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I think in most cases it is well worth in getting out of the city! Yes a lot of driving on our tour....but loved the scenery!

yes drank our full of Lattes, espressos and cappuccinos on the classic pkg!

We were there from 1pm until 10 pm(might have been 11pm) on celebrity Silhoutte...Private tour with just my wife and I (http://www.taxitrax.com/) ...so that save a lot of time...Saw a lot, but we don't dilly dally at sights..we see, and get going. If it interests us, we stay longer..if it doesnt, adios!

We saw: Caincastle, Co Antrium......Cushendun Caves, The rope bridge (but turned around, as long line ups) Giants causeway, Dark hedges...all those are Game of Throne sites, plus we saw a few other spots as well, and enough time to for a brief Political Tour..didnt get to see all the political sites, but enough to appreciate the struggles they have gone through!! I spent enough time in pubs during my Navy days,lol

I should add, the cabs they use are the London style cabs! Easily fit 5 people! BUT..2 would be facing to the rear, and 1 would be up front with the driver...but oodles of room!!

We took the bus down then walked around four 5 minutes before heading back up on the same bus that dropped us off. Not much to see unless you love rocks..

 

My wife thought it was fascinating.....I was like, ok, its some neat shaped rocks and water.......We didnt spend a lot of time at the bottom,lol

Make sure u have travel insurance that covers Earthquakes and volcano eruptions! Currently have 2 volcanoes that are active....the closest 1 to Quito..Cotopaxi is only 50 km away and their are many scenarios on what can take place if it does erupt, Right now only gas and ash coming out,. There is another Volcano further to the south that has been active since 1999 and had an eruption earlier in the year and possibly more in the future! Cotopaxi they say has a 60% chance of erupting within the next 6 months,and they say 80% within the next year, but only guesses, could happen today or years down the road! Could be a slow and peaceful eruption, or total chaos! Good times!

Thanks, everybody. I saw the bus mentioned on a couple of the Trip Advisor reviews, and it didn't say anything about being reserved for tours. Has anyone actually taken it? The walk should be fine for me and I hope for DH, but he may not go down if he doesn't think he has a fallback plan if needed to go back up the hill.

it is not reserved for tours...anyone can take it down or up..u just pay for it!

We started to do the rope bridge..but a 30 min wait to get across....then u had to wait again to come back.....so said do we want to wait in line or get going to see other stuff..so we turned around and walked back,lol The beauty of just being my wife and I on our tour!! We used taxi trax and they were great..our driver Gerard was awesome! We did sort of a Games of throne tour (but not) and finished up with a very quick Political tour. 1 of our favorite tours of our British Isles cruise

Just did it in August on a private tour (just myself and wife). We walked down, very nice walk, going up is a different story, yes it is very doable, and many do it, but there is a bus that will take you back up, was very cheap, 1 Euro (or whatever the currency was,lol) Think the last bus up is around 1830 or 1845

At the hotel, just before boarding........ On disembarkation, I attached all the tags, and on 2 of our suitcases, they had managed to come off-----thus in my opinion attach the tags just prior to embrakation

We will be arriving May 2, 2016 coming off of a cruise would appreciate any suggestions for tour company suggestions. We will be staying at Hotel Brouwer.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Mardell

look at tripadvisor.....Plenty of reduced ticket selling places all over Amsterdam....viator.....

I have traveled the world with the Cdn military..lived in Managua Nicaragua and now Ecuador! And was just in Amsterdam this past August. Some of these pick-pocketers are good! They are at the Wayne Gretzky, Babe Ruth level! One just has to be aware of their surroundings and where your valuables are. I keep my wallet in my zippered front pocket! Wife doesn't have a huge purse, yelling steal me, actually she keeps small wallet and does the same (front pocket) Do not wear $$$ jewelry! And yes thieves have been known to rip off ear rings right from ones ears...or grab that necklace and run! I could go further into detail, but thats more for Central America,lol Thieves (well not all) are pretty good at what they do, they wait for that prime opportunity and make their move! Pretty hard to get at my front zippered pocket, and since my wife doesn't have a purse..they go after someone else! And if one wants to carry a small purse...dont keep all ur $$$$/valuables in it! We had a great time in Amsterdam....loved it more than our British Isles cruise....and no, we did not visit any of the "coffee shops" lol

On summit right now. Cost before discount was $299 for the 14 days.

One device at a time (logging into a second blocks you with a warning that there is already one active.)

Logging into the 2nd device..u can kick the other device off, so u can log in...

Had Noro on our August 2015 British Isles Cruise on the Silhouette... Doesn't surprise me with the # of people onboard...seeing a few people using their hands in the buffet.....people barely washing their hands...or u see people washing their hands properly on the ship...then see them ashore, and chance meeting in the bathroom and they wash their hands inappropriately. I'm a RN, plenty of lessons on hand washing,lol Funny thing is I rarely get sick, even working in the hospital, yet my last 2 cruises, came down with a bad cold at the very end..and I wash my hands all the time!!

In the private tours I have formed, have always met on deck 5 at Cafe Al bacio, and have told the tour company that as a group we will meet them at the pre-arranged spot ashore.......if one meets as a group ashore, makes it difficult to call their room......and landmarks ashore can be confusing.....everyone should be able to figure out deck 5 and the coffee place,lol And its nice to take a latte ashore!!

Thanks for your input. We will probably take a taxi from airport to hotel. Were you happy with your room location in the hotel? If so where was it?

Can't recall to be honest, didn't have much of a view, but was quiet.

On our return we stayed 1 night at the Aitiana hotel..much bigger room, very modern...staff were awesome, but its location was no where as good as the Renaissance.

right where the Movenpick hotel is!!

