What does DAM mean?

I meant to ask someone on our Oosterdam cruise but became "overcome" with just being on another "DAM" ship and forgot.:D Surely someone on here knows the answer to "What does "dam" mean at the end of the names of HAL's ships and most of Hollands cities?

Richard

Hello and good morning from the Bluegrass State!

I found an online Dutch to English Dictionary and it said Dam: is King, Queen, Dam, and or Dame.

Paul

I thought "DAM" meant square as in center of town.

GN

Dam in this case was once a dam in a river.

In the old days the one of the best places to start trading with people and ships passing by.

Amsterdam= a dam in river Amstel.

Rotterdam=dam in river Rotte.

Zaandam= dam in river Zaan.

Rijndam= dam in river rijn. (Rhine)

Volendam and Veendam are existing cities in NL, but I doubt if there was a dam in a river.

Volendam (not that far from Amsterdam) is famous as a fisherman's village at IJsselmeer (ex Zuiderzee) and older people still wear old dutch costumes.

(Pictures can be taken in photoshops of you in such a costume).

Oosterdam/westerdam/zuiderdam/noordam are fantasy names,

Oost = east, west = west, zuid = south = noord = north.

so they refer to the winddirections and give the "dam" since HAL ships carry that name.

(Although Noordam should be noorddam as north is noord in dutch).

Ine,

Hi, thanks for the info. My question is in some cases doesn't dam indicate the name of a village because as you said, in some cases it doesn't mean the presence of a dam in a river.

BTW, I love reading your posts.

GN

Hi Ine,:) WHen I saw this post I though of you right away. I knew you could answer this but then if you were not available John could answer also;)

Hope you and Ton are doing well:)

I meant to ask someone on our Oosterdam cruise but became "overcome" with just being on another "DAM" ship and forgot.:D Surely someone on here knows the answer to "What does "dam" mean at the end of the names of HAL's ships and most of Hollands cities?

 

Richard

I thought it was what you said when the airline loses your luggage and the ships sails with your luggage in Chicago! :D

Dam in this case was once a dam in a river.

In the old days the one of the best places to start trading with people and ships passing by.

 

Amsterdam= a dam in river Amstel.

Rotterdam=dam in river Rotte.

Zaandam= dam in river Zaan.

Rijndam= dam in river rijn. (Rhine)

Volendam and Veendam are existing cities in NL, but I doubt if there was a dam in a river.

Volendam (not that far from Amsterdam) is famous as a fisherman's village at IJsselmeer (ex Zuiderzee) and older people still wear old dutch costumes.

(Pictures can be taken in photoshops of you in such a costume).

 

Oosterdam/westerdam/zuiderdam/noordam are fantasy names,

Oost = east, west = west, zuid = south = noord = north.

so they refer to the winddirections and give the "dam" since HAL ships carry that name.

(Although Noordam should be noorddam as north is noord in dutch).

Goeie middag Ine, hoe gaat het er mee? (Good afternoon Ine, how are you doing?)

A few more;)

Prinsendam - refers to the Princes of Orange (the Dutch royal family) -no river/dam

Statendam - refers to the early states (now provinces) in Holland - no river/dam

Maasdam - City in the province Zuid Holland (close to Rotterdam) on the river Maas

Hi Lisa (and Tom), yes were are doing fine (hope you 2 also?) and having (almost) Las vegas weather out here....

John I knew you would answer this question too....

Are you counting the days already?

All this dam discussion is making me wish I were back in that dam country along the North Sea! ;)

Those of you who have not visited the Netherlands have really missed out, IMO. Lots of history and wonderful people (such as Ine and Ton.)

Hi Lisa (and Tom), yes were are doing fine (hope you 2 also?) and having (almost) Las vegas weather out here....

 

John I knew you would answer this question too....

Are you counting the days already?

Yes Ma'am; see you in 31 days! Stroopwafels:)

<<Those of you who have not visited the Netherlands have really missed out, IMO. Lots of history and wonderful people (such as Ine and Ton.)>>

Thank you Jim. We have good memories of the many nice people we have met not only in NL but also in Las Vegas, LA and other places.

