Debarkation in Amsterdam

[2funcruzin]

We have very few choices for departure times on AA on departure day. Our flight leaves Amsterdam at 10:55. Yes I know that's close. I've read it's only about a 25 minute ride to the airport but not sure how early self debarkation will take. 

 

Anyone had any experience at this port? TIA

[DerekB]

Although I've never got of a cruise ship in Amsterdam, I live only a few minutes from the port and fly to the US regularly. It is a quick trip to the airport (about 25 minutes by taxi/uber or about 15 minutes by train, if you go to central). 

 

That being said - Schiphol is a huge airport and flights to the US have additional security screenings. Normally you want to be at Schiphol about 3 hours before departure to feel comfortable. That should be doable, especially if you do walk-off with your luggage. 

[lovesthebeach2]

1 hour ago, 2funcruzin said:

We have very few choices for departure times on AA on departure day. Our flight leaves Amsterdam at 10:55. Yes I know that's close. I've read it's only about a 25 minute ride to the airport but not sure how early self debarkation will take. 

 

Anyone had any experience at this port? TIA

We only have done one cruise that departed in Amsterdam (thanks Covid) and it was probably the most stressful we’ve done. I remember we also had a fairly early flight (12:50). We booked the transfer from the ship to the airport but everyone was delayed leaving for customs or something.
When we finally got to the airport, we didn’t know where to go. Lines everywhere overlapping so we couldn’t tell which was which,  nothing in English. Luckily we found locals in line with us that showed us where to go (we were in the wrong line). we found out we need to check our bags ourselves, which was ok but we had no idea how to do it,  we had multiple checkpoints with long walks and the older couple we flew with almost missed the flight due to them not getting on the same transfer bus as we did. 

[2funcruzin]

10 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

We only have done one cruise that departed in Amsterdam (thanks Covid) and it was probably the most stressful we’ve done. I remember we also had a fairly early flight (12:50). We booked the transfer from the ship to the airport but everyone was delayed leaving for customs or something.
When we finally got to the airport, we didn’t know where to go. Lines everywhere overlapping so we couldn’t tell which was which,  nothing in English. Luckily we found locals in line with us that showed us where to go (we were in the wrong line). we found out we need to check our bags ourselves, which was ok but we had no idea how to do it,  we had multiple checkpoints with long walks and the older couple we flew with almost missed the flight due to them not getting on the same transfer bus as we did. 

That is scary! 

[2funcruzin]

30 minutes ago, DerekB said:

Although I've never got of a cruise ship in Amsterdam, I live only a few minutes from the port and fly to the US regularly. It is a quick trip to the airport (about 25 minutes by taxi/uber or about 15 minutes by train, if you go to central). 

 

That being said - Schiphol is a huge airport and flights to the US have additional security screenings. Normally you want to be at Schiphol about 3 hours before departure to feel comfortable. That should be doable, especially if you do walk-off with your luggage. 

I hope you are right! Thank you!

[lovesthebeach2]

8 minutes ago, 2funcruzin said:

That is scary! 

It was stressful for sure.  The important  part for you is that we were all delayed at least an hour getting off because it took longer to clear the ship. 
Maybe even longer. And we had to go through so many lines with our passports, and then to top it off our gate was the last gate down a very long walkway. The older couple got on as they were about to close the doors.  

[DerekB]

I see a some posting about various lines at Schiphol. Let me explain a bit about how it works now:

 

1. Check in/luggage drop is first and almost entirely automated. With most airlines you get your boarding pass at a kiosk, scan it at an automatic luggage machine where you tag your own luggage and send it away. You then start your journey toward your gate.
2. Security check. Schiphol has made huge advancements with this and the security check points are incredibly easy to pass. There is no getting stuck behind a slow passenger because multiple people can get their items ready for x-ray at the same time - whomever is done first gets to go.
3. Passport Control. Americans can use automatic kiosk to clear passport control upon leaving the country. Usually there is only a very short line for this, but can be busier during certain periods - and rather lengthy if the kiosk break down (they do once in a while). 
4. Additional security screening. Delta has a special place for this where all Delta passengers must go and be questioned by a security officer. The line for this can be 30+ minutes long. Delta puts this as your gate on your boarding pass - so if on Delta go to the gate on your boarding pass and not the one on the screen or you'll have to walk all the way back. United and American do this extra screening at the individual gates. This screening involves a short quiz about your trip from information they already know (for instance, how did you pay for your ticket?) 
5. Boarding time - usually starts 45 minutes before departure and is very effecient. You may be randomly pulled to the side and have you luggage searched. In 15 years of flying out of here, that has never happened to me - but I have seen it happen to others, including my father. 

