Amsterdam - design of cruise ship owned by Holland America

Cruise Travel, March, 2001 by Laurence Miller

Holland America Line's Latest Vessel Is Designed To Cruise The Globe

The Amsterdam is both different from and similar to other Holland America ships built since the Statendam entered service in 1993. While the similarities would be first to greet the eye of the casual visitor, the contrasts make the Amsterdam, like her near-sister Rotterdam, a very different vessel.

The differences are aspects designed to suit the 1,380-passenger Amsterdam for long, often globe-spanning cruises. Global sailings cater to the carriage trade, the line's wealthiest and most demanding clientele. Of course, the Amsterdam is often available for more typical sailings closer to home, another feature of her schedule.

Externally, the hull of the 61,000-gross-register-ton Amsterdam is quite similar to those of the recent Rotterdam, Volendam, and Zaandam, except for its modified transom (flat) stern designed to accommodate innovative Azipod propulsion. The vessel's twin funnels deliberately evoke the former Rotterdam of 1959 (not to be confused with the 1997 ship of the same name). Most staterooms and public rooms--such as the Ocean Bar, Crow's Nest, and Explorer's Lounge--are identical in size and arrangement to her recent fleetmates, and feature designer Frans Dingemans's contemporary style with antiques, modern surroundings, and increasingly lively textures and colors.

But the differences are just as notable. Instead of just one Penthouse Suite, the Amsterdam has two. There are 50 suites, instead of 28, in place of 48 mini-suites. Though the size of many public rooms is identical, 60 fewer passengers share them.

Below decks, sufficient engine power has been provided for a top cruising speed of 24.5 knots, compared with the 23 knots of the Volendam and Zaandam, though the Amsterdam will usually sail at a more leisurely 21 knots. Her top speed is second in the fleet only to the 25 knots of the Rotterdam, but she achieves it with 66,520 horsepower instead of 78,520.

The reason for some of the differences are obvious. Many passengers on longer cruises are more concerned with getting the best than with cost, causing a number of these trips to book from the top down--the most expensive accommodations going first. In fact the ship offers a special public room for suite passengers--the intimate Neptune Lounge. It's paneled with the kind of wooden floor grates typical of a ship's open bridge, and the effect is warm and appealing. The space is the headquarters for concierge service provided to guests in the ship's most deluxe accommodations.

A slightly higher turn of speed can shrink long ocean passages, and ensure on-time arrivals in exotic ports. Passengers visiting Bali, for instance, may not get a chance to visit the island again; they want all of the port time indicated in the schedule. Higher speed also makes possible more varied port combinations. Except for rare fringe-season cruises, the Amsterdam sails on itineraries of 10 days or more--in the Mediterranean, through the Panama Canal, and starting next year, on an annual World Cruise.

Underwater, the ship is the first in the Holland America fleet to use podded propulsion, in this case Azipod. These are projections with pods beneath the ship's stern containing electric motors and propellers that can rotate 360 degrees. Advantages include savings in fuel and interior space as well as better maneuverability.

No need to change many of the standard amenities. Aside from the general similarity in size and layout of public rooms, standard staterooms are quite similar to those aboard the Volendam, Zaandam, and Rotterdam. The average cabin size aboard the Amsterdam is 197 square feet for a standard outside stateroom and 182 for the more modest inside units, which provide shower without tub. Four-fifths of the cabins are outside, and of these, one-fourth have private balconies. Both hanging and storage space are generous by contemporary cruise-ship standards.

It should come as no surprise that the Amsterdam offers the best onboard cruise setting that Holland America can provide. Furnishings are even more striking and the materials used, as on the Rotterdam, are somewhat more opulent than in the rest of the fleet. The line was sufficiently pleased with the result of this extra investment that it announced, on one of the Amsterdam's pre-inaugurals, that the ship's decorative standards will prevail in HAL's new Vista Class ships (the 84,000-grt/1,800-passenger Vistas will enter service at nine-month intervals starting in October 2002).

A feature of all the line's new ships is that public rooms and main passageways combine openness with intimacy. Aside from the La Fontaine Dining Room and the Queen's Lounge, public rooms are of the intimate dimensions of the type most passengers prefer. The baronial public rooms in the style of the great trans-Atlantic liners, when attempts have been made to reproduce them on modern cruise ships, stand empty most of the time. Aboard the Amsterdam, whether you want to read a book, have a drink, people-watch, or take in a movie, you will find intimate and comfortable areas to do so.