12-day Northern Europe 7/31/22 Pride review

[cyntil8ing]

Day 12 - Ijmuiden (Amsterdam), Netherlands

 

Travel: The port is about 45 minutes from Amsterdam. We pre-booked a taxi to pick us up and to return us to the port that afternoon.

 

Port Guide: https://www.whatsinport.com/Amsterdam.htm (See Felison Cruise Terminal)

 

After Paris, I was a little nervous about this day. I had planned and pre-booked a very full day. Schedules were tight and I knew we wouldn't have time to find a restaurant for lunch.

 

I got a quote from a taxi service - https://city-airport-taxis.com. The quote was to take us from the ship to the Anne Frank House at 8:30, then pick us up at the Van Gogh Museum and return us to the ship at 3:30. The original price quoted was €150. After a few days, I got an email that there were no providers at that price, but I could reserve at €180. I went ahead and reserved. I gave a credit card, but noted that I preferred to pay the driver in cash. 

 

Tickets to the Anne Frank House are available on the first Tuesday of the month for the following month. We would be in Amsterdam on August 11th, so I put July 5th on the calendar. Tickets go on sale at midnight local time, so I checked at 6:00pm EDT on the 4th and they were available. There is an introductory program available at a small additional cost, €7. Those tickets sell out really quickly. By the time, I got there, the earliest available was 11:30, so I booked the tickets.

 

Since the ship docked at 8:00, I looked for something to do earlier. I found an hour long canal cruise that left from the Anne Frank House. I booked it for 10:00am. See https://flagshipamsterdam.com. This was an awesome way to start the day. It was early, so it was still cool.

 

We had beautiful weather the entire cruise, but the temperatures were hot for Europe, in the 80s. Having cruised the Caribbean in the summer, this was nothing. There was no humidity, so it was always pleasant in the shade. Another surprise was how late the sunsets were. It was often after 9pm when the sun set, and was still a little light at 10pm.

 

Finally, we wanted to see the Van Gogh Museum. I read that the Anne Frank House takes 90 minutes to 2 hours, so I booked Van Gogh Museum tickets for 2:00pm. That gave us two hours with Anne Frank then 30 minutes to figure out the tram system to get there. See https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/visit/tickets-and-ticket-prices

 

The day, and the plans, went perfectly. The taxi driver called me as we were coming off the ship. When we got outside the port building, I called him and waved my arms around. He saw me and promptly arrived in a new Mercedes mini-van with front and rear facing leather seats. I felt very fancy. He was very nice and said he would likely be the one to pick us up later than afternoon. He dropped us off directly at the Anne Frank House at 9:15. We were able to catch an earlier canal cruise, at 9:45. I highly recommend this cruise!

 

After the cruise, we waited about 30 minutes for our Anne Frank introductory program. Again, I am so very glad we did this. We then toured the house, and finally saw a diary and other artifacts. It was an emotional experience. It was very crowded, but silent. 

 

Afterwards, we used the City Mapper app to direct us to where to get the tram. You can buy tickets onboard the tram. 

 

The Van Gogh Museum was wonderful. It was again, crowded, but we still got to see everything in about 90 minutes, just in time to meet our taxi driver, who arrived promptly and dropped us back off at the ship in plenty of time.

 

All-in-all, the day couldn't have gone any better. Only once, at the end of the Anne Frank House, was I concerned about schedule. We grabbed a quick snack in the Van Gogh Museum coffee shop beforehand and a hot dog from a cart outside afterward. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back at the ship, we had informed Lester the day before that it was our daughter's birthday, and he delivered a personalized chocolate melting cake and gathered singers. She got a kick out of it, even wore the napkin crown with a smile. It reminded me of her first cruise, on the Pride, at age 5.

 

 

Steps: 10k

 

[4hunters]

Fantastic review so far!  Thanks so much for putting it together and sharing it with us. 👍

[cyntil8ing]

Final Day - Debarkation, Windsor Castle and Home

 

Debarkation from the Pride is ridiculously early. Our excursion tickets for our Heathrow Transfer with Windsor Castle visit were for 6:30am!  Our flight home wasn't until 5:00pm, so we booked the tour.

 

The day before, I tried for over an hour to check-in for our flight. This was our first time on British Airways. The flight over was fine and we were pleased with our economy plus seats, except that a family with two young crying kids was right in front of us. Having flown with two young crying kids in the not too distant past, I had a lot of sympathy, but on an overnight flight, it made sleeping very difficult.

 

I gave up trying to check us in onboard and just figured we'd be in the last row by the bathrooms by the time I got seats at the airport. When we got to the airport, we had the same problems. We waited for an agent, and she checked us in without issue, handing us our boarding passes without comment. When I looked at them, I noticed we had been bumped up to business class. Cool! I guess the trouble was worth it. Since we were bumped up, we could hang out in the lounge, which made the three hour wait much better.

