Suggestion on Flight after Arrival in Rotterdam

[RagnarDanneskjold]

Hello all. I booked a cruise with Holland America that is scheduled to arrive in Rotterdam on April 21st, 2024, a Sunday at 07:00 am.

 

From there, we will fly to Vienna, AT. There is a flight to Vienna leaving from Amsterdam at 11:50 am local time.

 

Essentially, we would have a 4 hour interval to get off the ship on Rotterdam, get to the railway station (550m from the Cruise Port of Rotterdam), than get to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (about 1 hour) and get the 11:50 am flight to Vienna. We will have 2 handbags and one 20kg suitcase with us.

 

If HAL is extremely punctual and we get off the ship a little after 07:00 am, I think that this is doable, but I normally prefer to be on the safe side and get a later flight. My wife thinks it'll be OK and that we will easily get the 11:50 flight in Amsterdam.

 

To all the experienced cruisers here, preferably the ones with the most experience with HAL and the Rotterdam Cruise Port, which one of us is right?

[Gigi1977]

It’s really a port thing. The cruise port and the air port.   If the ship is quickly cleared and you walk off with your luggage, get to the train station immediately and get to the airport…. Then there is the security at Schiphol which can be nightmare inducing…. Personally, I wouldn’t do it.  But you might make it.   

[RuthC]

Just because the ship docks at 7:00 AM, does not mean that disembarkation starts then. Expect it to begin closer to 7:30, with the self-disembark passengers going first. 
Next, the rest of the passengers will be called to start disembarking, based on the color and number of their tags. 
Unless you are able to self-disembark, do not plan to be off the ship until around 7:30. If you don't self-disembark, it will be later. Start your time plan from there---and plan for something to go wrong. 

Personally, I would not risk it. 

[stobe1]

You could fly out of Rotterdam, although you would have to connect thru London or Paris. I know both British Airways and AirFrance serve Rotterdam. KLM may also on a limited basis.

Edited February 16 by stobe1

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

That is to tight.

[stobe1]

4 hours ago, RagnarDanneskjold said:

Hello all. I booked a cruise with Holland America that is scheduled to arrive in Rotterdam on April 21st, 2024, a Sunday at 07:00 am.

 

From there, we will fly to Vienna, AT. There is a flight to Vienna leaving from Amsterdam at 11:50 am local time.

 

Essentially, we would have a 4 hour interval to get off the ship on Rotterdam, get to the railway station (550m from the Cruise Port of Rotterdam), than get to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (about 1 hour) and get the 11:50 am flight to Vienna. We will have 2 handbags and one 20kg suitcase with us.

 

If HAL is extremely punctual and we get off the ship a little after 07:00 am, I think that this is doable, but I normally prefer to be on the safe side and get a later flight. My wife thinks it'll be OK and that we will easily get the 11:50 flight in Amsterdam.

 

To all the experienced cruisers here, preferably the ones with the most experience with HAL and the Rotterdam Cruise Port, which one of us is right?

 

17 minutes ago, stobe1 said:

You could fly out of Rotterdam, although you would have to connect thru London or Paris. I know both British Airways and AirFrance serve Rotterdam. KLM may also on a limited basis.

 

 

Actually, after a little internet sleuthing, O found that Transavia flies nonstop from Rotterdam to both Innsbruck and Salzburg in Austria.  Not sure if VIE is your actual final destination or not, but that's an option for you.

Edited February 16 by stobe1

[cruiseaholic78]

6 hours ago, RagnarDanneskjold said:

 

 

To all the experienced cruisers here, preferably the ones with the most experience with HAL and the Rotterdam Cruise Port, which one of us is right?

I presume you are on the Nieuw Statendam.

You have found CC for some questions so you might like to join the roll call, this is for your sailing where people post tips, questions etc for your specific sailing.

