Eurodam launch

Cruise ship Eurodam was given a right royal send-off when she was officially named by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. The magnum of bubbly was right on target, crashing into the ship’s name on the hull – the Holland America Line tradition is for the ‘launcher’ to ring the ship’s brass bell to order the bottle to be released. The ceremony, watched by a 2,500-strong audience of VIPs and passengers who had paid to be at the event at Wilhelminakade, on the River Maas in the centre of Rotterdam. Eurodam is the 14th vessel in Holland America’s fleet, and at 86,700 tons is their biggest ever. Although HAL is part of the American-run Carnival Corporation, the line – formed 135 years ago – maintains its special connection with Rotterdam and the Netherlands.