Hope you and Donna are doing o.k. too.

John, not just stroopwafels but also sate, kroepoek Udang, drop, hagelslag etc.....

Say hi to maria, hope to see you in August, but I am sure we will e-mail before...

Ine your translation makes great sense and insight into the name of the S and R class ships because I knew what the Vista ships stood for. I wondering why the translation dictonary did not give a translation close to yours. Sorry guys for the incorrect information.:confused::confused::confused:

Paul

All this dam discussion is making me wish I were back in that dam country along the North Sea! ;)

 

Those of you who have not visited the Netherlands have really missed out, IMO. Lots of history and wonderful people (such as Ine and Ton.)

Jim.....I could not AGREE MORE. We've had some fantastic stays in Netherlands. Would love to return there anytime. Wonderful memories; loads of fun.

Ine your translation makes great sense and insight into the name of the S and R class ships because I knew what the Vista ships stood for. I wondering why the translation dictonary did not give a translation close to yours. Sorry guys for the incorrect information.:confused::confused::confused:

 

Paul

Paul; I'll take a stab at that since it's 9:30 PM in Holland - "Dam" in Dutch is the same as "Dam" in English"a barrier preventing the flow of water" No clue why that dictionary translated that into "King" (Koning in Dutch), "Queen" (Koningin in Dutch) and "Dame" (Lady in Dutch - little bit different meaning than in English;) )

HI Ine! Thank you for the translations--interesting!

We are down to our last stroopwafel for the delicious pack that you gave us! We may have to visit the Netherlands again to re-stock!

Greetings to Ton and enjoy the warm weather while you can!

In 18 Days I'll get to see the home to all these dam names! It's about time they send me across the pond.....:D

I thought it was what you said when the airline loses your luggage and the ships sails with your luggage in Chicago! :D

LOL ... no, that one's s**t! :(

Show's you how much I know ... I thought "DAM" was a directional denotation ... like with the Vista ships ... each one for a compass point ... Westerdam, Oosterdam, etc.

My personal project before my next cruise, though, is to figure out how to read those flags. I wanna be able to write stuff out ... like "hey, cutie pie" when I see a nice looking officer pass by. :)

Blue skies ...

--rita

I wish I were on a DAM ship, not sitting in a DAM hot and DAME humid state, dreaming about a coming wonderful DAM cruise to Hawaii on the glorious ZaanDAM!

In 18 Days I'll get to see the home to all these dam names! It's about time they send me across the pond.....:D

Which ship and when?

In september every year there is a kind of "mini-Marathon" between the cities of Amsterdam and Zaandam, which is called..

the dam to dam run....

Which ship and when?

 

In september every year there is a kind of "mini-Marathon" between the cities of Amsterdam and Zaandam, which is called..

the dam to dam run....

I actually just meant I would be in Rotterdam on the Maasdam, where a majority of ships are registered under. Unfortunately I won't be taking an extended vacation in Holland (though I'd love to!)

We intend to drive to Rotterdam on July 18th when Maasdam will be in Rotterdam to take some photos.

Is that your sailing?

I wish I were on a DAM ship, not sitting in a DAM hot and DAME humid state, dreaming about a coming wonderful DAM cruise to Hawaii on the glorious ZaanDAM!

Gee Greg, I thought the Dallas area was more of a dry heat. Then again, we only travel to Fort Worth to visit the kids in December, a pleasent break from our New England weather :D, but not this December though, we're dragging my parents, brother and sister-n-law to a "Dam" ship for a pre-season get away :D.

I did have the opportunity to visit Den Helder once and met some really great folks there. Taking a Baltic cruise on a "Dam" ship is on my list of things to do. I enjoyed that region of the world so much and want to share the experiance with my DW.

In earlier Dutch history, small dams were used in swampy areas to keep a farm dry. Some of the earliest isolated settlements were safe-havens away from desirable dry areas were Romans and other conquerors roamed. These dams were not there to dam up a river but to create a dry area near the flood zones of rivers. In other words dams were like levees or embankments. Think of polders created hundreds of years ago. I believe towns like Volendam, Edam had their "dams" built for that reason.