Amsterdam - (proposed) closing cruise ship terminal

[rachiem]

They say to limit tourists but won't they just get "bussed" in anyway from other local ports?

[BigAl94]

4 minutes ago, rachiem said:

They say to limit tourists but won't they just get "bussed" in anyway from other local ports?

Activists are targeting other ports https://ens-newswire.com/climate-activists-block-departure-of-rotterdam-cruise-ship/

[edinburgher]

Many many more reuptable news sources are now reporting.

 

Maybe of little value, but in my opinion, I do think that cruiselines have largely brought this upon themselves by building larger and larger ships in recent years and not only larger, but more of them, meaning that the number of cruise pax has dramatically increased in some portswhich were already seeing too much growth in tourist numbers

 

Unfortunately this has coincided with the upsurge in tourist numbers in general and many European cities and towns have been overwhelmed, making the visiting experience almost uncomfortable .  Over tourism has prompted many local authorities to clamp down on the expansion of eg AirBnBs, cruise ships, and other groups which contribute to overcrowding.

 

In very recent years, the port of IJmuiden has taken some cruise ships in an effort to reduce numbers in Amsterdam itself, and even more recently Rotterdam, but efforts by the Amsterdam authorities are ongoing and this announcement only the latest.

 

Anyone who has regularly visited Europe in the last 15 or so years will have noted the increase in numbers and will appreciate that there comes a time "when something must be done" as such uncontrolled growth in tourist numbers is not sustainable

Edited July 21, 2023 by edinburgher

[Megabear2]

10 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

Looks as if they are limiting cruise ships because of some rowdy younger Brits who travel to Amsterdam and cause a lot of trouble.

This is not the case. Yes a lot of British of all ages visit Amsterdam land based but they most certainly do not come by cruise ship and the trouble with excess drinking, drug use and prostitution is not just the preserve of UK visitors.  The article appears to trying to tie several issues into one and as a result sends false signals as to why the port will close.

 

Amsterdam chose the path of offering drugs, sex and booze years ago and this aspect is not exclusively British.  A local decision to change the profile of Amsterdam and curtail the excesses of all tourists was taken after the pandemic but the discussions about the Red Light District have been rumbling on for around 8 years due to issues of modern slave trade and in particular Eastern European gangs running them

 

The real point the Guardian article is highlighting is a new bridge being required by the city and there will be height issues with ships.

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

Just trying to look for more information. Bloomberg seem to suggest it’s cruise ships only not river cruises because of reference to huge ships and jumbo ships.

 

no timeline for closure yet. I’m guessing consultations could take quite a while. Although agreeing to ban cruise ships from Venice & implementing the ban was only 4 months. 1st April 2021 agreed - 1st August 2021 ban started

 

“The Dutch capital’s council voted on Thursday to restrict the jumbo ships from docking in the city and aims to close its central cruise-ship terminal, according to a municipality spokesperson. The timeline and the details of implementation will be decided after consultations with various stakeholders, the spokesperson said.”

 

Seems to be many UNESCO sites banning cruise ships atm. Some Norway fjords, Venice & now Amsterdam

I’ll be keeping an eye on any other cruise ports in or close to UNESCO areas too.

[C4HCG]

If a region decides it doesn’t want my custom then they won’t get it! I am not going to try to find another way of getting there.  Loads of other places to go that will welcome tourists and cruise ships. And I hope the plan backfires and the number of visitors to Amsterdam drops massively. And thinking it through, all trips are massively bad for the environment so what do we all do, only go on holidays within walking or cycling distance?

[chemmo]

1 hour ago, rachiem said:

They say to limit tourists but won't they just get "bussed" in anyway from other local ports?

Yes. Venice still seems as popular as ever…

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

22 minutes ago, JG&Lcruisingnewbies said:

Seems to be many UNESCO sites banning cruise ships atm. Some Norway fjords, Venice & now Amsterdam

I’ll be keeping an eye on any other cruise ports in or close to UNESCO areas

 For clarification these are not ports from where you can visit UNESCO sites that I’m keeping an eye on

Only sites where cruise ships are polluting UNESCO waters
 

I don’t for one minute think that cruise ships will be banned from areas where you can travel to sites. Just places where water in those sites are suffering

[chemmo]

I wonder if cruise ships are as popular and as revenue producing as they once were? 

