The following excerpt is by Stephen Payne from his book,GRANDE DAME: Holland America Line and the S.S. Rotterdam. He writes:

As soon as the NIEUW AMSTERDAM (1906) entered service another vessel was ordered from Harland's (and Wolff), but this ship was significantly different from those that had gone before.The keel of the new ship was laid down on November 6, 1906, and she was launched on March 2, 1980 as the ROTTERDAM, the fourth to bear the name. The liner sailed on her maiden voyage on June 13, 1908, from ROTTERDAM and arrived in New York nine days later on June 22.

The tonnage of the ROTTERDAM was 24,149 grt, a substantial leap from the NIEUW AMSTERDAM's 17,000 grt. Externally the ship also broke new ground in being fitted with two funnels and two widely spaced masts. A true Edwardian superliner, the ROTTERDAM may not have been a speed queen like the Cunard Line's LUSITANIA or MAURETANIA, but she did offer superlative First and Second Class accommodations which were always well maintained and which earned her the title of "Queen of the Spotless Fleet". 520 First Class passengers and 555 Second Class passengers were accommodated and Steerage was increased to 2,500. A novel feature of the ROTTERDAM was her partially enclosed promenade. The majority of the deck was glazed with large rectangular windows, the first time that this had been done on a ship. Although considered foolhardy by some other owners who thought the ferocious North Atlantic would smash the windows, the enclosed promenades were a great success and the promenade deck of the NIEUW AMSTERDAM was similarly endowed. The majority of liners built since the ROTTERDAM have had enclosed promenades for passenger convenience and weather protection thus benefiting from her innovation. The promenade deck area itself was vast at 12,000 square feet and was much larger than that of any other Atlantic liner in 1908.

Passenger cabin accommodation provided larger than normal cabins and wide corridors connected them to stair wells. Twelve special suites were located on Promenade Deck and of the one hundred First Class cabins fitted with private baths ( an unusually high number for the time), some fifty four of these were single birth cabins. The remainder of the cabins were served in the traditional manner with bath, toilet and washrooms located "down the hall". The accommodation was made even more attractive by the provision of adequate ventilation. In this respect twenty two electric fans extracted foul air and replaced it with fresh. Quadruple expansion engines of 15,000 i.h.p. gave the ship a speed of 17 knots. An account from the period particularly notes the lack of vibration felt throughout the ship, which was unusual for medium/high powered steamers of that time, and she also became renowned for her steadiness at sea.