Flying into Amsterdam but cruising out of Rotterdam

[TAD2005]

We will be flying from the US to Amsterdam Schiphol, but cruising out of Rotterdam.   We will be staying in a Rotterdam hotel (not yet selected), for 2 or 3 days before our Oct 3, 2020 cruise on the Rotterdam for 29 days.   

What is the best transportation from Schiphol to a downtown Rotterdam hotel ?   There will be 4 of us.

We are considering  staying in the SS Rotterdam Hotel, which is the old HAL cruise ship which is now a museum and hotel.

But the main concern is decent transportation from Schiphol to Rotterdam.

[Fred321]

We recently got off the Rotterdam in Rotterdam stayed there a few days and then did the reverse trip to Amsterdam.

We stayed at the Hotel New York which is just across the street from the pier and was the old location of the Holland America Line. It was ok but really wasn't convenient to the center of Rotterdam. The old  SS Rotterdam liner, now a hotel, while worth a look is even less convenient for seeing the town.

There is a train which runs from Schipol into Rotterdam Center City. Think it runs about every 30 minutes. If you take the train I would consider staying at the Marriott in Rotterdam which is directly across the street from the train station as well as almost all of the tram lines that run around the city. 

With 4 people you might want to compare the price of a transfer by car from Amsterdam to Rotterdam. Can't remeber what the train tickets cost but we got a price for a private car going the other way of around 100 euro for the 2 of us.

When you factor in the ease of a car compared to humping your bags thru the Amsterdam airport and onto the train it starts to make sense.

[kazu]

You can easily do the train transfer if you can manage your luggage.

 

It’s quick and easy and quite convenient.  But, it’s a bit of walk.

 

But with 4 people I’d do a private transfer.  No schlepping of luggage - no worries.

 

Several of our roll call members did this (arranged in advance) and it was very reasonable price IMO.  

[highland cruiser]

 

We have sailed out of Rotterdam twice. First time we were with friends and had done a road trip from Germany to Amsterdam.  Night before the cruise, drove to Rotterdam, stayed in the Old Rotterdam Liner which was interesting. Next day, fellows took us and luggage to the port, returned the rental car downtown Rotterdam, took a taxi back to port and we were off.  Worked well. 

Second time my husband and I arrived in Amsterdam on a Viking river cruise.  Walked with our luggage to central station, caught a train to downtown Rotterdam and stayed in the center.  Spent 2 days there enjoying Rotterdam.  Lots of walking but very interesting.  Day of cruise we took a taxi to the port which wasn't far but had to cross a bridge which would have been difficult with luggage.  

If you travel light and don't have large suitcases, the train is very easy and convenient if staying in Rotterdam. You would need a taxi to the Rotterdam liner and then again to the port.

We enjoyed the Rotterdam liner and can say we stayed there but I wouldn't want to stay more than one night.   If you are staying there 2/3 days before cruise, more convenient to stay in town in my opinion.  You will have a good view of the old liner as you sail out!

[teacherman]

We just did this in July.  We are in our early 70's and fairly active and mobile (although still in our early 70's🤔).  We flew from Detroit into Schipol, arriving at 8:00 am.  We each had a 25 inch checked suitcase and a 20 inch rollaboard.  We got our luggage, exited to the BIG hall, went to the train desk, and bought DIRECT tickets to Rotterdam central.  (No other stops-25 minutes).  We took the elevator down to the train platform.  

 

When boarding, there is a place inside the door to place your luggage (on direct tickets, no worry of someone grabbing your suitcase and running away at one of the intermediate stops).

 

At Rotterdam Central, off the train, up the elevator, and out the door.  We stayed at the Rotterdam Hilton and I totally recommend it.  An executive room allows you to have breakfast each morning and drinks and snacks each evening from 5-9.  We walked with our rolling luggage to the hotel.  Flat easy walk that took less than 10 minutes.  The Marriott and Holiday Inn Express are even closer.

We had considered a very costly transfer but are glad we did it this way as it was far easier than we had imagined.

[scubacruiserx2]

15 hours ago, Fred321 said:

We recently got off the Rotterdam in Rotterdam stayed there a few days and then did the reverse trip to Amsterdam.

We stayed at the Hotel New York which is just across the street from the pier and was the old location of the Holland America Line. It was ok but really wasn't convenient to the center of Rotterdam. The old  SS Rotterdam liner, now a hotel, while worth a look is even less convenient for seeing the town.

There is a train which runs from Schipol into Rotterdam Center City. Think it runs about every 30 minutes. If you take the train I would consider staying at the Marriott in Rotterdam which is directly across the street from the train station as well as almost all of the tram lines that run around the city. 

With 4 people you might want to compare the price of a transfer by car from Amsterdam to Rotterdam. Can't remeber what the train tickets cost but we got a price for a private car going the other way of around 100 euro for the 2 of us.

When you factor in the ease of a car compared to humping your bags thru the Amsterdam airport and onto the train it starts to make sense.

 

Thank you for the information . Do you know the name of the private cars that run from Amsterdam to Rotterdam ?

[Fred321]

No. We got the 100 euro quote from the taxi driver who took us to the Rotterdam train station.

[scubacruiserx2]

17 minutes ago, Fred321 said:

No. We got the 100 euro quote from the taxi driver who took us to the Rotterdam train station.

 

Thank you for the info and quick response Fred .

[sail7seas]

19 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

We will be flying from the US to Amsterdam Schiphol, but cruising out of Rotterdam.   We will be staying in a Rotterdam hotel (not yet selected), for 2 or 3 days before our Oct 3, 2020 cruise on the Rotterdam for 29 days.   

What is the best transportation from Schiphol to a downtown Rotterdam hotel ?   There will be 4 of us.

We are considering  staying in the SS Rotterdam Hotel, which is the old HAL cruise ship which is now a museum and hotel.

But the main concern is decent transportation from Schiphol to Rotterdam.

 

 

Have you considered train?  we  weer staying in Rotterdam after one   cruise and  chose   to ride thetrrain to Amsterdam to spend the day and found it very easy and convenen.. Of course,  we  were not dragging luggage with us for the day.

[TAD2005]

We are also in our low 70's and we are mobile, but we will have luggage for a 29 day cruise.   So humping big bags, even with wheels would be a pain.   We also are considering a downtown hotel, because it is close to decent restaurants.   On a cruise from Venice on the Westerdam, we all shared a private water taxi from Marco Polo Airport direct to the private dock of our hotel.  The hotel staff pulled our bags from the boat and put them into our rooms.  Cost was 70 Euros per couple, or 140 for the whole boat.   We will probably do the same thing and share a private car from Schiphol to the hotel.

Thanks for all the input.

Edited August 17, 2019 by TAD2005

[mrmoviezombie]

Do check with HAL on pricing a pre-cruise hotel, that usually includes the transfers. Both airport to hotel and hotel to ship. When we come in a day or two early to Amsterdam that has always been a very nice private car.

[TAD2005]

I checked into the HAL hotels and transfers.  The problem is that HAL charges PER-PERSON for the hotel.   I looked at a hotel in Venice.   HAL wanted $290 per person, per night for the hotel.  I could book the same hotel, same class room for 300 Euros per night for BOTH of us.  And that included breakfast.   HAL transfers are also priced per person, which is OK, but you can usually get a taxi and pay for the whole car which will hold 4 persons, and will end up being a much more personal service, and no waiting for the HAL bus to fill up.   At the very least, HAL should price their hotel rooms the same way the hotels price their rooms, one price for the room, not per person.