 

Certainly I think a lot of people are more travel knowledgeable than they used to be. Independently booking passes and using local transport rather than booking ‘full tours’. Then food and beverage…many cruise passengers bring their ‘free’ water off the ship with them, skip lunch or buy something basic only buy an occasional drink. Obviously the drinks package may drive this…

 

If someone is staying in the port it seems inevitable they will spend more than someone on a day trip…They are paying for accommodation, meals and drinks…

19 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

If a region decides it doesn’t want my custom then they won’t get it! I am not going to try to find another way of getting there.  Loads of other places to go that will welcome tourists and cruise ships. And I hope the plan backfires and the number of visitors to Amsterdam drops massively. And thinking it through, all trips are massively bad for the environment so what do we all do, only go on holidays within walking or cycling distance?

I guess it all comes down to choices. We did love cruising in/out of Venice but I did for environmental reasons support the decision to ban cruise ships. Amsterdam is a city I have never visited (perhaps because it is so easy to do from the UK?). I would be willing to be transported in/out if I cruised there although I would be more likely to book it as a long weekend break than a cruise stop.

 

 

[JeanieC,Aston]

36 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

If a region decides it doesn’t want my custom then they won’t get it! I am not going to try to find another way of getting there.  Loads of other places to go that will welcome tourists and cruise ships. And I hope the plan backfires and the number of visitors to Amsterdam drops massively. And thinking it through, all trips are massively bad for the environment so what do we all do, only go on holidays within walking or cycling distance?

The plan is to reduce numbers visiting the city,,so if your hope that the numbers drop comes to fruition Amsterdam would welcome that.

 

Have you been to Amsterdam recently?,,,it’s crowded with drunks and druggies,,,it’s that that they want to stop plus they want to build a bridge from the city across the river and the cruise terminal is in the way.

Edited July 21, 2023 by JeanieC,Aston

[EDVM96]

22 minutes ago, JG&Lcruisingnewbies said:

Only sites where cruise ships are polluting UNESCO waters

Ah, Glacier Bay for example?

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/72/
 

Edited July 21, 2023 by EDVM96

[bigAWL]

The article says:

"Amsterdam has become a victim of its own popularity, attracting 20 million annual visitors."

and

"Cruise ships have become a symbol of the problem, with more than 100 mooring in the capital every year."

 

Those 100 ships probably don't bring more than 400,000 guests each year, which is a drop in the bucket of 20M.  But those ~400,000 certainly spend much less per person than those using hotels and restaurants.  Unless the ship fees to the port can make that up (maybe they can, I don't know), then it's an easy call to cut cruises off first.

 

Will they go after river cruises, as well?  It seems to me that would have a much bigger impact on the river cruise industry than the ocean cruise ban does for that industry.

[Bigdrinks]

1 hour ago, chemmo said:

Yes. Venice still seems as popular as ever…

To be fair, the vast majority of tourists to Venice have always arrived by air, not cruise ship. 

[RD64]

2 hours ago, C4HCG said:

If a region decides it doesn’t want my custom then they won’t get it! I am not going to try to find another way of getting there.  Loads of other places to go that will welcome tourists and cruise ships. And I hope the plan backfires and the number of visitors to Amsterdam drops massively. And thinking it through, all trips are massively bad for the environment so what do we all do, only go on holidays within walking or cycling distance?

Have you seen the crowds in Adam, and hotel prices? Banning cruise ship passengers is not going to cause the number of visitors to drop massively.

 

And you are correct, they do not want the “custom” of cruise ship passengers. They went tourists who pay to stay in hotels, go to restaurants, and contribute to the local economy in a significant way.

 

Also consider the cruise ship ban in Venice - cruise ship passengers are a drop in the bucket compared to total visitor numbers, and life goes on

[Aplmac]

From the BBC website!

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66264226

 

 

[bobfoo]

2 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

This is not the case. Yes a lot of British of all ages visit Amsterdam land based but they most certainly do not come by cruise ship and the trouble with excess drinking, drug use and prostitution is not just the preserve of UK visitors.  The article appears to trying to tie several issues into one and as a result sends false signals as to why the port will close.

 

Amsterdam chose the path of offering drugs, sex and booze years ago and this aspect is not exclusively British.  A local decision to change the profile of Amsterdam and curtail the excesses of all tourists was taken after the pandemic but the discussions about the Red Light District have been rumbling on for around 8 years due to issues of modern slave trade and in particular Eastern European gangs running them

 

The real point the Guardian article is highlighting is a new bridge being required by the city and there will be height issues with ships.

I suppose being a British newspaper The Guardian will focus on the British aspect.

 

It obviously is a non-zero number, but I can't help but think that this is one of those decisions that will not have anywhere near the effect people think it will have.

 

A cruise ship is a very large visible presence and it is therefore easy to come to the conclusion that it has thousands of people, therefore that's why the city centre is so busy and thus makes them an easy target.

 

But given that nearly all ships are gone come evening time that's having no input on overcrowding in the evening and during the night, and during the day they represent a single digit percentage of total tourists in the city at any given time.

