FreestyleNovice

One tender at a time, it’s indeed a crowded place with expensive yachts docked (the mega yachts anchor outside) all around, it actually is a marina you sail into.

They use this spot to tender.

If you fear that a TA might book you into a travel agent rate without you knowing it, presenting you an higher rate to pay: never happened to us and never heard about such. To qualify for say an Interline rate (travel industry, airline crew etc) you must show proof of employment which I guess goes to X too. Same goes for military and other rates. The big profits for a TA are price drops which don’t get to benefit their customers but the TA themselves. If a customer is not paying attention they can pocket the difference, found out about that one in a TA training document.

Still aluminum bottles on Reflection, current cruise.

Now onboard Reflection, been on Edge last year and not seeing a downgrade at all. Service, food, cleanliness, all great. Despite some pretty negative posts about declining buffets, etc. As above: life is short, enjoy it. I glad Celebrity managed to deal with Covid, without selling ships so we can still enjoy our vacations onboard their fleet.

Hmm. Seems to be a bit messy in CC.. This might be better, a .zip with all the new deck plans. joy.zip

Deck 5 & deck 6

Thermal suite:

The new H2:

Anyone know what are the passenger numbers are for recent Reflection sailings?

Were there waffles on board Prima? I found a NCL photo of a plate of waffles among other plates.. NCL_Food Hall_BluePlate_SpaghettiAndMeatballs, NCL_Food Hall_BluePlate_FishTacos, some more BluePlates (which are not on actual blue plates ) and NCL_Food,-Hall_LuigesWaffle And some venues: Toucan Cafe The Blue Pearl icecream bar Manta Ray's bar and grill But those may be or sound like venues on the NCL islands perhaps? A Flighthouse logo in Topgun style also appeared at the same time. But that's offtopic..

NCL pumping up the vibe for your upcoming cruise for sure

Busy with life!

Hi all, currently exploring some booking options and as title says (..and I am almost certain but can't find any acknowledgement) that the with the Amplification of Explorer it was at the expense of the Kids pool Aventures area? Can anyone acknowledge this? Thanks in advance!

This @Turtles06, you will be fine. Schiphol's performance is back to normal these days (up till now, fingers crossed ). As @MAVIP posted, reserve a free time slot for security for the convenience of it. Through the app or at https://www.schiphol.nl/en/page/timeslots/ There's not a car company to recommend, it's basically all the same with the taxis in Amsterdam, it would only be a pre booked taxi with the average Joe as a driver. Sufficient enough for the 15 minutes to the airport if you ask me. Not worth spending more to have a luxury black car service. The train is really easy, the down side is the tram (if, that early?) for the few stops to the Centraal Station or the early morning stroll along the cruise terminal and water side, which can be nice for what it's worth. The train station at Schiphol is directly underneath the airport Plaza and the indoor walk up to the check in/security at the terminal might even be less stressful than the curb side taxi drop and squeeze into the same terminal building. But it's all the same in the end, no big differences. Walk off with the first groups at 7am-8am, you will find yourself checking in and at Schiphol security before 9am and at 10am you will be at your gate with plenty of time to kill. Enjoy your cruise!

Sounds like security went through your belongings. A roll of (souvenir) magnets might have triggered airport security scanning checked luggage, their heavy density shows on the screen of the x-ray/whatever ray they use nowadays. The souvenir shapes might even add to the complexity of the dense object on their computer screens. But your luggage would at least have a sticker or a note inside I presume. I can't imagine people on a British Isles cruise going through other's luggage in the corridor on the last evening in hope of getting some toothpaste..

Somewhere online.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/7387/?stay=1 I guess Royal called shotgun on the mugs.

Schiphol is better organized this year (at least spring did not made the worldwide headlines..) but I will go @Raisinette, tram might not run that early on that part so walk to the station enjoying the fresh air before a long flight home, take one of the 5-5:30 trains. The early morning trains (not the Nachtnet/hourly Night train except the last one) will have a lot of airport workers going in for their early shifts. Get a healthy breakfast at the La Place restaurant(s) at Plaza before you check in. Can't go wrong with the train option. The current advised arrival time for intercontinental flights is 3-4 hours before departure. Normally that is 3 hours and 2 hours for intra-Europe. @CruiserBruce's advice is also an option, after sightseeing retreat to the airport and settle in for a good night's rest, might save you an hour of sleep. There's indoor connected Sheraton, an Hilton further away and a funky CitizenM (covered outdoor walkway). And there's lodging inside the terminal, can't get any closer to your gate and which you can check in the night before your flight. I guess it is all about what your plans are for Amsterdam after disembarking?

Yep! Depending on the concert (I assume) you will probably see fellow fans pretty soon and the walk to the Ziggo Dome after the train/metro is pretty obvious after that

Not a steal but also not uncommon, hence the third party booking tool you mentioned. Train is about 20 Euros per person (included a 2-3 Euro surcharge for the 37 minute Intercity Direct) which is roughly 21-22 USD. My rule of thumb for R'dam - A'dam and vv is 1-2 pax; public transport to the Central Stations and definitely train. Elderly/lots of luggage/unfamiliar with Amsterdam/foreign travel/first time/honeymooners/whatsoever and groups starting at 3-4 and up to 7-8 pax; taxi (sedan and up to 9 (driver included) in a van). Really large groups of 9 and more: rent a (mini) coach. Enjoy The Netherlands!

No direct busses, that's right. Train or tram plus metro is the way to go. The Bijlmer ArenA railway station is a short walk and the main public transport hub for the Ziggo Dome, (and the ArenA stadium, AFAS Live venue), just walk down the Johan Cruijf Boulevard towards the Ziggo Dome. From CS you can take the 54 Metro towards Gein. And CS is some 10 minutes from the Anne Frank House area. Use https://9292.nl/en for all your public transport planning for The Netherlands, that planner has all the Dutch OV (openbaar vervoer) companies. Depending on your needs you might want to look into a multiple day pass to cover all your transport; The Dutch Railways has a good overview of the current passes under the Tourism header at https://www.ns.nl/producten/en/losse-kaartjes-toeslagen They are the Amsterdam Travel Ticket, Amsterdam region travel ticket or the Holland Travel Ticket. With such a pass you can also cover your return to Schiphol, with the 4 hour advice given you should manage getting there with public transport, especially with carry on only . The public transport network is pretty dense and from Amsterdam it gives you enough alternative routes. The A10 ringway and A4 can be pretty congested during rush hour, chances between car and OV delays are pretty 50/50.

The walk from Amsterdam Centraal is slightly further than the final Elandgracht bus stop of the 397 towards your hotel. Walking from CS is more crowded, straight towards the Dam/Royal Palace, along with the flow. And take a right after the Palace. The price of a single train ticket is about 5 Euro. The Schiphol train station is underneath the Plaza level after Arrivals, the bus station is right outside in front of Schiphol Plaza. Base your choice on any other needs for transport (public transport day pass, multiple day pass, all which may be of use for your to and from Schiphol leg). But.. If you enjoyed the walk the previous time and managed the bus with luggage I would take the bus again. The difference are very small, a few Euros, a few minutes, faster versus some quick sightseeing along the way.

@Ine meant the menu/navigation of the touch screen ticket machine, default it's Dutch. Payment is one of the last steps, if you manage to get there through all the Dutch options than you probably won't need an English payment screen anyway.

Perhaps a scoop, perhaps not, I dusted off my NCL-interweb-O-sleuth-machine and found this: official NCL Starbucks ship mugs, more practical than the pins for most of us I guess. I haven't set foot on a NCL ship in years (a moment of silence please...) so please don't flame me if this was already posted.