SS Rotterdam

We have changed ships, but things did not go as planned.

We were originally going to hop off the HA Rotterdam and hop onto the HA Oosterdam in Trieste. As usual, we took a covid test before the end of our cruise.

This time, however, guess who tested positive? Me!

Since the trip was nearly over, they let Larry and I quarantine together in our stateroom. They brought us food and when the time came, they escorted us off the ship before anyone else.

They even gave me free internet so I could find a place for us to quarantine in Rotterdam. I thought there would be a list of “quarantine hotels,” but there is not.

I finally found us the perfect place: the SS Rotterdam aka the Rotterdam 5. It was built in 1958, and after many cruises as part of Holland America’s fleet it has been transformed into a hotel, restaurant, event center, museum, and even houses an escape room.

No one wears masks in Rotterdam, so we get strange looks, but whatever. (Locals even rioted over mask mandates here last November!)

But we’ve spent the last several days here in a stateroom that’s much bigger than the one we had on the Rotterdam 7, which is the ship we were just sailing on.

As you can see from my pics, the Rotterdam 5 has been lovingly maintained in all its mid-century glory.

We took a self-guided tour through the whole ship, even down to the engine rooms, where I was surprised to see that the Rot 5 had stabilizers. (It was one of the first ships to have them.)

I was also surprised to see that there are no balcony rooms. Guess those became a thing later.

Our room includes a wonderful breakfast in the Lido deck. We sit outside in the fresh air. We’ve been eating dinner there, as well.

I know it’s silly, but I couldn’t help but feel guilty for catching covid. Luckily, I only ever had the barest of symptoms, which is why the positive test result was such a surprise.

When I admitted to Larry that I was feeling guilty, he just laughed and said we are just on an alternative adventure now and that we will have fun making lemonade from this turn of events.Read more