HRH Princess Margriet names Rotterdam VII in Rotterdam

[Copper10-8]

From the HAL press release

 

Holland America Line's new flagship Rotterdam VII received the royal treatment in a ceremony rich with Dutch heritage on Monday, May 30, 2022, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands served as godmother and officially named the ship in front of invited dignitaries and guests.

 

Upon arrival, Princess Margriet was welcomed at the gangway with a traditional floral bouquet presented by seven-year-old Nora van Dijk, daughter of Nathalie van Dijk, who has been with Holland America Line for 15 years, most recently as a business development representative in sales in the Rotterdam office. During the daytime naming celebration, Carnival Corporation President and CEO Arnold Donald, Holland America Group President Jan Swartz, Rotterdam Captain Werner Timmers, Lord Mayor of Rotterdam Ahmed Aboutaleb and Mariner Ambassadors David and Gisela Gere joined Princess Margriet to officially welcome Rotterdam to the fleet.

 

The Geres were selected as Mariner Ambassadors for Rotterdam to honor Holland America Line's appreciation of its loyal guests who are long-time cruisers. Since first sailing in 1988 aboard Rotterdam V, the Geres have sailed nearly 2,500 days on Holland America Line, including several cruises on Rotterdam VI.

 

Following the ceremony, a gala luncheon was held onboard for invited guests. The festivities continued into the evening with a gala dinner and the opportunity for guests to pour champagne over the ship's bell. The blessing of the ship's bell is a Holland America Line tradition when welcoming a new ship to the fleet. 

 

 

Holland America Line's connection to The House of Orange goes back nearly a century to Prince Hendrik launching Statendam III in 1929. Since then, members of the Dutch Royal Family have launched 11 more Holland America Line vessels throughout the years, including Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet who named Prinsendam (1972), Nieuw Amsterdam II (1983), Rotterdam VI (1997) and Oosterdam (2003).

 

Additional members of the Dutch Royal Family who are godmothers include Queen Máxima, who named Koningsdam in 2016 and Nieuw Amsterdam in 2010. Then-Queen Beatrix served as Eurodam's godmother in 2008. Rotterdam V was launched in 1958 by Queen Juliana. Then-Princess Beatrix named Statendam IV in 1957 and Prinses Margriet in 1960. Nieuw Amsterdam II was launched by Queen Wilhelmina in 1937.

 

As a side note; there is a Canadian connection with Princess Margriet

 

 

In 1940, the Dutch royal family went into exile when the Netherlands was occupied by *** Germany, and went to live in Canada. Margriet was born in Ottawa Civic Hospital, Ontario. The maternity ward of the hospital was temporarily declared to be extraterritorial by the Canadian government. This ensured that the newborn would not be born in Canada, and not be a British subject under the rule of 'jus soli'. Instead the child would only inherit Dutch citizenship from her mother under the principle of 'jus sanguinis', which is followed in Dutch nationality law. Thus the child would be eligible to succeed to the throne of the Netherlands. This would have applied if the child had been male, and therefore heir apparent to Juliana, or if her two older sisters died without eligible children. Margriet's older sister Beatrix wound up succeeding Juliana as Queen of the Netherlands.

 

It is a common misconception that the Canadian government declared the maternity ward to be Dutch territory. That was not necessary, as Canada follows jus soli, while the Netherlands follows jus sanguinis. It was sufficient for Canada to disclaim the territory temporarily.

 

Princess Margriet was named after the marguerite, the flower worn during the war as a symbol of the resistance to the German occupiers. She was christened at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Ottawa, on June 29, 1943. Her godparents included US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Queen Mary (Queen dowager of the United Kingdom), Martha, Crown Princess of Norway, and Martine Roell, lady-in-waiting to Princess Juliana in Canada

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by Copper10-8

[oakridger]

Very nice!  Thank you for sharing, John.

 

~Nancy

[Copper10-8]

One more

 

[ski ww]

Thanks for posting.

[Caribbean Chris]

Very nice to read the background. Thank you so much!

[puppycanducruise]

Thank you!

[Sir PMP]

Nice new hotel for Carnival.

[Himself]

Thanks for the information, friend John

[LAFFNVEGAS]

It looks like it was a lovely ceremony and that they did it up nicely having guest on board also watch in the Lido Pool area screen.

