The most beautiful ship in Europe is one you can’t cruise on

The most beautiful ship in Europe is one you’ve never heard of, and she won’t set sail again anytime soon. One of the last steamships ever built for transatlantic crossings to the Americas, the SS Rotterdam arrived fashionably late in 1959, just as the sun was setting on the golden age of transatlantic travel.

The SS Rotterdam is the former flagship of the Holland America Line.

In contrast to today’s cruise ships, which bloat across the seas like overweight skyscrapers, the SS Rotterdam was built during a different era of design. The flagship vessel of the Holland America Line, she had an elongated high bow and a gorgeous rounded stern. Her streamlined silhouette and graceful lines earned her the nickname La Grande Dame.

Dialling back time in the SS Rotterdam’s engine room.Credit: Alamy

Her days crossing the Atlantic ended in the early ’70s, and she spent decades as a cruise ship until 2000, when her then-owner, the now-defunct Premier Cruises, went bust. She was set to be scrapped in the Caribbean until a loyal group of holidaymakers, former staff, and shipbuilders banded together to rescue her. Today, the SS Rotterdam is permanently moored in the city of Rotterdam, earning her keep as a fully operational hotel under the WestCord brand.

Deckside swimming pool.

Loved by locals and a pilgrimage point for cruise aficionados, the resurgence of interest in mid-century modern design has seen the SS Rotterdam’s profile grow. We’ve opted to stay in an internal family room for a night: the kids are in it for the novelty, I’m a diehard lover of design, and my husband is happy to sit on the lido deck in the sunshine.

Stepping aboard feels like walking onto the set of Mad Men – if Don Draper had gone cruising. The ship is a time capsule of mid-century modern art, sculpture, murals, and furniture, much of it painstakingly salvaged, restored, or replicated. In our room, mid-century elements like woven wallpaper, wood-panelled walls, and sleek bunk beds complement a comfortable queen bed and (thankfully) a modern bathroom.

Designer beauty ... the rounded stern of the SS Rotterdam.

While the cabin areas are only open to overnight guests, much of the ship is open to the public or accessible on a tour, with art exhibitions, restaurants, and even an escape-room experience. Although audio tours are available in English, the guided tours provide the best insight into her glory days. We opt for the steam and chrome tour, which takes visitors into the heart of the ship – the engine room.

The tour begins near the ship’s interior swimming pool and leads us down a network of metal stairs deep into the engine room, once known as the “grease pit”. We pass massive stabilisers, steam boilers, giant water purifiers and low-hanging pipes. Our guide, a retired engineer, explains the ship’s escape speed, a top-secret feature that allowed her to be retrofitted as a troop transport if needed.

“There was one sea trial to test it,” our guide recalls, “but it was cut short after hitting 30 knots – it was too dangerous to push further.”

Rescued from the scrapheap, the ship is now a fully operational hotel.

A standout feature of the SS Rotterdam is the dedication of volunteers who bring the ship’s history to life. Many are former crew members, enthusiasts who helped save her or were part of the meticulous five-year restoration project and will talk your ear off with stories from their time aboard: from pointing out the small light the head electrician installed for the Queen Juliana to do her cross-stitch, to explaining the intricate stained glass between the ship’s double staircase, which allowed passengers to glimpse the shadows of other classes without interacting.

Of all her public spaces, nothing compares to the two-level grand ballroom at the stern. The level of detail is incredible: a bronze dance floor features intricate swirling patterns, designed to mimic the currents on the ocean floor, while the ceiling is filled with coloured tubes that, from a distance, look like bubbles rising from the depths. A wrought-iron sea monster curls into the staircase where fishing net runs up the railings, complete with escaped fish dotted on the upper mezzanine posts.

If you close your eyes, it’s easy to hear the big band playing on stage and imagine the anticipation and celebration here as the ship crossed the Atlantic, a time when travel was slower, the journey was as important as the destination, and things could be beautiful simply for the sake of it.

THE DETAILS

VISIT
The SS Rotterdam is moored in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Entry is free; guided and audio tours from €12.95 ($22); special monthly art and engineering tours available.

FLY
Singapore Airlines operates daily flights to Amsterdam from Australia. See singaporeair.com

STAY
The SS Rotterdam has 254 four-star rated cabin-rooms. Single rooms start at €90 ($155); family rooms from €141 ($242).

MORE
ssrotterdam.com

The writer stayed as a guest of WestCord hotels.