Rotterdam, The Netherlands, will be the first port of call for Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Epic as she sets sail on her maiden voyage in June. The port will also be welcoming Saga Shipping and Oceania Cruises for the first time this year and already has Holland America Line’s Rotterdam booked in to homeport in 2011, says Mai Elmar, executive director Cruise Port Rotterdam.
The port is expecting 16 calls in 2010. In 2009 it had 18 calls and 49,500 passengers, the latter showing a significant increase on 27,000 (14 calls) in 2008.
To reach the port, ships sail about two hours from the North Sea to the Cruise Terminal Rotterdam at the 698m Holland America quay in the city centre. Ships can turn around in front of the terminal at Rijnhaven (turning circle about 260m) or at Waalhaven (about 360m). Depth at the quay is 12m.
The terminal can handle 3,000 passengers at one time and is reached by a covered boarding bridge from the ship. From the berth it is just 2km by hosted shuttle bus to the city centre.Rotterdam airport is 20 minutes by car and Schiphol Airport Amsterdam is just one hour by car or 40 minutes by train.
Rotterdam has initiated a number of ‘green initiatives’ and is number 13 on the European Green City index. Its goal is to reduce CO2 by 50% from 1990 to 2025.
Ports in the vicinity include Amsterdam (37 nm), Antwerp (121nm), Hamburg (307nm), Le Havre (245 nm) and Southampton (256nm).