[bikerunner]

I really think I am not meant to do a TA, Beyond got cxled next year April because of the stupidity of Celebrity, I shifted to the Silhouette, the dates for us really cannot be moved as we are meeting friends over in Italy on May 6th, for extended 10 days touring italy.  Was going to do Silhouette ends on May 5th, spend a day in Amsterdam and then fly over to Italy.  Now it looks like it will change again as Celebrity has to figure out a new port to go to for passengers to embark.  At least I didnt buy my air yet from Amsterdam to Italy

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, bigAWL said:

Will they go after river cruises, as well?  It seems to me that would have a much bigger impact on the river cruise industry than the ocean cruise ban does for that industry.

Good point, Viking River cruises has a very popular Basel to Amsterdam and reverse cruise itinerary with ships departing almost every day of the week in the summer season. Our Celebrity Apex cruise departure was moved months ago from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, but Rotterdam may targeted next for some type of ban.

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, bikerunner said:

Now it looks like it will change again as Celebrity has to figure out a new port to go to for passengers to embark.  At least I didnt buy my air yet from Amsterdam to Italy

Celebrity has already moved most Amsterdam cruises to Rotterdam which is only 30 minutes from Amsterdam. Our September Apex cruise departure was moved there months ago,

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

22 minutes ago, EDVM96 said:

Ah, Glacier Bay for example?

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/72/
 

Quite possibly yes. That’s the type of area I’m thinking of

 

BUT I don’t know if there is any such current campaign to ban cruise ships there already & it does seem to depend on local authorities voting in favour of it, not just UNESCOs views

 

UNESCO have a decent amount of influence. I’m sure them urging Venice to ban cruise ships & potentially adding Venice to an ‘in danger’ list was a consideration for local residents & gov. But UNESCO had been urging for the ban since 2014 so not that much!

 

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2021/07/22/venice-avoids-being-placed-on-unesco-s-heritage-danger-list

[bikerunner]

5 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Celebrity has already moved most Amsterdam cruises to Rotterdam which is only 30 minutes from Amsterdam. Our September Apex cruise departure was moved there months ago,

Ahhh good to know.  just a little bit more logistics to figure out then.  

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, bikerunner said:

Ahhh good to know.  just a little bit more logistics to figure out then.  

We are still staying in Amsterdam for 3 days prior to our cruise and taking private transportation to Rotterdam in the morning of our cruise departure. 

[jdacombe]

Does the fact that cruise ships are now getting bigger and bigger with passenger capacities in excess of 6,000 have any impact on these decisions

[Silkroad]

47 minutes ago, bikerunner said:

I really think I am not meant to do a TA, Beyond got cxled next year April because of the stupidity of Celebrity, I shifted to the Silhouette, the dates for us really cannot be moved as we are meeting friends over in Italy on May 6th, for extended 10 days touring italy.  Was going to do Silhouette ends on May 5th, spend a day in Amsterdam and then fly over to Italy.  Now it looks like it will change again as Celebrity has to figure out a new port to go to for passengers to embark.  At least I didnt buy my air yet from Amsterdam to Italy

I understand your frustration. Like yourself, I was summarily tossed off the spring TA and the subsequent cruise on Beyond. I moved to the Ascent TA and ditched the other booking. Regarding the Amsterdam cruise port, I wouldn’t panic. The news flash, which has been widely reported since last night, is remarkably short on details. I’ve seen no cruise port closure date. There will be thousands of details- including contractual obligations- to sort before the port is closed.
 

FWIW we’re about to depart for a b2b that was meant to sail from Amsterdam. Months ago, I received the news that we’d sail from Rotterdam instead. This change doesn’t affect our flight plans. 

Edited July 21, 2023 by Silkroad

[bikerunner]

Just now, Silkroad said:

I understand your frustration. Like yourself, I was summarily tossed off the spring TA and the subsequent cruise on Beyond. I moved to the Ascent TA and ditched the other booking. Regarding the Amsterdam cruise port, I wouldn’t panic. The news flash, which has been widely reported since last night, is remarkably short on details. I’ve seen no cruise port closure date. There will be thousands of details- including contractual obligations- to sort before the port is closed. FWIW I’m about to depart for a b2b that was meant to sail from Amsterdam. Months ago, I received the news that we’d depart from Rotterdam instead. 

Ohh not panicking at all....just the part of travel and understanding being flexible overall, tho the dates are not flexible  Id be fine with Rotterdam, uber/limo or rent a car for a day up to Amsterdam and all good.  Also might make me stop at Keukenhof tulip gardens on the way up to Amsterdam as its not completely out of the way.