 

[Island2Dweller]

2 hours ago, stobe1 said:

You could fly out of Rotterdam, although you would have to connect thru London

Don't book this.  It requires an airport change in London (LCY to LHR) which is pointless hassle. Just book a later flight out of Amsterdam

[Alphen]

8 hours ago, RagnarDanneskjold said:

Hello all. I booked a cruise with Holland America that is scheduled to arrive in Rotterdam on April 21st, 2024, a Sunday at 07:00 am.

 

From there, we will fly to Vienna, AT. There is a flight to Vienna leaving from Amsterdam at 11:50 am local time.

 

Essentially, we would have a 4 hour interval to get off the ship on Rotterdam, get to the railway station (550m from the Cruise Port of Rotterdam), than get to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (about 1 hour) and get the 11:50 am flight to Vienna. We will have 2 handbags and one 20kg suitcase with us.

 

If HAL is extremely punctual and we get off the ship a little after 07:00 am, I think that this is doable, but I normally prefer to be on the safe side and get a later flight. My wife thinks it'll be OK and that we will easily get the 11:50 flight in Amsterdam.

 

To all the experienced cruisers here, preferably the ones with the most experience with HAL and the Rotterdam Cruise Port, which one of us is right?

Living in the Netherlands and having experience with cruising out of both homeports in the Netherlands and always using public transport to get to and from the ship, the 4 hours is too short to allow for unforeseen circumstances. Travelling on a Sunday, public transport is less frequent and if delays occur, there is not much room for alternatives. Train traffic is often disrupted with short or larger interruptions, especially the line to Schiphol airport is often struck by unforeseen interruptions. Also take into account that check in times, together with security clearance on the airport can also take a lot of time! I think it would cause a lot of stress.

Edited February 16 by Alphen

[*Miss G*]

I wouldn’t do it either.  The walk to your gate, alone, will take an hour!  😂  Okay, well maybe not that long.  But it was the longest walk I’ve ever had in an airport.  I sure wouldn’t want to have to run it!

[Mary229]

Another vote against trying to speed up the process. I have, with priority boarding, had to stand in line at AMS for over 2 hours.  April is better than June but I would not risk it.  Better to get there as quickly as possible and if lucky enough - wait.  

Edited February 16 by Mary229

[Sir PMP]

If you get the train at 08:51am, arriving 9.16am at Schiphol, $65.00 for 2, first class, you can make it.

The problem is, it's a Sunday which means lots of people at the airport. I would do it, you should be ok, but it can be a little messy.

 

[RagnarDanneskjold]

Thank you Very much for all the kind responses... I think that I have enough evidence to dissuade my wife now... 🙂

 

We thought of an alternative which is getting of the ship on the day before on Dover, which is the last port before arrival in Rotterdam. I don't think will miss much by doing this and we could get a direct flight to Vienna from Heathrow or Gatwick. We just don't know how hard it would be to do this.

[syesmar]

While I have done this before and made it, the last time we traveled through Amsterdam the airport was not efficient. Though we were in Business Class, AA did not honor the Priority Lane for our canceled flight (to re-book), it was a free-for-all. We’ve also had issues in numerous trips not being able to access priority security lanes (my point is, even if you have some built-in strategies that should save considerable time, it doesn’t always work out).

 

We have done the train to the airport many times, and have flown in/out of Schiphol, Rotterdam, Brussels and Paris after cruises ending in the Netherlands. Last time we took a taxi to Schiphol (due to a time crunch) and rather preferred it.

 

Also, one cruise our planned disembarkation was 7am, but it didn’t begin until 8am due to some logistics hiccups arriving. 

 

Have a great cruise!

[Globaliser]

On 2/16/2024 at 4:31 AM, stobe1 said:

You could fly out of Rotterdam, although you would have to connect thru London or Paris. I know both British Airways and AirFrance serve Rotterdam. KLM may also on a limited basis.

 

On 2/16/2024 at 7:15 AM, Island2Dweller said:

Don't book this.  It requires an airport change in London (LCY to LHR) which is pointless hassle. Just book a later flight out of Amsterdam

 

In addition, on Sunday 21 April 2024 this would require an overnight stay in London.

 

Connecting in Paris wouldn't work because neither Air France nor KLM operate to Rotterdam.

