SS Rotterdam

Our third stay in the fabulous SS Rotterdam, this time 6 days from 29th Dec. Our room was spacious clean and delightfully retro, we had a port hole view of the starbord side which was great. All the staff were very friendly & professional. The food was very good quality for both the Lido & the bar. We had a fabulous upper & lower tour of the ship, starting in engine room (expertly guided by Rodger & Koos) the second stage was the upper decks including the bridge also guided by lovely staff some inc Gerda who worked on the ship in its heyday. We are booking again for March as we have family in the area. My only complaint is the cost of parking at €20 a day

We have not been very impressed with our stay at the SS Rotterdam. Over half of the five rooms we had, did not have a properly working heating system which resulted in the rooms being very cold in December, we did take this issue up with the reception desk, they were very professional but could only do so much, we did have two rooms who got switched with ones that had working heat, however there wasn’t enough rooms for the rest of us who did not have working heating. Along with the rooms being very cold, so was the communal areas throughout the whole ship, specially the restaurant and the bar area. We all ended up getting sick with a cold do to the coldness everywhere, it’s not a normal thing that you need to put thick outdoor clothing on when your in your room, and that’s not what we payed for. Seeing as you use the SS Rotterdam as a Hotel, it would be a great idea to have a menu at the bar in English and it would be great if the menu was the same as the one you have on your website. This was not our experience, as the menu on your website included more items than the menu at the bar. We had booked the Christmas dinner on the 24th of December at the Lido restaurant, which was kinda a disaster. We were asked prior to our stay to inform what and which food we wanted for this Christmas dinner, furthermore we had also informed the restaurant about allergies, and that was messed up big time, the two with the mushroom allergies where the only two who got mushrooms on the starters and this was after asking the staff if they remembered which and what we ordered, we got told that there wasn’t any on the plates we received, however there was… at this time we made sure to inform our waiter that three of the people at our table had a servere allergi towards the goat-cheese on the second dish and to make sure this wasn’t on them- yet again one of us received a soup with the cheese after being told there wasn’t any in (luckily we noticed this before we started eating). This is surely not okey, the professionalism of the staff in the restaurant is lacking, overview is lacking. And to finish of our Christmas dinner, it is really disgusting to see your waiter coming out of the bathroom without washing their hands. Overall you have to look into the service at the restaurant, how to be professional, and the standards of hygiene that is required when serving food. The reception was really nice and helpful throughout the whole stay. So was the team in charge of the tours showing the ship. Which is the only two things we can complement from our stay. And to finish it off the cleaning standards at this ship/hotel is below avenge, and need to be looked at throughout the whole ship. Including checking the working of the mini fridge and showers. Overall not worth the price and in this state not worth recommending.

A unique place to be. A guided tour of the ship should be part of the stay. The big ballroom, the Tropic Bar and many other rooms make the ship a museum showcasing art and interior design from the late Fifties.

While the concept here is good, these cabins need a serious makeover. My mattress felt like the original one from when this ship was in service, and the TV which would not even turn on is required for Wi-Fi. If you are going to run a successful hotel on board, invest the proper money and redo these rooms. As for the restaurant, it was excellent.

I have given a low score for service. It is unfortunate as the good experience of the level of service was outweighed by the lack of service in other areas. At check-in which was not well-staffed at 15:30, a busy time, one would have thought, we arrived at one of the receptionists who said, "I will be right back" and we never saw him again. After ten minutes, we realised that he wasn't coming back. Breakfast was dreadful. The hot food was cold. Coffee was a disaster. Two coffee machines for that number of people is not enough. When one of them needs refilling and the person (we thought in charge) chose to fetch milk/water whilst having simultaneous conversations with other members of staff, it really was the last straw. We had such good experiences in the wine bar and at dinner. Such a pity that on the morning of our departure, it was so let down.