If you are making a connection inside Europe THEN flying to the United States then absolutely nothing I just said is true. If that's the case then you can easily show up 90 minutes before your flight and find yourself sitting at yoru gate with 70 minutes to spare.

Edited March 27, 2022 by DerekB
typo

[2funcruzin]

On 3/27/2022 at 2:25 PM, DerekB said:

I see a some posting about various lines at Schiphol. Let me explain a bit about how it works now:

 

1. Check in/luggage drop is first and almost entirely automated. With most airlines you get your boarding pass at a kiosk, scan it at an automatic luggage machine where you tag your own luggage and send it away. You then start your journey toward your gate.
2. Security check. Schiphol has made huge advancements with this and the security check points are incredibly easy to pass. There is no getting stuck behind a slow passenger because multiple people can get their items ready for x-ray at the same time - whomever is done first gets to go.
3. Passport Control. Americans can use automatic kiosk to clear passport control upon leaving the country. Usually there is only a very short line for this, but can be busier during certain periods - and rather lengthy if the kiosk break down (they do once in a while). 
4. Additional security screening. Delta has a special place for this where all Delta passengers must go and be questioned by a security officer. The line for this can be 30+ minutes long. Delta puts this as your gate on your boarding pass - so if on Delta go to the gate on your boarding pass and not the one on the screen or you'll have to walk all the way back. United and American do this extra screening at the individual gates. This screening involves a short quiz about your trip from information they already know (for instance, how did you pay for your ticket?) 
5. Boarding time - usually starts 45 minutes before departure and is very effecient. You may be randomly pulled to the side and have you luggage searched. In 15 years of flying out of here, that has never happened to me - but I have seen it happen to others, including my father. 

If you are making a connection inside Europe THEN flying to the United States then absolutely nothing I just said is true. If that's the case then you can easily show up 90 minutes before your flight and find yourself sitting at yoru gate with 70 minutes to spare.

Thank you so much! Thank you for breaking it all down. 

[njkruzer]

On 3/27/2022 at 2:25 PM, DerekB said:

I see a some posting about various lines at Schiphol. Let me explain a bit about how it works now:

 

1. Check in/luggage drop is first and almost entirely automated. With most airlines you get your boarding pass at a kiosk, scan it at an automatic luggage machine where you tag your own luggage and send it away. You then start your journey toward your gate.
2. Security check. Schiphol has made huge advancements with this and the security check points are incredibly easy to pass. There is no getting stuck behind a slow passenger because multiple people can get their items ready for x-ray at the same time - whomever is done first gets to go.
3. Passport Control. Americans can use automatic kiosk to clear passport control upon leaving the country. Usually there is only a very short line for this, but can be busier during certain periods - and rather lengthy if the kiosk break down (they do once in a while). 
4. Additional security screening. Delta has a special place for this where all Delta passengers must go and be questioned by a security officer. The line for this can be 30+ minutes long. Delta puts this as your gate on your boarding pass - so if on Delta go to the gate on your boarding pass and not the one on the screen or you'll have to walk all the way back. United and American do this extra screening at the individual gates. This screening involves a short quiz about your trip from information they already know (for instance, how did you pay for your ticket?) 
5. Boarding time - usually starts 45 minutes before departure and is very effecient. You may be randomly pulled to the side and have you luggage searched. In 15 years of flying out of here, that has never happened to me - but I have seen it happen to others, including my father. 

If you are making a connection inside Europe THEN flying to the United States then absolutely nothing I just said is true. If that's the case then you can easily show up 90 minutes before your flight and find yourself sitting at yoru gate with 70 minutes to spare.

