On July 12, 1960, I sailed on the SS Rotterdam from Rotterdam to New York with my mom. I was 14 years old. It was for only a summer visit to my dad in America. I emigrated later, in 1968. Yesterday, July 2, 2016, I sailed on the MS Rotterdam from Rotterdam to Boston— from the city where I was born and raised, to the city where I have spent my adult life so far.
Holland America Line has had several generations of ships called the Rotterdam. But the one I sailed on in 1960 was revolutionary for its time. After Holland America sold it, the old SS Rotterdam sailed under a different name for a time: the Rembrandt. When she was finally about to be scrapped, she was rescued, restored, and turned into a museum, tourist attraction, and hotel. She is now permanently docked in the city of Rotterdam, not far from our cruise terminal.
When we sailed on the new MS Rotterdam, we passed right by the old SS Rotterdam. Our cruise ship greeted the old ship with three very loud blasts of its horn. To my surprise, the old SS Rotterdam responded with its ship’s horn, and the two, almost playfully, went back and forth for a while, our ship even producing two-tone sounds somehow.
I found this very moving. As if I (the new ship) was saying good-bye to my old country and to my youth, and my youth (the old ship) inexplicably responding.