The fifth SS Rotterdam was launched by Queen Juliana of the Netherlands in a gala ceremony on 13 September 1958, and was completed the following summer. Rotterdam was the last great Dutch “ship of state”, employing the finest artisans from the Netherlands in her construction and fitting out process.
Due to the growing popularity of air travel, an increasing number of transatlantic liners began to disappear from service. This trend led to the Rotterdam’s permanent retirement from transatlantic service in 1969. Subsequently, she received a small refit for permanent cruising and began her new life as a full time cruise ship.
She became increasingly popular throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, with mostly American and Australian passengers. Another refit in 1977 saw her passenger capacity decreased and by the 1980s the ship had settled into a routine of winters in the Caribbean and summers in Alaska, with the occasional (and very popular) world cruise.
