FreestyleNovice

Not sure if this has been discussed yet here. Premier Pass, a new product? https://preview.aem.celebritycruises.com/int/things-to-do-onboard/onboard-packages/premier-pass

Perhaps the Aker Brygge area but that's a bit far so certainly the city center behind the Akershus fortress. Don't forget that Oslo/Norway is higher priced than most of us are accustomed to.

Yep. The Atrium/ocean walk clearly showing. Fincantieri subsidiary VARD, Tulcea, Romania.

In absence of the Leo #3 thread, meanwhile in Romania..

If there are no taxi's available or overwhelmed or etc, the Centraal Station is a short walk. There's a Taxi Standplaats too, on the waterfront. But when you are at the CS the train hop to Schiphol airport is also very tempting, if one can manage the train. Enjoy Amsterdam!

Are you looking for things to do for embarkation, hotel stays, transportation, parking, etc?

Rotterdam is one terminal building, easy to navigate. Usually there's one ship at a time. www.cruiseportrotterdam.nl emmaonline.co.uk/rotterdam-cruise-port/

You got the genuine Amsterdam taxi experience!

With those connecting insides and sky suites on the E class ships you would think this matter would be a set policy by now. Thanks (and cheers) to those who've succeeded (one way or another heh), a set policy would motivate us to book the non suite/suite combo for family but the inconsistency and uncertainty makes it a bit of a gamble. On the other hand it fits five star luxury hospitality, anything is possible and achievable without set rules.

Here's some more in depth info about her: https://ssrotterdam.com/who-are-we/history/

That's very reasonable indeed! Not much going on at Schiphol right now, the start of the summer season will be a decent tell tale.. Enjoy your cruise!

IIRC the shuttle ran without calling, but perhaps passengers before us had called. It was very easy! https://www.avis.com/en/locations/us/fl/fort-lauderdale/qf1 COUNTER: The Avis shuttle will meet passengers at the pier. If not, call location for pick-up service. The shuttle will take cruise ship passengers to the Avis office. Vehicles will need to be returned to the Avis office and then customers will be shuttled back to the pier. https://www.budget.com/en/locations/us/fl/fort-lauderdale/ev3 has the same info. Enjoy your trip!

Missed the opening post?

Budget/Avis/Payless on 2520 Miami Rd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316. Just outside the gate of the port, free shuttle to and from, well organized location. Can be busy with cruisers but so can be the airport. Used them in Jan/Feb 2022.

Thanks!

Link worked, now streaming the webinar. Curious if this will work out as despite signing up I never received any PUP email here in The Netherlands. Thanks for sharing the link!

Local here. Regarding the Amsterdam - Rotterdam issue, you can be from one cruise terminal to the other in under one hour by (taxi/private) car or just under two hours by excellent public transport. Whilst Rotterdam and Amsterdam are two very different cities the compactness of our small but lovely country should not be problem for any bucket list items one may have for an Amsterdam port call. PS the necessary change has probably to do with the seawater and restricted opening times of the locks at IJmuiden, an Amsterdam arrival or departure would be at very unfavorable times and probably extremely limiting your time on shore or the total itinerary. Hope this makes it more clear or at least easier to understand/coop with.

Don't forget sometimes a port can't accommodate a ship and surrounding ports neither, so the cruise line has limited options to berth a fairly large ship at a port that also can accommodate disembarking and transporting thousands of pax to their shore excursions without any of the hassle we sometimes read here on CC. I understand the disappointment but there's much more at play than just wondering if it's smart.

Thanks for the Jim Zim video, a fair and balanced review of X I think, enjoyed watching it. I don't follow YouTube so I would not have come across his first Celebrity video. @Spaniel Lover, great to see how your video reviews are reaching a near 500k audience these days, keep it up!

No more quarantining/moving cabins to the quarantine deck @Steve007NY?

Another option would be Kinderdijk (near Rotterdam) instead of Zaanse Schans (near Amsterdam). Here's a random found link; https://rachelsruminations.com/kinderdijk-or-zaanse-schans/ Contact any taxi company in the Rotterdam region for a quote, some will be happy to cater to your needs, others might not. My tip would be to contact a local company from the Kinderdijk area and make it two separate rides to and from the wind mills to avoid any waiting costs. Storing your luggage might be a thing, ask for that or if you can or will travel independently the Rotterdam train station should have luggage lockers but that is a re-route..

Poster said IF. If one is able to manage the metro (elevators) and some steps I would advice the metro and train as suggested. It will beat the crowds, the train stops underneath the Plaza at Schiphol (elevators and walkways). The one or two thins that are an advantage of a possible ship organized bus are convenience and perhaps safety without the metro and railway station part. But with the right amount of caution and common sense this should not be a factor. And with two or more you probably would pay the cruise line more than a private car/taxi from door to door would cost. I easily see X charging some 60-80 USD per person for that bus.

There is no subway from the airport to the city. Trains run from under the airport, follow the signs after Baggage Reclaim, Schiphol is easy to navigate. Heads up, 5 May is "Bevrijdingsdag" (Liberation Day), expect crowds, music and festivities in the city center. Trains might be more crowded, watch your belongings and stay with your luggage. Don't fear the youngsters heading to their festivals but do mind the professional pickpockets. On 4 May in the Netherlands we commemorate victims of war, and on 5 May we celebrate the fact that we live in freedom. https://www.4en5mei.nl/english/5-may/

US based online TA most of the time. Better prices than European travel agents. They seem to have the lowest prices (equal to the cruise line) but with more OBC. I like it to be a smart cruiser.

Still here! Awfully busy with the offline life heh.