BATH FOUNTAIN HOTEL AND SPA JAMAICA

Cruise ship SS Rotterdam in the late afternoon sun.

The fifth SS Rotterdam, known as "The Grande Dame", was launched by Queen Juliana in a gala ceremony on 13 September 1958, and completed the following summer. The Rotterdam was the last great Dutch "ship of state", employing the finest artisans from the Netherlands in her construction and fitting out process.[1] With a career spanning forty years, she was also one of the most successful passenger ships of all time. She sailed from 1959 until her final retirement in the fall of 2000.

Originally she was conceived as running mate to the popular Nieuw Amsterdam launched in 1937, but work was put on hold at the outbreak of World War II in Europe. When economic conditions once again became favorable for completion of the new ship in early 1954, the beginning of the end of ocean liners as basic transport was visible on the horizon. The designers took this in mind and created a groundbreaking vessel, a two class, horizontally divided ship with movable partitions and a unique double staircase allowing for easy conversion to cruising. Rotterdam's machinery was shifted aft, to the now-traditional two thirds aft position, and in lieu of a funnel twin uptake pipes were fitted. To provide balance, a large deckhouse was built atop the superstructure in the midships position of a typical funnel. While very controversial at the time, Rotterdam's appearance became groundbreaking, and her unique design features can be found on cruise ships today.

After years of laying idle, a new destination was found for the former SS Rotterdam as a hotel and tourist attraction in her old home port of Rotterdam. She was restored in Poland and Wilhelmshaven, Germany and on August 4, 2008 returned to the city of Rotterdam. She opened to the public on February 15, 2010 as a combination museum/hotel.

From 1873 untill the 1970’s Rotterdam’s Wilhelminakade was the thriving hub of the Holland America Line (HAL). steamships whose names were familiar to all, such as the ‘rotterdam’, the ‘Nieuw Amsterdam’ and the ‘Statendam’, carried hundreds of thousands of passengers from Rotterdam to New York. at the time the company headquarters were situated at the site of the present hotel new york, and the current Cruise Terminal Rotterdam (architects Bakema en Van de Broek) was the passenger terminal for both arrivals and departures. shortly after 1970, Rotterdam was no longer a port for the passenger trade. However, nowadays Rotterdam is proud to receive cruise ships again.

Rotterdam (Wilhelminakade) houses several of the tallest structures in the Netherlands, in this photo the following structures can be seen: The Erasmus Bridge (Erasmusbrug) is a 790-meter (2,600 ft) cable stayed bridge linking the north and south of Rotterdam. It is held up by a 138 meters (453 ft) tall pylon with a characteristic bend, earning the bridge its nickname 'De Zwaan' ('the Swan'). Rotterdam has the tallest residential building in the Netherlands: the New Orleans Tower (158.35 metres (519.5 ft)). In this photo it's the building is situated in the middle. Rotterdam is also home to the tallest office building 'Maastoren' (164.75 m (540.5 ft)) which houses Deloitte (first building at left side).