Change of Port- very annoying

[sayaguru]

We are going on MSC- Magnifica on 30th April from Amsterdam.

We booked a nearby hotel as we knew it was the Queens birthday holiday.

I found out (via Cruise Critic) that the port has been changed because of the holiday.

The thing is it's taken me 2 weeks to get a reply from MSC to confirm this. Why weren't we informed (as the cruise critic poster had been)?

Also the port is 13.7km away (no where near our hotel) and there is no public transport because of the holiday.

 

No help with transfers. Just - make your own way to the port.

 

VERY annoyed. Lack of information. Lack of service. Hope this is not indicative of what's to come for our MSC cruise.

Might be the first and last.

[Alex71]

Our cruise last summer also left from IJmuiden in case that's what you are talkig about. MSC had a shuttle service between IJmuiden and Amsterdam. Apparently, there is also a high speed boat service between the two cities.

[sayaguru]

No, not that far. About half the distance and MSC offering nothing in regards to transport because of change of port. It's going to be VERY difficult to get there as taxis can't go in the city and public transport is minimal. I'll have to get a train to the outside of Amsterdam then get a taxi from there. Waste of a day when we could be enjoying the festivities.

[DutchBunny]

I don't know what your local msc website says but on the Dutch website it says that there will be a free transfer from Amsterdam Sloterdijk station to the ship. You van get a direct train from Amsterdam CS to Amsterdam Sloterdijk.

 

By the way, the reason of change is something MSC could not foresee. Our queen abdicates and we will be getting a king on April 30. This is only recently announced and therefore the city of Amsterdam is expecting much more visitors than normal on queensday. The original terminal of departure is in the middel of the city and is probably unreachable on this day.

[sayaguru]

I understand it is beyond their control I just think they could be a bit more accomodating.

I can't get a straight answer from them other than to say "it's up to you how you get there".

 

So assuming I get the train to Sloterdijk would I be able to get a taxi from there if there was no shuttle? Is that still in central Amsterdam and be affected by the festivities?

 

See I'm placing my fate in what forum postrers are telling me as I have no confirmation from MSC that the ship has even moved ports. THAT'S the frustrating bit.

[DutchBunny]

This is on the Dutch MSC website:

http://www.msccruises.nl/nl_nl/Over-MSC-Cruises/Nieuws/MSC-Magnifica-30-april.aspx

 

Amsterdam Sloterdijk is not in the centre of the city. It is in the Western part of the city so it should be possible to reach this station by train but it will definitely also very busy. In case there is no shuttle there are always taxi's at this station.

 

Another thing you could do is cancel the room in the centre of Amsterdam (I guess the hotel can rebook it in this case) and make a new reservation in for exemple Haarlem, which is also very nice and has a direct train connection with Amsterdam Sloterdijk.

[sayaguru]

Thank you again. I appreciate you looking that up and posting the link.

 

It's nice to see somethinmg from the actual site as I still have not heard directly or via my agent. Time to change agents I think.