the cruise terminal to “down town” over the bridge. Options are the metro or a taxi. But there is also the water taxi. Across from where the ship docks at the other side of Hotel New York, is a terminal from where the water taxis leave. Cost is between Euro 3.50 –  12.50 depending on how many zones you travel in the port. That water-taxi can take you straight across to the “Leuvehaven” which is directly across from the main shopping area. It is a bit of a secret that you can also use the water-taxi as a sightseeing boat while it goes from stop to stop. But it goes very fast. A regular sightseeing boat leaves from opposite the ship and the Northside of the car bridge just behind the ship.

The ms Nieuw Statendam docked at the Wilhelminakade on 05 May 2025. Please note the Water taxi in front of the ship. The high rise next to the ship is the Office of the Harbour Master and the Port Authority of the port of Rotterdam. (Photo courtesy: Ernst Lohman. His father was chief engineer with Holland America and he himself Radio Officer)

The ship left at 16.00 hrs. with an impatient Cruise Director urging all guests to go quickly to their muster station for check off, as otherwise the ship could not sail. We have a group (or maybe more than one) from Japan on board who rely on their tour agent for translation and it might have taken him sometime to round those up for check-off.   We were blessed with sunshine while sailing down from the port over the “Nieuwe Waterweg” or New Waterway, dug in 1865-1871 between the sea and the port, a construction which made it possible for the foundation of the Holland America Line. You sail through the largest port in Europe and the 10th largest port in the world.  It used to be the largest port in the world before “Made in China” became popular.

By 1900 hrs. we were back in the North Sea, heading north towards Scotland. Tomorrow will be a quiet day at sea and then we will be at North Queens Ferry on the west side of Edinburgh. Weather is supposed to be sunny, chilly but not too windy during our voyage on the North Sea.