Taking a cruise to or from Amsterdam

Cruising to Amsterdam

Amsterdam has become a popular destination for sea- and river cruises. It receives over 140 cruise ships per year and several hundreds of ships for Rhine cruises. It becomes even more mind boggling when you imagine this amounts to about 300.000 people. And these numbers are ever increasing. When put into perspective this does make sense considering Amsterdam’s rich history as a world city, it’s lively artistic and cheeky culture, it’s beautiful museums and monuments, exciting attractions, grand shopping areas, a vibrant nightlife and high quality restaurants and hotels.

The current location of the Amsterdam Passenger Terminal (APT) is quite a special location. It is almost next to Amsterdam Central Station and near the historical city center. This means that when the cruise approaches the city you can enjoy a beautiful view of Amsterdam. From the terminal it is possible to walk to the historical city center while enjoying the scenery. But of course it’s also possible to take the tram which stops directly in front of the terminal, for the people who prefer to take the public transport. As Amsterdam is known for its many canals, there are also berths for canal boats that navigate between the terminal and the canals in the city center.

The glass terminal itself has the shape of a large wave. The quay is big enough to berth even large cruise ships as it’s an impressive 600 m (1969 ft) long. It has a large hall with a tourist information desk, several shops, a car rental for people who wish to explore the country further and a terrace where friends and family can come to see you off. The terminal is also frequently rented out for events and exhibitions.

Additionally, Amsterdam is currently building the largest sea lock in the world. The sea lock will be 500 m (1640 ft) long, 70 m (230 ft) wide, 18 m (59 ft) deep and tidal independent. So in the near future Amsterdam can receive even the largest cruise ships of the world, like the Oasis of the Seas. The construction has started in 2016 and is expected to be finished in the year 2019.

If you intend to leave from Amsterdam, then it can be useful to know that the terminal itself has about 550 parking spaces, but parking at P+R Zeeburg is a cheaper alternative. It is also possible to park your car at the mid- or long term parking at Schiphol Airport as it is only a 20 minute drive to the Amsterdam Passenger Terminal, or a 15 minute train ride to Amsterdam Central Station. The terminal also has parking lots for touring cars and taxi stands, so you can also just take the taxi here.

All this begs the question where all the ships actually come from. Well, most of the cruise ships in the Amsterdam Passenger Terminal go to, or come from:
– The North Cape, which is one of the most northern points of Europe
– The Norwegian Fjords
– Scandinavian cities like Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki
– The Baltic sea, Copenhagen, Tallinn and st. Petersburg
– The Mediterranean sea
– The USA

As you can imagine long distance cruises that pass through Amsterdam pass a wide variety of international cities, each with it’s own distinct culture and vibe to it. It is very possible to take a short cruise, explore Amsterdam and be home a few days later. But the longer the cruise takes, the more cities you get to enjoy.