Windstar docking in Amsterdam?

[Second seating]

Does Windstar dock anywhere near Central Station like most of the river cruises?

 

Thank you,

Second seating

[Mercruiser]

Yes, river boats and cruise ships dock at the "Passenger Terminal Amsterdam" near the Centraal station. 

 

Specifically, the cruise ships dock here, see Google Map satellite photo

https://maps.app.goo.gl/xq3A6vXbEYtcuiL78

(During the off-season, there are riverboats stored at the large cruise ship dock, as shown in the satellite photo). The river boats dock slightly downstream, labelled "Amsterdam River Cruise Port" on Google maps.

 

Here the web site for the PTA

https://www.ptamsterdam.com/

 

 

 

 

[Second seating]

Thank you Mercruiser!

 

Ss

[milepig]

Right in the middle of the city and minutes from the central train station. Does this make AMS one of the best cruise arrival/departure ports?  Iceland is pretty cool, just a block from the city center.  Others?

[Host Jazzbeau]

16 minutes ago, milepig said:

Right in the middle of the city and minutes from the central train station. Does this make AMS one of the best cruise arrival/departure ports?  Iceland is pretty cool, just a block from the city center.  Others?

Except that Amsterdam is doing its best to discourage cruise ships from visiting.  How convenient is Rotterdam [the main alternative] – we've never cruised there.

[Strenz]

Hi, We were on the Wind Surf in Amsterdam in 2015 for Tall Ships, we anchored in the harbor it was an easy walk to the main train station. We  also went to Rotterdam and we docked at the main shipping dock area, a small taxi away from the center of the city. Rotterdam fascinating city great art museum, fabulous architecture, a huge market with trompe l'oeil tiled ceilings where you thought the fruit was falling on you, of course Delfshaven where the Puritans from Leiden left from on the Speedwell and eventually boarded  the Mayflower and sailed to the new world amazing history, the church where they slept in before the journey, plus Delfshaven ( the original part of Rotterdam ) is charming.  The church is a wonderful museum. Terrific city. Happy Sailing.

[Mercruiser]

On 10/12/2021 at 3:17 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

Except that Amsterdam is doing its best to discourage cruise ships from visiting.  How convenient is Rotterdam [the main alternative] – we've never cruised there.

We lived in Eindhoven Netherlands in 2018-2019. Made many trips to Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Amsterdam is much more interesting IMHO, with all the historic architecture. Rotterdam was destroyed in WW2, so it has modern architecture.

 

I didn't get the feeling that the Dutch are out to stop cruise ships. Rather, they are wanting to discourage over-tourism in general. Pre-Covid, Amsterdam was overrun with tourists in the summer. During the summer of 2020, many Amsterdammers found their city to be a much more enjoyable place to live without the hoards of tourists.

[Host Jazzbeau]

7 hours ago, Mercruiser said:

We lived in Eindhoven Netherlands in 2018-2019. Made many trips to Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Amsterdam is much more interesting IMHO, with all the historic architecture. Rotterdam was destroyed in WW2, so it has modern architecture.

 

I didn't get the feeling that the Dutch are out to stop cruise ships. Rather, they are wanting to discourage over-tourism in general. Pre-Covid, Amsterdam was overrun with tourists in the summer. During the summer of 2020, many Amsterdammers found their city to be a much more enjoyable place to live without the hoards of tourists.

I was referring to this:

The City of Amsterdam has set a Day Tourist Tax for TRANSIT sea cruise and river cruise passengers that moor within the municipal boundaries of Amsterdam.

https://www.portofamsterdam.com/en/shipping/passenger-vessels/day-tourist-tax

 

No mention of taxing tourists other than cruise passengers.

[Mercruiser]

8 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I was referring to this:

The City of Amsterdam has set a Day Tourist Tax for TRANSIT sea cruise and river cruise passengers that moor within the municipal boundaries of Amsterdam.

https://www.portofamsterdam.com/en/shipping/passenger-vessels/day-tourist-tax

 

No mention of taxing tourists other than cruise passengers.