On our August British Isles cruise...the tall ship festival was on, so we actually came back to a different terminal...stil a very smooth disembarkation

We'll be staying at the Renaissance in July prior to the BI cruise on the Silhouette. Do you have any recommendations for café/bakery restaurants for breakfast that are within walking distance from the hotel? I've read hotel "room tips" on TA, some mention street noise, sloped ceilings, two separate buildings w/rooms. Did you have any recommendations for room location? We are wondering if the train from the airport to the hotel is possible. Do you think it would be difficult to walk from the station to the hotel w/luggage?

Yes, as u walk out of the hotel, goto ur right and like 50 metres down the road across there street is a nice little breakfast place (much cheaper than what the hotel offers)....and on the same side of the road of the hotel is a great Tapas place for lunch/supper...

There are a lot of place to eat around the hotel!

I guess u could walk from the hotel to the station, sidewalks are full of people ( at least in August it was) From the hotel to the Movenpick hotel(Where celebrity docks) was 13 Euro

Ann frank house was maybe a 10-15 min walk. We loved the hotels location

Hope ur July British Isles cruise has better weather than this past Julys cruise---guess it rained every port! We had fabulous weather in August.....and our guides kept telling us how lucky we were!! bring rain gear,lol

Did you like the Renaissance?

We did' date=' as it was very close to a lot of shops and restaurants. Lot of cruise people used it. Only like a 5-8 minute walk to the central station. Internet was not cheap, but since were a "member" and booked online it was free, BUT it was up to us on checkout to remind them to take off the fees!

I think it is a set rate from hotels in that area to airport, around $48 Euro

We had 5 days in Amsterdam before the cruise and I enjoyed that more than the cruise (not a huge cruise person,lol) One can book tours online with a middle man company such as viator....or just buy them at the many ticket booths, that are everywhere. We bought via viator, but still had to goto the ticket booths to pick up the actual tickets!

[b']Some of our favorite tours: [/b]

Red light walking tour! awesome!! Started at 8 pm, went for 2 hrs (or 2.5) really an eye opening tour.

Heinekin brewery tour! Interactive and beer! PLUS they have a canal boat, which is FREE...It is a narrated tour as well. We did it after the tour, takes you and drops u off by their souvenir store, which they give u 2 free Heinekin glasses! I think u can take it from the store to the brewery. We walked from Central stn to the brewery, and it didnt take long.

http://www.historywalks.eu/ Awesome walking tour!! Peter was full of interesting information. He emails you a ton of great info prior to the tour.....and sends you more after the tour...amazing!! And it is a small group, relaxing pace.

Canal pizza cruise: Very relaxing, pizza was fine, plenty of beer to drink!

Anne Frank house! if your going to do this, BUY the tickets online. Otherwise enjoy standing in line for HOURS!! They only sell so many tickets for that day online. And I think they go on sale around 6 months out (keep checking). I was told some people wait 5 hours to get in. http://www.annefrank.org/en/Museum/Practical-information/Online-ticket-sales/ We had online tickets for 10 am..simply walked right on up...passed the HUGE line!!!

dutch resistance museum: Excellent. we arrived 1.5 hrs prior to closing and that was enough time to see it http://www.verzetsmuseum.org/museum/en/museum

Lot of great food everywhere, and so much to see!! Watch out for bikes, they are everywhere and I mean everywhere!!

If the Silhouette docks where it normally does downtown, 1 of the best places to stay is the Movenpick...as it is right there...no taxis to worry about....and ur very close to downtown, still like a 10 min walk, but very close. Just get up early the next day and catch a taxi to the airport, I think its about a 30 min taxi ride.

We have been on the Silhoutte twice....Med cruise in 2013, and British Isles cruise this past August that started and ceased in Amsterdam.

We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel, which is a 13 Euro taxi ride from hotel to the Cruise terminal

On our return, we actually docked further away from downtown as the Sail Amsterdam (Tall ship) festival was taking place. Does so every 5 yrs. And we stayed at the Aitana hotel. But if we had docked at the normal jetty, Movenpick would have been our choice as we too only stayed 1 night!

Been less than stellar for years now....most business would fix it ASAP..but not Celebrity..they have said a few times, changes would be made.......Modern luxury at its finest! :)

I agree that in the U.S. that would be very troubling. But pretty much everywhere else in the world, physicians do sell the drugs to treat what they diagnose. So seeing as these are foreign flagged vessels, so be it.

 

The irony is that as a physician, I have never made a penny for a single prescription that I have written. But on occasion, I have had patients go to one of the numerous homeopaths or naturopaths now hanging their shingles around here. Every time they come back, they've purchased a bunch of supplements, vitamins and natural remedies at the "practitioners" advice. Who sold the items to them? Yep! The provider that diagnosed them!

But as a physican..how many free things have u accepted from drug manufacturer reps?? As a nursing student, I recall the reps coming into the hospital and laying out a huge spread of food...free items...then it came to a stop! 1 of the last times I was in my GP's waiting room a drug rep was in, making an appointment to take the GP out for lunch,lol

We got the classic pkg free on our 2013 Med cruise and 2105 British Isles..and we didnt drink enough to cover the cost if we had paid out of pocket..and I didnt go thirsty. Both of those cruises were very port intensive, so lot of time off the ship.

You get the bottled waters pretty much anywhere they serve drinks and they usually had a table set up by the departure area on port days...very accessible!

As a RN i find it concerning that these Doctors get are to get paid for prescriptions. How many prescribe drugs, when its not really called for? But hey, they want a new set of golf clubs...Cipro for everyone!!

Live in Quito.....if I were u, I would try searching Ecuador face book groups, you would probably get a lot of great info. Lot of Expats in Ecuador with a lot of knowledge.

One is still in the MDR, thus expected to dress to the Formal night standards