Christmas Dinner – Complete Operational Failure and No Follow-Up We booked the 5:00 pm Christmas Day dinner, the very first service of the evening, and what followed was one of the worst dining experiences we have ever had — especially considering the €194 price tag. Service was completely disorganised from start to finish. Water was requested four times and was never properly served — in fact, we still did not have water when we left, despite spending over €50 on drinks, including a very average bottle of wine. There was no English menu (which is fine) and although the waitress spoke fluent English, she refused to explain the dishes. I had to rely on an online translation tool simply to order. Courses were served in a chaotic and unacceptable order: Starters arrived during the apéritif Soup was brought while we were still eating the starter Main courses arrived before the soup Desserts were served before the mains Staff openly admitted they did not know what had already been served and were simply delivering plates at random. Food quality and presentation were equally poor: Duck rillettes were served without bread Soup arrived in a dirty, spilled bowl, with uneven portions and no bread The venison main course contained an almost nonexistent amount of meat Dessert was of extremely poor quality and largely uneaten To make matters worse, a “free” glass of cava advertised as included was charged separately (€6.50 plus tax). Staff were also unable to identify the dessert they were serving — even after consulting a manager — despite it being a set menu with only one dessert, served repeatedly throughout the day. This alone highlights a serious lack of training and organisation. This was not a festive meal; it was a stressful, chaotic experience that completely ruined our Christmas evening. Update: I sent a formal email to management requesting a refund and a response. After two days, I have received no reply whatsoever. This silence only reinforces the impression that customer satisfaction — even after a disastrous Christmas service — is simply not a priority here. At this price point and for a Christmas service, this level of disorganisation and indifference is simply unacceptable. Not recommended.

I recently visited the ss Rotterdam, and it was a wonderful and memorable experience. The ship is beautifully preserved and offers a fascinating look into its history as a former ocean liner. Walking through the different decks and rooms truly feels like stepping back in time.

A beautifully maintained ocean liner from a bygone era. Now it’s a hotel, museum and restaurant. It’s free to enter and roam around the public areas or visit the cafe and restaurant. However the all area tour requires the purchase of a ticket. There is a small cinema which is free to enter and showing a short video of what travel would have been like on this ship. From the top deck you also have a good view of Rotterdam and the harbour. I recommend to combine this visit with the FENIX migration museum which is in walking distance and gives a broader overview and shows videos of shipping of that era including film material of the SS Rotterdam.

The SS Rotterdam is a huge ship that is stationed in Rotterdam and is now a hotel/tourist destination. We debated staying here for a night or two but decided not to. If you do not stay here then you can dine in, grab a drink, go on one of the tours or try to get out of an escape room. If you do not want to pay for anything then you can explore the free parts of the ship and grab a drink. We did that and I got an Aperol Spritz in the captains lounge.

I arrived a bit late in the day to take advantage of the tour of the S S. Rotterdam, a nicely preserved Holland America cruise ship from the 1950's. I plan to return to Rotterdam next year and will take the full tour. This cruise line celebrates its 150th Anniversary this year as the world's oldest cruise line. They must be doing something right in The Netherlands to have the 150-year legacy of Holland America and the 104-year legacy of KLM, the world's oldest airline. But just to soak up the atmosphere of this era, and be thankful that this piece of important history was preserved is a great feeling. Although I didn't stay at the hotel onboard, I did enjoy a couple of the Espresso Martinis that were being featured. Tourism is grueling. Relax with a nice drink and just slow down.

