ORLANDO, Fla. — It’s been nearly 20 months since Holland America sailed with passengers from a Florida port. To mark its return from the pandemic shutdown, the cruise line has brought its newest ship to Port Everglades.
The Rotterdam arrived and set out during the first week of November, marking a busy week at the port, which also saw the arrivals of new vessels from Celebrity Cruise and Princess Cruises. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because the line just sold off its older ship with the same name in 2020. That smaller vessel, which came in at just under 62,000 gross tons, debuted in 1997 was sold to the Fred Olsen Cruise Line last year during the COVID-19 shutdown, and now goes by the name Borealis.
The new version of Rotterdam, at just under 100,000 gross tons, is the largest of the Holland America fleet, but still only with a 2,668-guest capacity based on double occupancy. It’s slightly larger than its two sister ships in the Pinnacle Class which also have seen Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam call Port Everglades home when they debuted.
