Amsterdam port to town

[mandy1312]

Hi We are going on Ventura in July with an overnight stop in Amsterdam, there a couple of places I want to visit but before I book tickets can someone please advise how far the port is from the centre & the usual way to get there from the ship?

[barney]

Last time I was there you just walked into the city.

[Manoverboard]

On one occasion when we were supposed to dock in Amsterdam we docked at Rotterdam instead, this did not impact on our pre-booked P&O tour though.

[Jan Rosser]

Depends where you are docking - there's a lot of very angry people posting on the P&O Facebook site complaining because on New Year's Eve this year the ship is docking in IJmuiden which is not walkable into the city centre - they are providing shuttle buses but for those who want to see the fireworks from the ship this is not possible apparently. Last May I had an overnight stop in Amsterdam and it was very easy to get off the ship and walk into the city - hope this is where you are docking too.

[Stephen]

As barney says, you can walk it. Just keep your wits about you as push bikes are whizzing by everywhere.

[towny44]

I thought that all the Carnival ships had now abandoned Amsterdam, at least from reading the comments on cruise critic.

[GillD46]

Yes I understood that berthing at Amsterdam was not on the cards any more. The journey in from IJmuiden is about 40 minutes by bus.

[Kenmo1]

Yes I understood that berthing at Amsterdam was not on the cards any more. The journey in from IJmuiden is about 40 minutes by bus.

The PO web site has now been updated for the Amsterdam port stop with a bracketed note saying from Ijmuiden. A lot of people have received notification but you obviously haven't yet, Mandy. Sneaky of PO and annoying for people who specifically booked a cruise with a stop right in Amsterdam so that they could get on and off whenever they wanted. PO doesn't appear to be refunding the fare, although I assume you haven't yet paid the balance but MSC appears to be refunding their passengers if they cancel. I gather this is a reaction by Carnival to the tourist tax recently introduced by Amsterdam of an 8 euro charge for each passenger.

Maureen