SS Rotterdam

[Port out]

Wondered if anyone has paid a visit to the SS Rotterdam while in the city of Rotterdam, apparently she is quite close to the cruise terminal. Interested to know if you can just walk on as it is now a hotel or, need to prebook online. Visiting on the 17th November on Aurora.

[Balaena]

Doing this cruise as well and would be interested visiting the old SS Rotterdam, last time I went on her was September '59 as a walk-on in Southampton during her maiden voyage. Would find it very interesting if anyone has made the visit in recent times. Oh! I was 16 at the time😃

[Dutch_Travelgirl]

The SS Rotterdam has indeed been converted to a hotel. Just like any other hotel you can enter it, but you can’t freely roam around the place. So if you just want to be on the ship, you can enter via the entrance and take a look at the lobby area of the ship/hotel. If you want to explore the ship/hotel, you need to book a tour; https://ssrotterdam.com/discover/tours/

Edited November 7, 2019 by Dutch_Travelgirl

[princeton123211]

On 11/7/2019 at 1:10 AM, Dutch_Travelgirl said:

Just like any other hotel you can enter it, but you can’t freely roam around the place. So if you just want to be on the ship, you can enter via the entrance and take a look at the lobby area of the ship/hotel. If you want to explore the ship/hotel, you need to book a tour; https://ssrotterdam.com/discover/tours/

Yes and no-- while a tour will definitely help get you to places that are roped off, you can see quite a bit of the first class public rooms without purchasing any tours and just poking around on your own. The tours are more necessary to see the engine spaces, indoor pool (which was not fully restored when I was there last year), bridge, forward deck spaces, and the forward enclosed promenade and the two former main dining rooms. 

 

You can easily walk into the Ambassador Lounge, Queens Room, Ritz-Carlton, Tropic Bar, etc without purchasing a tour. Should  you technically be there without buying a tour? Who knows. But no one stopped me when I was there. 

 

The Ocean Bar, Lido, former casino, and staircase areas are all fully public. If you are a ship geek you will want to take the tour to see everything. If you are casually admiring, you'll be able to see enough without the tour and maybe buying a drink and poking around a bit. 

 

On 11/5/2019 at 12:46 PM, Balaena said:

Doing this cruise as well and would be interested visiting the old SS Rotterdam, last time I went on her was September '59 as a walk-on in Southampton during her maiden voyage. Would find it very interesting if anyone has made the visit in recent times. Oh! I was 16 at the time😃

She will look very familiar down to some of the furniture. The cabins themselves they ripped out and enlarged, but used architectural historic pieces to put them back together. They feel the part but you can tell that they are not the real thing. The cabin bathrooms are the most glaring thing that tells you it isn't original. Otherwise the ships major public rooms are fully intact.