MAVIP

My conclusion: The actual situation at the locks can only be checked by companies/agents who have a log-in code. As passengers we have to wait for the communications by our cruise company. (As the water levels itself are concerned: The information about the water levels in the rivers entering our country are not promising at all.) Could be interesting to check positions of ships entering and leaving the North Sea Channel in the apps for that purpose. Let me know if you have interesting conclusions, I have to leave as a granddaughter has her birthday today.

If I myself could find it, I would publish it of course. Tried in vain yesterday. The last official communications I could trace mention blocks between 06:00 en 18:00. As I understand there are lesser blocks now. And the drought gets worse. I will check again and come back.

No lanyards, but a small bag the size of my telephone and I join the keycard. And I would refuse wearing bracelets for identification too; all of this reminds me the cattle ID's in our country. 😉

Changing the picture is not as easy as changing the text; text HAL only quite recently changed ?

Just my experience: we walked from our ship to the bus station/railway station. Bus already left and no train connections etc that fitted. Walked back in the direction of the ship with 3 other disappointed cruise passengers and we saw a taxi, just standing there at the curb. He offered transportation to Taormina and back for a very reasonable price (compared to the sometimes crazy prices asked by taxi drivers at the cruise terminal). Payable upon return; who would expect that in Messina.... Great explanations by the driver on our way to and from Taormina. He dropped us at the porch to the center of Taormina and waited for us at the agreed time and place. Lesson learned: sometimes you are lucky missing a bus or train 😉

Yes I/we have been to ST Tropez many times. We often used the ferry from Ste Maxime to St Tropez. Here you are: your schedules St Trop to Ste Maxime and Port Grimaud in english. The "navettes" are used by locals and tourists. JMO: Perfect way for transportation along the coast. https://www.bateauxverts.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/horaires-navettes-2022.pdf

You are quite welcome. I can imagine you go back to that shop, Elsbeth is a very kind lady in my opinion and she really did her utmost to understand what was written. And I copy @Dutch_Travelgirlby saying: good luck with your quilting project.

That's all caused by the reduced times of the locks at IJmuiden. (It's quite something for all passengers and the companies to adapt to all weather, covid and war changes, but we will cope as we love cruising....).

Started our extensive travelling in France 72 years ago (in that time with my parents), but never visited Le Verdon. If I read https://www.whatsinport.com/Le-Verdon-sur-Mer.htm it might interest DH to visit the lighthouse if we were in the neighbourhood......

Just to inform you and not an advise to buy your tickets here, but it gives you a good impression about train connections between Le Havre and the price structure : https://www.raileurope.com/en/destinations/le-havre-paris-train

You are absolutely right, it is or has to be blokmaat....

The moment I received your message I was talking to Elsbeth from the quiltshop. She works in the shop since 15 years.... . She does not know what exactly is meant on the business card and asks you to send them an email directly. She will be glad to help you solve this problem. The address is info@dutchquilts.com (but maybe you have their postcardsize card with this address as they give this to all clients?). I hope you can send the name and/or a photo of the quilt kit and of the pages in the pattern book in the email? Greetings from Holland and of course: enjoy your next cruise. Lenny

Even by public transport (start walking at 07:58 to the public transport bus etc etc and finally a train to Amsterdam Central Station) it is 61 minutes.....And please do not conclude that I suggest you to do this. It should easily be possible by transferbus provided by HAL. Maybe they transport passengers to Amsterdam Sloterdijk railway station and if I counted well: on a Sunday morning 10 trains an hour go to Central Station and it takes 6 minutes.

I cannot find any ship that does not arrive in Rotterdam but in IJmuiden instead. The only ship arriving in port of Ijmuiden on an August Sunday is the Deutschland of Phoenix reisen. A ship that is scheduled to arrive in Amsterdam is quite probable as we know. (And I hope it is not what I would fear.....).