Really good info.  We have Global Entry. Wonder if that makes any difference.   Flying American. 

[gumshoe958]

51 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

Really good info.  We have Global Entry. Wonder if that makes any difference.   Flying American. 

Global Entry only works on arrival in the US. It makes no difference when departing overseas airports which don’t offer CBP pre-clearance, including Schiphol.

[njkruzer]

Just now, gumshoe958 said:

Global Entry only works on arrival in the US. It makes no difference when departing overseas airports which don’t offer CBP pre-clearance, including Schiphol.

I know, but could hope. 

[TX.Mameow&Papeow]

We wanted a nonstop flight back to the US and it was around the same time. Because of all the unknowns we decided to spend the night and leave early the next morning where we could control what time we arrived at the airport. We have been to Amsterdam a few times before but were extending our land time to other parts of Europe so didn't fly back to the US from there, although we did fly to Milan after spending 4 nights there.

[ScubaDo]

Yes we also opted to spend an extra night at an airport hotel. I just hate jumping right back in to the stress of flying.

[lovesthebeach2]

On 3/27/2022 at 3:25 PM, DerekB said:

I see a some posting about various lines at Schiphol. Let me explain a bit about how it works now:

 

1. Check in/luggage drop is first and almost entirely automated. With most airlines you get your boarding pass at a kiosk, scan it at an automatic luggage machine where you tag your own luggage and send it away. You then start your journey toward your gate.
2. Security check. Schiphol has made huge advancements with this and the security check points are incredibly easy to pass. There is no getting stuck behind a slow passenger because multiple people can get their items ready for x-ray at the same time - whomever is done first gets to go.
3. Passport Control. Americans can use automatic kiosk to clear passport control upon leaving the country. Usually there is only a very short line for this, but can be busier during certain periods - and rather lengthy if the kiosk break down (they do once in a while). 
4. Additional security screening. Delta has a special place for this where all Delta passengers must go and be questioned by a security officer. The line for this can be 30+ minutes long. Delta puts this as your gate on your boarding pass - so if on Delta go to the gate on your boarding pass and not the one on the screen or you'll have to walk all the way back. United and American do this extra screening at the individual gates. This screening involves a short quiz about your trip from information they already know (for instance, how did you pay for your ticket?) 
5. Boarding time - usually starts 45 minutes before departure and is very effecient. You may be randomly pulled to the side and have you luggage searched. In 15 years of flying out of here, that has never happened to me - but I have seen it happen to others, including my father. 

If you are making a connection inside Europe THEN flying to the United States then absolutely nothing I just said is true. If that's the case then you can easily show up 90 minutes before your flight and find yourself sitting at yoru gate with 70 minutes to spare.

That was me that posted about the lines.  We were  there in 2018, and it sounds like things have gotten easier.  The morning we flew (on Delta) the airport was PACKED. The lines separated just by a rope we right next to each other and we didn’t know where to go. This was all right inside the doors.  Im sure it’s not always like that though 🤞

 

[Joseph2017China]

Funny how all the signs are in English and clearly marked.  Getting off the ship is easy, and fast even with checked bags.  I actually think it's faster if you let them take it off and you pick it up outside.  I actually walked to central Station, took the train/tram to the airport no issues, and arriving, just followed the signs to the airline desk, dropped luggage and moved on.   Yes, there is extra check points, but that is why on all international flights you make sure you step foot in the airport at or more than 3 hours. 

 

I have not been in a single international airport (including Asian airports) that English was not on signs.  

[SRF]

On 3/29/2022 at 8:36 AM, Joseph2017China said:

Funny how all the signs are in English and clearly marked.  Getting off the ship is easy, and fast even with checked bags.  I actually think it's faster if you let them take it off and you pick it up outside.  I actually walked to central Station, took the train/tram to the airport no issues, and arriving, just followed the signs to the airline desk, dropped luggage and moved on.   Yes, there is extra check points, but that is why on all international flights you make sure you step foot in the airport at or more than 3 hours. 

 

I have not been in a single international airport (including Asian airports) that English was not on signs.  

 

I have been to a couple.  But not typical tourist destinations. 😄