Actually, they do tax other tourists. See https://www.amsterdam.nl/en/municipal-taxes/tourist-tax-(toeristenbelasting)/

 

"On January 1st 2020, Amsterdam has implemented a flat fee of €3 per person, per night for any visitor spending the night in the city, in addition to the current 7% city tax."

 

Story: Amsterdam tourist tax goes up for 2020 in overtourism crackdown

https://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/1223517/amsterdam-tourist-tax-2020-tourism-crackdown-latest-news

[Host Jazzbeau]

8 minutes ago, Mercruiser said:

Actually, they do tax other tourists. See https://www.amsterdam.nl/en/municipal-taxes/tourist-tax-(toeristenbelasting)/

 

"On January 1st 2020, Amsterdam has implemented a flat fee of €3 per person, per night for any visitor spending the night in the city, in addition to the current 7% city tax."

 

Story: Amsterdam tourist tax goes up for 2020 in overtourism crackdown

https://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/1223517/amsterdam-tourist-tax-2020-tourism-crackdown-latest-news

So €3 for hotel guests vs €8 for cruise passengers.  I still say they are trying to discourage cruise ships.

[avalong]

15 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

So €3 for hotel guests vs €8 for cruise passengers.  I still say they are trying to discourage cruise ships.

Jazzbeau: Totally off-topic, sorry:  Where's that Noble Caledonia review you promised us? :-)

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 minutes ago, avalong said:

Jazzbeau: Totally off-topic, sorry:  Where's that Noble Caledonia review you promised us? 🙂

Working on it.  Editing ~1,500 photos is going slowly...

[ducklite]

On 10/14/2021 at 7:40 AM, Mercruiser said:

We lived in Eindhoven Netherlands in 2018-2019. Made many trips to Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Amsterdam is much more interesting IMHO, with all the historic architecture. Rotterdam was destroyed in WW2, so it has modern architecture.

 

I didn't get the feeling that the Dutch are out to stop cruise ships. Rather, they are wanting to discourage over-tourism in general. Pre-Covid, Amsterdam was overrun with tourists in the summer. During the summer of 2020, many Amsterdammers found their city to be a much more enjoyable place to live without the hoards of tourists.

As well they should   Amsterdam, Dublin, Tallinn, Krakow, Venice, and many more have become over touristed--whether by drunken 20-somethings on stag and hen party weekends to day trippers from giant cruise ships, it's become grotesque.  Personally I'd rather pay 50 Euro a day to have smaller crowds.  Primarily we visit off season to avoid the crowds, and we've found that we are warmly welcomed during off and shoulder season.

[Mercruiser]

6 hours ago, ducklite said:

As well they should   Amsterdam, Dublin, Tallinn, Krakow, Venice, and many more have become over touristed--whether by drunken 20-somethings on stag and hen party weekends to day trippers from giant cruise ships, it's become grotesque.  Personally I'd rather pay 50 Euro a day to have smaller crowds.  Primarily we visit off season to avoid the crowds, and we've found that we are warmly welcomed during off and shoulder season.

Since we lived in Europe for two years, we had plenty of opportunities to visit in the off-season. It was wonderful. As an example, Florence Italy is overrun with day-trippers all summer. But on a March weekend, it's wonderfully uncrowded.

 

Our strategy for summers was to never go to any of the famous cities. For example, when Amsterdam is overrun, visit Rotterdam, Maastricht,  Fort Eben-Emael,  Den Bosch, Enkhuizen, Haarlem, Arnhem open air museum, Valkenburg, etc. These are places the Dutch go for a weekend outing. They are completely devoid of crowds. France, Italy, Spain, etc. all have similarly wonderful small towns that are completely off the radar of the international tourists.

[Host Jazzbeau]

On 10/15/2021 at 3:25 PM, avalong said:

Jazzbeau: Totally off-topic, sorry:  Where's that Noble Caledonia review you promised us? 🙂

Here you go:

 

[avalong]

Yay! Thanks!