The West Indian Company Ltd. (WICO) welcomed Holland America Line’s (HAL) newest flagship, Rotterdam VII, at the iconic WICO dock on Thursday morning.
The ship is on its inaugural voyage through the Caribbean with stops to St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Half-Moon Cay before returning to Fort Lauderdale.
Rotterdam VII berthed at the WICO dock with 1,870 passengers and 920 crew. As a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation, Holland America Line requires all passengers and crew to be fully vaccinated.
“It is our honor to welcome Rotterdam VII to the USVI and to have the line back at the WICO dock,” said Anthony A. Ottley, WICO president and CEO. “Including St. Thomas as a stop during such a historic deployment is a testament to the importance of the U.S. Virgin Islands as a premiere Caribbean destination.”
Originally named Ryndam, Rotterdam VII was rebranded in honor of the six ships that previously bore the name of the Dutch city where the Holland American Line was headquartered. Coins minted in 1872, the year of Rotterdam‘s maiden voyage, are laid in Rotterdam VII’s decks.
Rotterdam VII is the seventeenth Holland American Line ship built by Italian shipyard Fincantieri, the eleventh in the line’s current fleet, and its third Pinnacle-class ship.
Introduced in 1997, Rotterdam VI was removed from the fleet and sold to an undisclosed buyer in 2020.