[Cotswold Eagle]

On 2/16/2024 at 12:07 AM, RagnarDanneskjold said:

I think that this is doable, but I normally prefer to be on the safe side and get a later flight. My wife thinks it'll be OK and that we will easily get the 11:50 flight in Amsterdam.

You just have different risk appetites, there is no 'right' answer. There are, however, a few 'wrong' answers in this thread....

 

Why spend a day on connecting flights (which adds another type of risk)? If the morning flight is outside your tolerance, book one of the late afternoon directs. Take the train to Amsterdam at your leisure and either have a good lunch at the airport or drop your luggage at Centraal Station (there are lockers) and spend a couple of hours in the city. 

[RagnarDanneskjold]

I don't know if anybody has seen my post above. For some reason the Moderators took a very long time to clear this message of mine and several other responses to my first post appeared after...

 

But how hard is it get off the ship on an earlier port? Is it possible to disembark on Dover the day before, instead of Rotterdam? We saw that there are great flights from London to Vienna and we think that, if possible, it would  be great to disembark there and catch one of those flights directly to Vienna.

Edited February 18 by RagnarDanneskjold
I thought I had quoted on post, but in fact I didn't.

[FreestyleNovice]

Tight but doable. Book a taxi, public transport is almost half the cost of what a cheap taxi would cost. Minus the sunday schedule, risks, the hassle and stress.

 

Random taxi prices I found: 70-110-140 Euros for a taxi, the latter would be a metered fare I guess.

Train: 15 Euro per person, plus the Metro.

[Globaliser]

10 hours ago, RagnarDanneskjold said:

But how hard is it get off the ship on an earlier port? Is it possible to disembark on Dover the day before, instead of Rotterdam? We saw that there are great flights from London to Vienna and we think that, if possible, it would  be great to disembark there and catch one of those flights directly to Vienna.

 

Dover is not London, and it takes a long time to get from Dover to Heathrow.  You are better off disembarking in Rotterdam and taking a flight from Amsterdam, as Schiphol airport is pretty easy to get to from Rotterdam.

 

I don't know what's "great" about those London flights, anyway. On 20 April 2024, there are 8 non-stop flights from Heathrow to Vienna, just as there are 8 non-stop flights from Amsterdam to Vienna on 21 April 2024.

[RagnarDanneskjold]

Hello all. We decided to get off in Dover. I contacted HAL about this. They said they would fill out a "Deviation Form" for me and see if they would allow disembarkation in Dover or not... I found this very strange... How can they eventually forbid us from getting off the ship? As far as I know, a cruise is not a prison. And we don't need any visa to get in the UK.

 

Their answer was the following:

"Dear Guests,
Thank you for contacting HOLLAND AMERICA LINE regarding XXXXXXXXXX and XXXXXXXXXX upcoming cruise aboard the NIEUW STATENDAM sailing 07 APRIL 2024 on booking XXXXX
We are following up with you on the itinerary deviation request for DISEMBARKATION in DOVER (LONDON), ENGLAND, UK on 20 APRIL 2024.

Unfortunately, the request has been denied as the port has reached its capacity in allowing guests to DISEMBARKATION on that date."

 

I found this completely absurd. Did anyone else went through this? Any suggestions on how to fix this? I'm already regretting having booked this Cruise.

[Globaliser]

20 minutes ago, RagnarDanneskjold said:

How can they eventually forbid us from getting off the ship? As far as I know, a cruise is not a prison. And we don't need any visa to get in the UK. ...

 

I found this completely absurd. Did anyone else went through this? Any suggestions on how to fix this?

 

A cruise is not a prison, but if you are to disembark and leave the cruise at any port you have to comply with immigration and customs requirements at that port. It's not at all absurd that immigration and customs do not have the capacity to deal with someone who booked a cruise and now doesn't like the whole of the itinerary.

 

Anyway, if you are still heading to Vienna directly from the cruise, HAL's answer has done you a favour by saving you some hassle. It is more difficult to get from Dover to Vienna than from Rotterdam to Vienna.