At the 30th of january 2010 I was able to see the great Rotterdam just a few days before she was opened to the public. Not all spaces on board were ready, but these pictures below give a good indication about the way she is restored. Sadly, it was not possible to take a look in the engine room, because that day around 1400 people were on board and it was not considered to be possible to show the engineroom to this many people...

Sadly, not really sharp, but this picture gives an idea of the theater, not rebuilt as it was in the early 1960's, because the traditional planning of the seats would cover the whole floor. In 1959, this was the largest sea-going theater in the world and the largest theater that had ever been placed on a ship in history.

The Ambassador Room, largely rebuilt as it was in the original design. All furniture is also original of 1959. The big star on the floor was the dancefloor, designed by Han van Tienhoven, as the whole room was. Van Tienhoven used the star in several rooms on board he designed.

The bridge as it looks today. All instrumentation is original.

The Sky Room with the oilpainting "Zonneschip" (solar-ship) designed by Willem Akkermans.

Originally called the Ritz Carlton, but now named the Grand Ballroom because Ritz did not want their name to be used. It is one of the most stunning spaces onboard the ship, with an elegant staircase that leads to the balcony. In the railings of the staircase and the balcony, little fishes are seen that are brought together in a net above by a monster down the stairs. In her transatlantic years, this room was reserved for first class passengers and all furniture seen today in this room is still original. Also, the decorations are only restored to their former glory, but still original. The big wallpainting, covering half of the walls in the room, was created by Cuno van den Steene. He made this in his own home, but because his workplace at the first floor was too small for the panels, he took out part of the ceiling of his livingroom and created the pieces downstairs. 

The cealing of the lounge itself is representing the oceans surface as seen from below. Probably, fish will see the oceans surface in the same manner as we see the ceiling of the lounge. At least, that was the idea. The clock, pictured above, was created by Leo Brom.

The bronze sculpture made by Everdine Schuurman-Henny for the smoking room.

Thye first class dining room, another original room on board. Now, it is mostly not included in the tours aboard because it is one of the rooms that is mostly reserved for private parties. When it is, it is very unlikely that the former dining room is looking like the picture above.

The glass enclosed promenade, a feature that was very popular onboard transatlantic liners, because the passengers could still be on deck with heavy seas on the North Atlantic. These promenades became installed on most ships after the disaster with Titanic in 1912.

The inside swimming pool, not really ready to open on the day I visited Rotterdam...

The anchorchains on the forward deck. 

The Rotterdam motto in the lobby: 'Sterker door strijd'