 

Our flight took off nearly an hour late due to late arriving connecting passengers. We arrived back at Dulles only about 10 minutes late, around 8:45pm. Getting luggage, going through customs, getting the parking shuttle and driving home brought us home around midnight.

 

We have Global Entry, which has changed a bit since the last time we used it. We walked up to a kiosk, pressed a button to have it take a photo, and were welcomed home. We didn't scan our passport or get a receipt. We then walked up to an officer, who greeted us by name and asked if we had anything to declare. We answered no and she waived us through. It was a pleasant experience! No one yelled at us!

 

I probably spent hundreds of hours planning this cruise. I had spreadsheets and a binder organized by date and Google docs and Apple wallet tickets. It was so worth it. There were points before the cruise when I was tempted to just wing it, and in all honesty, it probably still would have worked out fine. Other than the transportation in Bruges, there's not a thing I would have changed.

 

We don't have another family cruise booked, a first since 2009. Our daughter will be attending classes over the next two summers, and in the breaks between she would prefer to just be at home. We also usually cruise over Christmas, but we didn't find one we wanted to do. So hubby and I will be leaving the kids at home the week before Christmas, while we go on our first cruise alone since my parents watched our kids in 2015. But my daughter will graduate college and my son will graduate high school in 2025, so I hope there may be another luggage-palooza that summer.

 

Thanks for following along, and for the encouragement to write this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steps: 12k

[NCTribeFan]

I'm exhausted just reading this! 😉 

 

I used to try to do absolutely everything I possibly could every time I went anywhere.  I've pretty much gotten over that, but I still like to get out there and see things on my first visit anywhere.

 

We have 17 ports on the B2B2B this fall.  Have a few ship excursions (just to use up some OBC), a couple of independent things (in ports where we don't have to tender).  Others, we'll probably just get off the ship and wander around.  I'll do that when I'm sailing with friends.  Not so much when I'm solo.  At my age, I just can't do excursions in every port (and it gets to be very expensive).

 

I don't recommend going to Paris from Le Havre, even on a ship tour.  So much time on the bus and so little time in Paris.  For those who really want to see Paris, I recommend going there pre or post-cruise and spending at least a couple of days.  It's easy to navigate (even if you don't speak/read French; the Metro system is easy to figure out).  And it's easy to walk.  Just watch out for the traffic!

 

Thanks for taking the time to write such in-depth comments and share your photos. 

[Linuxhack]

We are on the Sept 2 cruise with 4 pre-cruise days in London and about half the ports in common. Made a reservation this morning for J Sheekey based on your review. Thank you so much for writing this!

[cyntil8ing]

25 minutes ago, Linuxhack said:

We are on the Sept 2 cruise with 4 pre-cruise days in London and about half the ports in common. Made a reservation this morning for J Sheekey based on your review. Thank you so much for writing this!

That is so great. You will love the restaurant!

[nybumpkin]

I really enjoyed your review. We're sailing Pride to Norway next year. Sailing without kids in tow is different, but enjoyable in a new way. Like you, though, I'm hoping for one more "luggage-palooza."😃

[jimbri]

Great pictures!

[ninjacat123]

Great review! My family of four (2 DDs, 20 & 22) had four days in Amsterdam and your review and pics brought me back.  Love Amsterdam!  I had my own "notebook" with all our train tickets, museum and excursion tickets, etc, so I totally understand.  Great to see your pics from the Eiffel Tower.  We were there at 8:30pm and left just as the Tower lit up with twinkly lights.  I agree, it's wild how late sunset is.  Thanks again for taking the time putting this review together. 

Sorry our pic is on it's side ☺️

Edited August 22, 2022 by ninjacat123

[cyntil8ing]

Oh, I forgot to share the link to the full photo album. More pics than I posted here. 

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/u4xk1AcYmDvJA2P7A

[Joanne G.]

Thank you for taking the time to share so many port details. I have enjoyed reading it.    I will be visiting some of these ports on several cruises in 2023 and 2024, and I have taken notes to help me with my planning.  

[Tradestock]

7 hours ago, cyntil8ing said:

..I probably spent hundreds of hours planning this cruise. I had spreadsheets and a binder organized by date..

Thank you for an informative and enjoyable review.  DH and I were reading it and he started to laugh, "She sounds like you."  I agree with him, I like the planning portion of the trip, too.  We have been to a few of the places you visited, but by foot instead of cruise.  Some of the pictures brought back fond memories.  Once again, thank you for the great review.

[akane161]

On 8/13/2022 at 4:32 PM, zentraveler said:

Not sure how I have missed What's in Port all these years but thank you!

 

Same! What a great site!