mommamd

The Tulip cruise is great!! I hope you have a great time next year on this. Will you be in Amsterdam for the Kings Birthday festival? Highly recommend to attend these national festivities if you can, so fun! Outdoor music, food, dancing, etc. I believe it is celebrated on April 27th. 

I love free nights too, last year we stayed at the Andaz Amersterdam on Prinsengraat on Hyatt points, we loved it! Right on the canal, great service, restaurant. with five course tasting menu, bikes for rental, happy hour in the library. Then we had a free Marriott stay post cruise. Highly recommended. Amsterdam is so small you can get around on foot or bike easily. We then scored amazing Delta One seats on points AMS-Detroit. Have a great trip!! 

I don't see many flight options available now for Sumer 2021. I am holding off in hopes some of the better routes will start opening up from the Midwest to Europe as vaccination rolls out. Right now its 3 connections or more from Indianapolis to Budapest and back from Prague. The IND-CDG route was canceled last year, sadly.

Great tips! I am booked for November so love your review; how much snorkeling and swimming are included in the excursions? For example, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, per half day or more?  I am planning to start lap swimming this week to build up my swimming endurance.  Is being a strong swimmer recommended or can you be a medium swimmer (LOL).

https://www.tours-tickets.com/en/holland-tours/giethoorn-tour/

We just returned from our Tulip Cruise on Ama! We used this company to see Keukenhof for a 5 hour tour and they were great - the buses leave from Centraal Station so they are close to the riverboats should you choose to go on embarkation or debarkation day and leave your luggage on your riverboat. We did not see Giethoorn, but saw other bus trips leave at the same time and they seem to be a well run operation. We had a double decker bus to Keukenhof, a guide who spoke 4 languages, and a close parking spot/meeting place. We had to change the day of our tour and they were very easy to deal with.

It looks like they offer a 9 hour day trip to Giethoorn.

We saw people with extra tickets on that day giving them away also, might be worth a look if you are walking by.

Definitely check at exactly 9 am local time on line.

Thank you Coral for the adjustment!!

Thank you for the feedback!

We did not see any beverage packages, the beverages at 5 or 6 pm Sip N Sails were very generously poured as were the meals (Champagne at breakfast, wine at lunch and dinner). We bought a few drinks late at night and they were reasonable I think 5-6 Euro.

JPalbny - The mussels are a must aren't they!  The A350 was great, quiet and comfortable, it felt roomy without the overhead compartments.  We had a very smooth flight to AMS.  The little sliding doors for privacy are super fun. The mini-suite feel definitely cut down on the feeling of traffic of carts and people going by.  We pre-ordered dinners and thought the food was great. (I had the chicken breast and it was crispy and tender). There are 4 flights a day to AMS from DTW and this is the earliest, which I wasn't sure was the best until we got our hotel room the next morning at 0730 which worked out great.

Most of our fellow passengers chose the combination Ghent and Bruges tour but I was happy to spend the day in Bruges. I hope to return one day and can see Ghent another day.

Hello, I just returned from a great trip on AmaPrima to the Netherlands and Belgium - it was cold and sometimes rainy but otherwise a great trip. I can't say anything but that Ama provided great service, food and generous beverage service to us. We were happy with our balcony cabin.  We visited Keukenhof which is amazing - we did pre and post cruise on our own which was easy. There was just enough cruising time and excursions were well planned.  I would highly recommend this trip. 

I have a trip blog at https.//luxurytravel.video.blog with pics. 

We did this exact trip last June; it is great; taxi is cheap and easy. Love the TGV!!

Thank you for the updates! Looking forward to doing this on AMAWaterways in 3 weeks! Thanks for the tip on the oysters and mussels;  we will look for some oysters for sure - we enjoyed them last year on our Uniworld Bordeaux tour as well. 

jeter55 is this part of a free air promotion or a discount that is always available? 

18 minutes ago, eclue said:

I highly recommend the Victoria Plaza hotel in Amsterdam - right across from Central Station and easy walk to Dam Square...the waterway boats just across the street...We were there last year for Kings Day and it was so much fun....The Plaza is the center of action for this celebration so we just put on our orange shirts and went out with the masses....It was a memorable time.  We are going back to Amsterdam in July, this year and will again stay at the Victoria Plaza.....their breakfast is amazing and was included in the price.....Everyone there is extremely helpful...The concierge booked our trip to the windmills, and Vollendam and Markham.....or you can do it on your own by bus or train.

