I was recently given the gift of a visit and overnight stay on the SS Rotterdam, and was delighted to take this up. I had not been on the ship since Westcord Hotels took over the management of the entire operation, and I was looking forward to comparing with my previous visits.
Arriving at the bus stop right by the ship, I had the familiar feeling of overwhelming delight and excitement, and I had to stop and take a photo of her, lying in port as though only waiting to sail away.
Even the radar on the mast was turning!
I had deliberately arrived early, so I left my baggage at reception and made my way to the Lido restaurant for a light lunch, which turned out to be delicious.
I have a feeling that the upgrade fairy was at work, as I got this lovely cabin, which in addition to what is shown in the photo contained a little annex with a desk and some coffee making equipment, and a bathroom. There are inside cabins a fair bit smaller than this, and that is probably what my choice of the lowest price should have given me.
I had registered for two tours -- the first of the decks and public rooms (to be taken on the first afternoon), the second of the engine room (booked for the following morning). For both tours, I was given an audio guide, set to talk to me in English, and sent off to follow the route, which was clearly signposted.
The great innovation of the first tour was that there were volunteers stationed in strategic places, and if there were no functions going on, these volunteers were authorised to take the visitors into the spaces that could be visited. The tour was supposed to be finished at 5 pm, presumably so that any functions and events could take place after that time, but visitors would have the chance to look around before then. It worked really well!
I was guided by a lady who clearly loved the ship and knew it very well, into all the public rooms on the Upper Promenade Deck, with plenty of time to have a good look around, take as many photographs as I wished, and ask any questions.
Then, it was back to the audio tour, which took me around all the decks in the biting cold (I very much regretted not having brought a coat and hat) and all the way up to the Bridge and the Wheelhouse, where two volunteers were ready to explain and answer my questions. I was too ignorant to ask very much, but content to take a look at these hallowed realms. Various cabins for the Captain and senior officers were located in this area, with the contents looking much as they probably did when the ship stopped sailing (perfectly tidy and with the bed made, and all the equipment looking very old-fashioned to us now).
It was getting late and was already past 5 pm, so I was asked to finish the rest of the tour a bit faster.
At this stage, however, I met a very kind security man, who asked me what I had already seen and checked with me what I had not. Much of what I had not seen, I had never seen, and so I was very happy to take up the offer of another personal guided tour. The high point of this (literally as well as figuratively) was climbing a back stairs all the way to a central elevation on the ship, located between the double funnels and the mast, from which one could look across the whole of the ship and also get an excellent view of the city of Rotterdam itself. He told me that this was a favourite spot for watching the fireworks at New Year!
The most amazing thing he showed me though was a door in a hotel corridor, which looked like any other cabin door, but behind which was the rest of the swimming pool on the Lido Deck, the part which had been cut off as a result of the swimming pool being converted to a paddling pool. Here it is :
Now used as a storage space and housing some machinery, this is the bottom of the outdoor swimming pool which the passengers of the liner used to enjoy.
I shall continue the story tomorrow. However, here already is the entire album in Flickr, with the latest photos at the top and the earlier photos as you go down.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/prondis_in_kenya/sets/72157623546400484On my computer, the first three pages of this album contain photos of the present visit, with the last photo at the top of page 1 and the first photo at the bottom of page 3. The other pages are of previous visits, under the pre-Westcord management.
