Departed from location

[EJM526]

My ancestor was from Germany, and left from the Netherlands for America. Was it common to leave from the Netherlands?
Thanks!

[KGarrad]

I would say it depends on the shipping line used, and when in history the voyage took place?

So, Probably the Holland-America Line (Nederlandsche-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij).
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_America_Line

[EJM526]

Yes, the ship was apart of that line, thank you! And it was in 1884. The city he was from, it was roughly the same distance to the Netherlands as it was to Hamburg. So I was trying to figure out if it was a toss up, or if there was a reason to choose somewhere out of the county to depart from.

[KGarrad]

There was fierce competition on the North Atlantic routes.

Holland-Amerika Lijn (out of Rotterdam and Amsterdam)
Red Star Line (out of Antwerp)
HAPAG (Hamburg America Line) (out of Hamburg)
North German Lloyd (NDL) (out of Bremen)

Choice of routes; choice of fares; Ease of access?