Embarkation Time in Port

[tx121]

We just booked our first river cruise on Viking! One question we have is that we had Viking book our airfare but we don’t arrive in to our embarkation port which is Amsterdam until 2pm. We would like to explore a part of Amsterdam before the ship leaves the port. What time does the ship usually leave? Would we have enough time to check in to the ship and then explore Amsterdam ? Any info provided is greatly appreciated!

[Fouremco]

If it is at all possible, try to change your flight to a day earlier. Other than the issues of a delayed flight and missing the cruise departure, Amsterdam is such a lovely city to explore and you can't even begin to scratch the surface in the few hours you will have available.

 

GPSMyCity provides excellent ideas for walking tours, and I've used them in numerous European cities. Their Amsterdam information can be found here: https://www.gpsmycity.com/gps-tour-guides/amsterdam-512.html

 

Included in their suggested walks is a three hour walk starting from Centraal Station, just a short walk from where your cruise ship should be berthed. If you followed the full walk, you'd probably want to get back to your ship by taxi, but it would be easy to modify and start heading back after seeing Anne Frank House. https://www.gpsmycity.com/tours/amsterdam-introduction-walking-tour-1074.html

 

As you will see, it's very easy to create your own tour, combining points of interest from the various prepared tours into a personalized one. That way you can also tailor it to whatever time you have available and the types of things you like to see.

 

Whatever you choose to do, I hope that you enjoy your time there. 

[Wings55]

@tx121 I agree with @Fouremco, there is WAY too much to see and do in Amsterdam for one afternoon. I would suggest you arrive two or three days early. We've been there three times and there are still so many places I haven't seen.

Paul

[Daisi]

I'll agree with the above, we spent a whole day just wandering. Because we were taking trams to our hotel into the old part of town, I just pinned our location in Google Maps, and we walked without paying attention to where we were going. Once we were ready to go back, pulled out my map, hit the walking directions, and we were right back at our tram stop shortly. Not sure how many steps we got in that day, but between that, a full day of waking up at the Zuiderzeemuseum, and then around Keukenhof the next day, we were glad we had the morning to rest on board before touring Cologne.