GVM

Just checked my Celebrity Account to update my new passport for 11MAY24 6-night Edge Alaska cruise. At the end of DEC23 I booked 'cruise only' + 'premium wifi' + 'premium drinks'. Combining this resulted, in 200 USD cheaper than 'All-Included' (Shoot me!) Premium drinks at that time was 504 USD. Now about two weeks before sailing, I was updating my new passport details and noticed a 50% flash sale on drinks. To my surprise, I was able to cancel the premium drinks package and get a full refund. 1 minute later, I booked the new (flash sale) premium drinks package for just 360 USD. Saved 144 USD! Woop woop! #extremecouponing 🙂

I agree with booking with a local taxi company. For some strange reason, Uber is not that reliable in BCN. I've been in BCN about 10 times over COVID-10 (let's say the past 2 years), and prebooking or simply holding a taxi at the street is faster and cheaper. Having said that, this is not really an option for you as you are disembarking a cruise in BCN, with 4 docks. Read: 4 ships disemabarking at the same time. My advice: pay a premium to have a confirmed pre-booked taxi, and don't rely on Uber or Bolt.

Ow no worries, I believe you! Obviously you did it yourself, the best evidence there is 🙂 And yes, I fully agree (and I am ashamed) that most Dutch supermarkets don't accept creditcards. There is a supermarkt below my office, in front of the Heineken Beer Brewery in Amsterdam, and every time I am at the cashier, there are tourists having issues with their creditcards since Albert Heijn (the number 1 supermarket brand in AMS) doesn't except creditcard simply because of the fees to the creditcard companies. Now you know the saying "Being Dutch" means, being cheap 🙂 And I am not proud of that 😞 So Americans: Debit cards are widely accepted in the Netherlands, but indeed, we are not such a creditcard country. Still.......if you compare it to Germany, society is almost 90% still cash there. So we are not that bad 🙂

Only Dutch bank cards and creditcards are accepted with NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen = Dutch Railways). And then still only in connection with OVpay-app. (OV = Openbaar Vervoer = Public Transport) So yes, your best bet is purchasing one-time OV-cards every time, and you can purchase them with bank cards or creditcards at ticket desks with employees or even faster: at self service machines. If you are staying a bit longer here, it's indeed better to have a 'reusable' OV-card which you can load up with as much money you want. Good thing is, with this card you can travel in all public transport in NL. So bus, tram, metro, train. The ferries in AMS are actually free. (The ones behind Amsterdam Central station, which is actually next to the AMS Cruise terminal).

No worries. I am Dutch, so it's a lot more easier to find this information than for foreigners. More than happy to answer other Netherlands-related questions 🙂

For what it's worth. The 'fast' train is called 'Intercity Direct': https://www.ns.nl/en/travel-information/special-routes/intercity-direct.html It's only 2.90 EUR more expensive per one-way than the regular train. https://www.ns.nl/en/season-tickets/campaigns/other/intercity-direct-supplement.html Just an example of a Wednesday morning direct train: https://www.ns.nl/en/journeyplanner/#/?vertrek=Rotterdam Centraal&vertrektype=treinstation&aankomst=Schiphol Airport&aankomsttype=treinstation&type=vertrek&tijd=2024-06-12T07:00&firstMileModality=PUBLIC_TRANSPORT&lastMileModality=PUBLIC_TRANSPORT&disabledTransportModalities=&context=arnu|fromStation%3D8400530|toStation%3D8400561|plannedFromTime%3D2024-06-12T08:12:00%2B02:00|plannedArrivalTime%3D2024-06-12T08:36:00%2B02:00|excludeHighSpeedTrains%3Dfalse|searchForAccessibleTrip%3Dfalse|localTrainsOnly%3Dfalse|travelAssistance%3Dfalse|tripSummaryHash%3D2388658439&ritnummers=909 This is a 08:12hrs departure from Rotterdam Central and a 08:36hrs arrival at Schiphol. Normal price 14,50 EUR one way 2nd class + 2,90 EUR supplement. I think this is indeed a no-brainer 🙂

A pre-ordered taxi is always faster than the Celebrity bus, but more expensive. I am more than confident that even with the Celebrity transfer you are able to make your flight.

Both are fine options. Your departure time is one hour later than the topic starter, so that widens your 'room for error' :). Traffic jams generally clear in NL after 0930hrs. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays are heavy traffic days. Wednesdays, Fridays and Weekends are pretty fine with almost no traffic jams in the morning. If you also walk off yourself at 0700hrs and you pre-order a taxi, your 1200hrs departure from AMS (even intercontinental) will really be fine.

This is partly true for immigration yes, but mainly for arriving non-EU pax. Departing non-EU pax will not have lines longer than 20 minutes. And again; yes, the last two years, AMS was horrible, but after summer 2023 things really really improved!

If you indeed do self service walk-off at 0700hrs sharp AND pre-book a taxi, you can be on the airport at 0800hrs. Even if there are traffic jams due to rush hour, it will be traffic going into the city, you are leaving the city.

I live in AMS and fly a lot through Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. In 2022 queues and crowds were horrible at the airport, but since summer 2023 Schiphol has invested in more staff and now lines are rarely over 20 minutes wait. All security checkpoints acutally do have fast tracks for Business Class and elite status. And at AMS checking in 2 hours before the flight is more than enough for transatlantic. If you are disembarking on weekday, and taking a taxi, you will end up in the middle of rush hour between Rotterdam-The Hague-Amsterdam. So this might be stressful. With a cab or even public transport you can ben at Rotterdam Central railway station within 30 minutes. From there, every 15 minutes a train departs to Schiphol Airport. The fast (more expensive) train, takes about 30 minutes. The stoptrain, literally stopping at all stations, will take about 60 minutes. If you do self disembarking it should be possible. All in all, your schedule is doable, but there is not a lot of room for error.

I arrived end of April in BCN after a cruise with MSC World Europa. We docked at 0600hrs, allowed to disembark 0700hrs, but I was allowed to stay in the room until 0900hrs. I did self-disembarking (at 0900hrs) and took a cab in front of the terminal (about 30 EUR for 1 person), I was at check-in at about 09:45hrs. I had a flight at 1300hrs. Ergo; you shouldn't worry. For other future cruisers: Keep in mind that BCN is a pretty big cruise terminal, with 4 cruise ships to dock at the same time. If you are unlucky and 4 ships disembark at the same time, you should really really book a transfer to the airport in advance. So if you are able to disembark at 0700hrs and book a transfer in advance, a 1000hrs flight departure wouldn't be a problem.

Premium Wifi 1 device: $ 32,99 per day, but with flash sale $18,99 per day Premium Wifi 2 devices: $ 58,99 per day, but with flash sale $28,99 per day May 2024, Edge, Vanvoucer>Dawes Glacier>Seattle, 7 days.

Already briefly mentionend here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2960513-basic-wifi-package-cost/ For what it's worth; I booked a Cruise Only yesterday and I can confirm that no Basic Wifi option was available as package, only Premium Wifi. It seems that things changed when Starlink entered the Celebrity-fleet 🙂 More info here: https://www.celebritycruises.com/faqs/wifi-onboard

Haha, nice! Happy to help you out! I was walking around with I think 2kg of coins on the first day of the cruise 😂