Dutch_Travelgirl

All this is available at Porto Marie too. On top of that, Porto Marie isn’t used as an excursion beach for cruise ship passengers, unlike Cas Abou. The complete middle section of the beach at Cas Abou is cordoned off on cruise ship days to be used exclusively by those on a tour from the ship. The small on-site restaurant/snack bar usually has difficulties coping with the crowds. Don’t get me wrong, I love Cas Abou, but I will never go there again on a day one or more cruise ships are on the island.

OMG! I just read that one. Wow, just wow.

From their recent posts, it seems that the OP has literally moved on and is now looking at cruises in other parts of the world.

How will you arrive in Amsterdam? By plane? From where? Or by cruise? At which cruise terminal? Either way is going to be very tight, but we can help you better if we know how you’ll arrive into Amsterdam.

There will be a line of taxis waiting outside the train station. Just follow the signs for taxi.

No, it’s not. Fees have nothing to do with it. As the previous poster already mentioned it’s a cultural thing of not wanting to go into debt when you buy your weekly groceries or daily cup of coffee.

In the Netherlands credit card payments only amount to 1% of the total payment transactions. Cash payments make up 20% and the vast majority of payments (79%) is done by debit card.

Apple Pay or Google Pay is just a different way of presenting your debit or credit card to the payment terminal. This means that you can only use it in places that accept the card you linked to your Apple or Google Pay. So if you’ve linked a credit card to your Apple/Google Pay, you can only use it in places that accept credit cards. In the Netherlands, credit cards aren’t accepted everywhere. The supermarket chain Albert Heijn for instance, is known for only accepting credit cards in a few stores. You don’t need WiFi to use Apple or Google Pay, but you do need a card that’s accepted.

I don’t understand what you mean. I thought you arrived in Amsterdam from a cruise ship and flew out from Amsterdam the next day. Now it seems you’re flying into Amsterdam?

I can’t help but feel you’re overthinking this. The walk from the Sheraton to the check in counters is not more difficult than the average walk from the entrance of an airport to the check in desks. If you stay at the Sheraton, you’re basically already in the airport and you won’t be the only one with luggage. Just grab one of the free luggage trolleys and off you go. If you’re really anxious, you can do a test run without luggage the night before departure to see where you need to go.

@grimpil not sure why you pulled up this thread after 7 months, but yes both Bonaire and Curaçao have a resort named Chogogo. Which really isn’t that strange considering that “chogogo” is the word for flamingo in the local language on both islands.

Not sure what you mean by the “tulip festival”, but it’s highly unlikely there will still be tulips in bloom in the flower fields. The flowers of the tulips are cut off by the tulip farmers to ensure that the plant uses all its energy to produce healthy bulbs instead of maintaining the flower. The cutting or heading is usually done in the first week of May, so if you’re here from May 9 onwards you’re too late.

It’s not just cruise vendors in Amsterdam that don’t like American Express. If your only credit card is an American Express one, you will run into trouble all over Europe. I would strongly suggest to get a Visa or Mastercard. You don’t need to book a canal cruise thru your cruise company. There are dozens of companies that offer canal cruises in Amsterdam. Pick one you like, buy a ticket and board the boat.

Tickets for what? And which US credit card?

Amsterdam is unlike other cities, like Paris or London, where a Hoho bus might work. The historical city center of Amsterdam where the main sights are located is very compact and highly walkable. It’s so compact, especially the UNESCO World Heritage Canal Zone, that busses like Hoho can’t drive there. Therefore a Hoho bus isn’t a good idea to get your bearings, because you won’t see the most beautiful part of the city. A much better idea to get your bearings is to take a canal cruise. A regular one, not a Hoho one. Lots of canal cruises leave from the central train station which is close to the cruise terminal. There is no need to book in advance, just walk up, buy a ticket and off you go!