Enjoy!!!  Amsterdam is one of our favorite places.

eclue

Thanks  eclue We are very excited. Thanks for the tips. We are staying pre-cruise for Tulip cruise and have award stay free hotel in Jordaan but will keep this in mind for next time!!

No we were able to do 4 in one room. 2 adults 2 kids - Sometimes it is better to call or email directly to the hotel. Now you know which ones will do day rooms- Good luck !!

Thank you! I am getting something orange!! 

https://www.between9and5.com/en/day-rooms-dublin/

This site lists day rooms all over.  Very helpful. You get the room during the day, they specify the hours. 

Ine,

On 2/1/2019 at 5:18 PM, Ine said:

Tickets come available 2 months prior the day you plan to visit the house. Those are regular tickets within a timeframe as per your reservation. 

More about introductory tickets here: Book an introductory program before your visit to the museum. In 30 minutes, we take you through the history of Anne Frank in the context of the Second World War and the persecution of the Jews. You will be well prepared for your visit. The program is in English and costs € 5 extra. The program is suitable for visitors from 10 years old. 

Tickets come on the website according dutch local time, in general from 9 a.m. cet. 

After the 2 months sometimes they put a few tickets online again, so then you can check the website also.

When I checked the website it seems the introcutory programm can and probably must be booked also 2 months prior. That seems to .

My visit will coincide with Kings Day, do you have any tips or advice? 

We did exactly this ourselves several years ago as a family of 4!  We landed super early; so I got a day room for a quick 2 hour nap near the airport then we taxied to Dublin and saw The Book of Kells, the Guinness tour, had lunch there; and the duck boat tour. We walked around the Temple Bar area and then headed back to the airport. It was perfect!! 

Should I use this 3-day ticket myself? Will be bringing suitcases to Andaz Prisengracht; looks like we could do the second class train and then a metro - is it possible with luggage? Will be 3d pre cruise on our own. 

Dana; this review has bumped up again and it is so great, I am looking at a longer PG after doing the 7 night in 2016 - I agree with you completely that the Deck 3 cabins are great! We enjoyed ours exactly as you did.  You are lucky to be able to take so much consecutive vacation time working in healthcare. I find it hard to take more than 2 weeks at a time. Good for you!!

I flew Air Tahiti Nui Business back in 2016 and thought the lounge was nice, plenty of seating and refreshments.  Our flight was not at midnight though. 

I just returned from this Eastern Itinerary.  We took taxis everywhere and that was easy.  First we headed to Maho - Maho is fun but very crowded - my group of 6 just taxi-ed over there in the am (9 dollars each) to check out some planes and see the beach, then for 4$ each taxi'ed over to  a nearby beach Mullet Bay Beach which has a nice rib/burger vendor, recliners, umbrellas,  and a beautiful beach with sandy bottom. We could still see the planes from the side here.  Mullet Bay is a much nicer beach especially for families in my opinion. We were very happy with this, and there were taxis available to return to the ship when we were ready. BTW no bathrooms, only porta potties.  The Maho beach  is party oriented with a large Sunset Bar playing music and serving beverages and people spilling over into the street. 

So I would recommend taxis if that works for you. 

I just returned from this Eastern Itinerary. Maho is fun but very crowded - my group of 6 just taxi-ed over there in the am (9 dollars each) to check out some planes and see the beach, then for 4$ each taxi'ed over to  a nearby beach Mullet Bay Beach which has a nice rib/burger vendor, recliners, umbrellas,  and a beautiful beach with sandy bottom. We could still see the planes from the side here.  Mullet Bay is a much nicer beach especially for families in my opinion. We were very happy with this, and there were taxis available to return to the ship when we were ready. BTW no bathrooms, only porta potties.  The Maho beach  is party oriented with a large Sunset Bar playing music and serving beverages and people spilling over into the street. 

I am heading off on HOTS in 2 weeks and anticipate a similar worry of norovirus, it is the time of year. Thank you for the suggestion for peroxide wipes I will look into this. There are a lot of people who are worried about flu shots causing illness, it is a common idea out there. It is up to individuals to assess their own risk of death from influenza and act accordingly if they have toe option to decline a vaccination.

I am always concerned myself that the common water dispensers might a possible noro source, so I usually get water by a case to avoid a contaminated spigot.  And not surprised the questionnaires are less utilized, they are probably useless as some have proposed.

Thanks for all the ideas fellow cruisers!!

is Sugar free red bull available?