Excuse me, but which ship are you on and which date is your arrival?

https://guide.michelin.com/en/fr/ile-de-france/paris/restaurants/bib-gourmand/traditional-cuisine/market-cuisine/credit_card?showMap=true Lunch at the Champs Elysées might not be the best of ideas, but of course I understand your wish. Meals or drinks just behind the famous boulevard might be better, but JMO. I made a choice, a bit at random and according to my taste and I hope the link works for you and of course I hope you will find your way in the Michelin system to change the choices I made. You will find the yelow sign with fork and spoon in the map.... Enjoy your trip. (We did the same silly things, travelling to Peying, Hanoi etc.from ports visited and enjoyed it. )

If you give us the name/address of the shop where you bought the quilt kit, I could call them and ask their explanation/translation. And of course the name of the quilt kit or reference number,,,,,

This text will not give you the exact information you would like to have, but I hope it helps understanding. We alle hope more news will follow soon as two days ago there was another meeting about the measures to be taken bij Rijkswaterstaat. "As a result of a prolonged period of drought and a shortage of meltwater and rainwater, the Netherlands is experiencing low river levels and high salinity levels. To monitor the quality of the water, Rijkswaterstaat has taken measures from 19 July 2022 onwards. These include an adjusted passage regime for the locks at IJmuiden. This means that instead of passing ships through the locks on demand, they will pass as many ships as possible at the same time. This will be done in twelve-hour blocks, thereby limiting the number of passages per day. This has an impact on the calls at Cruise Port Amsterdam. Of course, in consultation with all parties involved, we are looking for the best possible solutions. In addition to adjusted arrival and departure times, a number of scheduled calls will no longer be coming to Amsterdam. We strive to communicate the most current information through the sea cruise calendar on our website. Already cancelled calls; MS Rotterdam 31-07-2022 & 14-08-2022 – goes to Rotterdam Disney Magic 31-07-2022 – goes to IJmuiden For more information about your cruise, please contact your travel agent and/or shipping company. For more information about the lock regime see: https://www.portofamsterdam.com/en/news/high-salt-levels-north-sea-canal?fbclid=IwAR1rjqQXapE8gojDfLiZz28JKydbq6_M1sKOpxEd7nvtvEDnWY1VP7Ko_l8 " Enjoy your cruise!

Reason will be the Ijmuiden locks. Less ships can enter and leave the North Sea Channel and only between set (and reduced) hours because of the drought.

Perfect "instructions".. And Nord has that "d", but is pronounced as Noor.

Maybe doubling answers already given, but I would like to tell my experience last Sunday: It took me hours to try and upload our QR codes in the Verifly app (both on my mobile telephone). At last I sent the complete Governmental documents to Verifly: OK in minutes. Visiting my daughter who joins us in August on ms Rotterdam I told her to load the Verifly app too. Within 5-10 minutes everything ready. The difference: she opened the document with QR code in her tablet and scanned it with the Verifly app in her mobile telephone. Maybe it helps someone. (And of course I carry all prints and documents, just to be sure 😉 ).

Reading you conversation with @Ine: About STaxi: Son in law booked two 6/8-seaters for the 7 of us last May for the trip to the cruise terminal in Ams and the return trip after our HAL cruise. Paid in advance for the return trip. Good cars, friendly and helpful drivers. One of the 2 was a little bit late for the return trip, but overall we were content. Price not comparable with the prices you mention, as our children live in the region of AMS. But another HAL passenger I know, paid € 260 for the trip to and from the AMS terminal from her home address quite a few kilometers further than Rotterdam. They hired a local company, but it is an indication. Hiring in advance and a return trip can have advantages. JMO.

This is the text in my recent boarding pass for an August cruise: "If you have not purchased a transfer through Holland America Line, one may be purchased for the day of embarkation/disembarkation (please include your final flight into the city of embarkation and the first flight out for disembarkation). Please have your travel advisor call Holland America Line at 1-877-724-5425 or 1-206-286-3900 with your Holland America Line six-digit confirmation number and flight itinerary (airline carrier, flight number, departure dates and times). Transfer reservations must be made and paid for at least 14 days prior to your sailing date. If you have purchased transfer service or pre-packages through Holland America Line, please refer to your itinerary for specific instructions".

I know what DH and I would do: ask HAL to book a later flight. Less stress, at least that would be so for us. Check excursion brochure: doesnt it mention that the transfer is for flights after a certain time only?

I am not a professional, but I am almost sure that if your flight is TransAtlantic you will not be in time, whether it is from Amsterdam or Rotterdam Cruise terminal. Please consult your travel agent!!