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FreestyleNovice

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Everything posted by FreestyleNovice

  1. MSC is headquartered in Swiss nowadays but it sure has Italian roots, Italian offficers, Italian made ships etc. MSC Crociere/Cruises is a sub company from Mediterranean Shipping Company.
  2. Odd by the way: Norwegian Star is listed on both websites for May 4th 2024. IJmuiden: Amsterdam: Glitch or because of the IJmuiden locks?
  3. Just for the record or anyone's future reference: The border is a non-problem, both Belgium and The Netherlands are Schengen countries and have free passage between them. There is no border, but border police might be present onboard the international trains.
  4. Yup, just the opposite way. All indoors. The Baggage Reclaim (Arrivals) halls all connect to the central Plaza area (with underneath it the Schiphol railway station). Near the Plaza exits is an elevated and covered/indoor walkway across the street to the Sheraton and parking garages and Hilton hotels. Maps: https://www.schiphol.nl/en/airport-maps Also see this Sheraton clip below which starts at exiting Arrivals Hall 3 after Customs, directly into the Plaza (shops and food), across the open area of Plaza and up the walkway to the covered walkway. When departing it's vice versa, you will need to go up one floor after Plaza to the Departures 1, 2 or 3 which are on the floor above the corresponding Arrivals/Baggage Reclaim halls. The Plaza is also good for a snack, some groceries or gifts. The Sheraton has a restaurant.
  5. The Sheraton isn’t any less or more by foot than your average large international airport walking distances. Schiphol has plenty of free airport style luggage carts, you can take one all the way from outside the hotel to the check in counter. Stack your luggage, push down the handle bar and “pardon! Dank u!” as you go. Please forget about the paid porter service, besides over sized luggage or sports teams I have never ever seen anybody using it. There is a paid meet and greet service which expedites some check points but it’s the same price range. Schiphol is very easy to navigate!
  6. Here's a good link for season info and also about the smaller newer/upcoming flower experiences: https://bollenstreek.nl/when-are-the-flower-fields-the-netherlands-blooming/?lang=en
  7. For one night? There's a Marriott right across the Rotterdam Centraal Station. It's in the one and only real downtown business district we have here in The Netherlands, so depending on your needs it could be a good choice. For a late arrival and early metro to the ship next morning, on points it would be great. For venturing out to see the wind mills etc perhaps less. The Netherlands and especially the Amsterdam-Rotterdam area is very travelable and compact in it's own way (some Dutchies might disagree because we love our bicycles and by bike it's way less compact hehe..), visiting some of the tourist attractions can be very manageable.
  8. Good good choice on the taxi, pre Covid the trains were packed on Kingsday. It's the number one method of transport for the youth and young ones, dressed in orange, drinking their beers on their way to city festivals.
  9. Google taxi Amsterdam Rotterdam, you will get enough taxi companies (or taxi partnerships) with their rates happy to take reservations. You will end up having a normal blue plate taxi, ranging from medium stations and sedans to Mercedes E class or Mercedes van. Black car services are offered less and are mostly the same taxi unless you opt for the real high executive ones. Book a rate going 110-125-140'ish Euro for one way. Train and metro would be a bit over 40 Euro, perhaps a few Euro more for possible tram/bus in Amsterdam to one of the railway stations.
  10. I am confused by the last posts. You are saying you won't see anything interesting within the five hours from leaving port of Vancouver and the late June sunset on embarkation day?
  11. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is back to normal operations for quite a while now. Luckily!
  12. Dutch news reporting about a few Dutchies on board: ..showing the Encore in their second shot, "This is the ship they are stuck on.." : edit: source RTLNieuws https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/video/uitzendingen/video/06bf4775-3fee-4c7e-a6a8-d569c1737cc6/rtl-nieuws-1930-uur
  13. The fun we had with that first Atrium pic of Prima, the leaked go kart track and slides.
  14. Meanwhile in Italy: The bridge block was also hoisted up/installed:
  15. Here's a shady spy-ish Aqua shot taken this week..
  16. As said above, it's indeed the Amsterdam city center as an general area. The metro is the fastest route from Amsterdam Centraal Station, the bus route is more to the west and therefore less of an option. For anyone doing some Amsterdam sightseeing or staying in the city centre before heading to Keukenhof it might be a good option.
  17. 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.
  18. As @Globaliser wrote, there's a luggage depot at Schiphol Airport. It's directly underneath Arrivals 1/Arrivals 2 (after you exit the baggage reclaim, look for the escalators/elevators in between Arrivals 1 and Arrivals 2 and the large and constant flow of people coming from the Plaza going up to Departures 1 and Departures 2). But. It would save you time if you would travel with luggage to the Keukenhof, use their luggage storage (see the FAQ under Services at https://keukenhof.nl/en/frequently-asked-questions/ for specifics) and ride the Keukenhof Express Bus to Leiden (which is kind off in between Schiphol and Rotterdam), from Leiden Centraal Station you can easily travel to Rotterdam. Your Keukenhof Combi Ticket (bus and park entrance) will allow you to do that. Downside is that you would have to take your luggage on to the bus, which is a regular public transport bus with some space for you and your luggage. During peak days they will drive these busses to their max capacity (standing passengers) or they at least did, regulations might have changed. The Keukenhof Express Bus runs every 10 minutes, a park visit is about 3 hours. You could extend it with a tulip field boat tour https://keukenhof.nl/en/facilities/whisper-boat/ or drink a coffee or a beer in Leiden during your stop. Near the Leiden Centraal Station one of the sunny terraces with a view of Molen De Valk, a two minute walk and it can't get any more Dutch than that! A glimpse: https://maps.app.goo.gl/kW9p4nbkbxra56Jg8
  19. I am not sure what ferry you are referring to, the cruise ship (both river and ocean cruises) dock is on the Amsterdam Centraal Station side in Amsterdam so there's no need to use a ferry. You can easily walk or take the tram for a minute to get to Amsterdam Centraal Station from the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam/Cruise Port Amsterdam. From there you have two options for public transport, take the Metro underneath the station to Europaplein (Amsterdam RAI convention center) and board the Keukenhof Express Bus there. Or take a train to Schiphol Airport and board a different Keukenhof Express Bus. Check out the map at https://keukenhof.nl/en/ov/ I would suggest the Metro to Europaplein as it will be cheaper and quicker. The Keukenhof website provides a detailed step a by step. Enjoy!
  20. Norwegian Joy arrived a day late for her current drydock due to a storm.
  21. Port side, near said the tables and chairs.
  22. Does Royal automatically provide a crib when booking a baby or is it on a request basis? Thanks in advance.
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