It was unfortunate that Gus Antorcha was not in attendance, but just like what can happen to passengers I heard he tested positive for Covid prior so was unable to attend. Which goes to show anyone can test positive at any time.

[rkacruiser]

Thank you for posting this.

 

My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail.  Again.

 

18 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Princess Margriet was welcomed at the gangway with a traditional floral bouquet presented by seven-year-old Nora van Dijk, daughter of Nathalie van Dijk, who has been with Holland America Line for 15 years, most recently as a business development representative in sales in the Rotterdam office.

 

Could she be a descendant of Captain van Dijk?  If so, the Captain was once the Master of Rotterdam V.  

[Copper10-8]

17 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

Thank you for posting this.

 

My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail.  Again.

 

 

Could she be a descendant of Captain van Dijk?  If so, the Captain was once the Master of Rotterdam V.  

 

Are you referring to former HAL Captain Jacob Dijk or former HAL Captain Arie van Dijk? 

 

It's always possible that little Nora van Dijk's "opa" was a HAL captain in the late fifties and sixties however, one would think a connection like that would be mentioned in the press release, besides her mum being a 15-year HAL sales employee in the Rotterdam office. Also, the "van Dijk" name is a pretty common name in the Netherlands but it's  cool theory! 😉 

 

 

[RD64]

….and do not forget the M/V Prinses Margriet from the 1960’s.

[Copper10-8]

47 minutes ago, RD64 said:

….and do not forget the M/V Prinses Margriet from the 1960’s.

 

Yep; she's in the press release:

 

".........Then-Princess Beatrix named Statendam IV in 1957 and Prinses Margriet in 1960. Nieuw Amsterdam II was launched by Queen Wilhelmina in 1937"

 

Former Queen Beatrix, the current King's mum, was her godmother as Princess Beatrix

[FlaMariner]

Very classy.....as it should be....(so much better than Oprah christening the Nieuw Statendam)

 

Christening the Rotterdam in Rotterdam with Dutch Royalty......Perfect. 

 

We so enjoyed her maiden voyage in October and hope to sail on her again.......

[sailingdutchy]

@Copper10-8 Thanks a lot for posting this very informative and well put together post John , very much appreciated . We were suppose to be on the maiden voyage about a couple of years ago now when Covid broke out and the date and itinerary was changed a couple of times and than completely cancelled . 

 

Now we hope to finally get on her in April of 2023 crossing the Atlantic to Amsterdam your place of birth. This should also be a very special cruise because on April 18th 2023 Holland America will be celebrating its 150th anniversary and we will have a couple of personal celebrations , one of them also on April 18th ..........

 

 

[Copper10-8]

13 minutes ago, sailingdutchy said:

@Copper10-8 Thanks a lot for posting this very informative and well put together post John , very much appreciated . We were suppose to be on the maiden voyage about a couple of years ago now when Covid broke out and the date and itinerary was changed a couple of times and than completely cancelled . 

 

Now we hope to finally get on her in April of 2023 crossing the Atlantic to Amsterdam your place of birth. This should also be a very special cruise because on April 18th 2023 Holland America will be celebrating its 150th anniversary and we will have a couple of personal celebrations , one of them also on April 18th ..........

 

 

 

Sounds like a good time, Tony! Here's hoping it comes to fruition without any more hiccups! 

 

I remember the first time sailing into my old city after immigrating to the States and hearing the early morning sounds and experiencing the sights of that great city. Actually got emotional experiencing that, tough former Marine and cop! go figure! 😉    

[kathy49]

On 5/31/2022 at 12:29 PM, LAFFNVEGAS said:

It looks like it was a lovely ceremony and that they did it up nicely having guest on board also watch in the Lido Pool area screen.

It was unfortunate that Gus Antorcha was not in attendance, but just like what can happen to passengers I heard he tested positive for Covid prior so was unable to attend. Which goes to show anyone can test positive at any time.

i think there were quite a few testing ++ on this cruise

[rkacruiser]

22 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Are you referring to former HAL Captain Jacob Dijk

 

This is the gentleman to whom I referenced.  

[Copper10-8]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

This is the gentleman to whom I referenced.  

 

Then the little flower girl is no relation! She (her last name) is a "van" Dijk. Captain Dijk (see pic with mike in hand) does not have a "van" in front of his 😉