After I boarded the ship for my10 day cruise, I sat down in the main dining room and ordered a salad, chicken tacos, and a Campari spritzer. In my opinion, the food and the service was certainly lacking, so I never ate another meal in the Main Dining room for the rest of the cruise. After I left the main dining room I was still hungry, so I went up to the Lido Deck 9, where I found a station which had the absolutely best hand-made Mexican food, and had all the extras for either soft or hard shell tacos. In my opinion, the Lido should be your choice of venue for all meals, but especially for lunch. As for dinner, I was extremely happy I joined Club Orange (CO). I never waited at breakfast or dinner there, and the Maitre 'd, Edgar, was the best of the best, in managing this specialty restaurant. If you are like me, and hate second-hand smoke, then you will hate sailing on the Rotterdam. I thought that there was no smoking anywhere inside the ship, but I was wrong, because there was a portion of the casino that permitted smoking. There is a second pool at the back of the ship on deck 9, right outside the Lido dining room, but I would never go out there because of the smoking. One of the other issues I had was the entertainment. I went to see the dancers in the World Stage on the first evening, and for a major show in their only large room on this ship, in my opinion, it was mediocre at best, and would not be worth wasting your time. With regard to the entertainment, it seems the Rotterdam has really cut-back on its entertainment. I mentioned second hand smoke as a serious problem on this ship, but the other problem, which in my opinion I found to be just as horrible, and maybe worse, was the noise level, the Decibels (dB), at 2 of their music venues: The Rolling Stone Rock Room, and BB King's Blue's Club. All the shows playing at these two lounges were extremely loud with decibels that I measured on my Apple Watch at 97 and 98 decibels, and I was not even sitting down inside the venue near the music; I took the readings on the walkway connecting all the music venues. Speaking of loud noises, from my experience the noises from the slamming entry doors, and even the bed-shaking noises from the verandah doors slamming was a regular occurrence. In my opinion, the noise is really startling and very loud. Of the two, the worst is the verandah doors that open and swing outward onto the seating area, so when the ship is moving, the pressure variation between the stateroom and the outside is extreme, plus the wind from the moving ship, forces the balcony door to slam with such a force and intensity, that it literally shook my bed every evening when my neighbors went out onto their verandah. The ship sails every evening, so you can expect any neighbors who go out on their verandah's to have their doors slam closed. Also, the entry doors do not have a pump-type device on the back of the door to control the closing of the entry door, which therefore caused the neighbor's doors to slam every-time they leave or enter their stateroom. If you like the taste of aluminum in your water, you will love the Rotterdam. The company, has switched-over to everything aluminum when it comes to canned-water, at least that is what I believed until my last day onboard. Prior to that time, if I ordered water, I got a very small aluminum can with water, and because I paid for the special drink package, I was able to get these cans without any additional charge. I was very disappointed when I discovered on my last evening onboard that one of the dueling piano entertainers was drinking from a regular plastic bottle of water. I asked him where he got that water bottle, and was told it is provided to the entertainers. It took me 4 days after I returned home to get the aluminum taste out of my mouth, and that was an experience I will never forget. I know one thing for sure, that I got horribly sick from food that was either not cleaned properly and/or served raw at one of the dining venues on the Rotterdam. I was so sick with serious diarrhea, both day AND night, and vomiting one night, that I could not leave the ship for many days. Because my symptoms were so horrible and debilitating, I was planning on possibly having to rent a hotel room upon arrival in Ft. Lauderdale, so I could get better before I tried to safely travel home without having an "accident." Fortunately, the medicine the doctor prescribed for me worked. Let me be clear that I had the worst "stay-near-my-stateroom-experience" for a number of days AND nights, and no amount of monetary credit, the few hundred dollar future cruise credit, can repay me for what I endured. Based on my experiences, I would never recommend anyone I know to sail on the Rotterdam, or any of the other Pinnacle Class ships, based on my personal experiences on the Rotterdam. Fortunately, there are many other well-run cruise lines to choose from.

We stayed here for two nights on our trip to Rotterdam. I thought it would be somewhere different and quirky to stay. The ship has been refurbished and is nicely decorated in the 1950's style of its hayday. We went for the Manhattan styled room which gave us a bit more space. It was clean and tidy. We were able to check into our room early which was very handy. We enquirer about a late check out as we were being collected an hour after check out time and there was a €20 charge for this so we didn't bother and went and chilled out in the lido lounge with free wifi instead. The breakfast was fantastic, a great selection of fruits / breads / pancakes / eggs etc, worth he €54 for two breakfasts for two days. Only minor grumbles are that the tea and coffee was not replenished in the room for the second day and there were only paper cups no mugs to make it in. My second grumble was that I thought there was a swimming pool on the deck of the ship. The pictures were taken cleverly to show the waters reflection and when we went to see it, it was a paddling pool!!! I then re-read the text about it and it said if it is hot you can dip your toes in our pool, so they don't outright say there is a pool but it is implied! We got a water taxi from the ship across the harbour to the euromast which was an exciting way to travel. If you like ships and cool laces to stay then this is highly recommended. Keep in mind that it is a little away from the centre so dearer to get taxis too and is a combined metro and bus trip. We were €300 for the two of us for two nights including breakfast and the 6% city tax. So not the cheapest place to stay but pretty cool.

Certainly not your garden variety multinational chain hotel. But if your looking for a unique authentic lodging experience that is an extraordinarily good value if you choose the standard room I highly recommend. HOWEVER its not an immediately accessible place. So you'd have to consider that. Taxis have to be booked in advance. But there is a free shuttle to the metro and a local Rdam bus that runs regularly giving access to the rest of the world class public transportation system. Food maybe a little high priced but I found the quality excellent and service equal. The surrounding neighborhood is very up & coming and "local" not a tourist hotspot which is ok with me.

Food is very bad...most expensive and low service hotel. The room/cabin is to small.Its so noisy you cant even sleep. Very dirty ship. Crew is very rude. I'd say find another hotel.

Stayed one night. The room itself was unbelievably comfortable. However the food onboard was expensive and subpar. Wouldn't return.