Departure port in Amsterdam June 26th Rotterdam

[mr. godfredo]

I looked at the port schedule for our upcoming HAL Rotterdam Cruise on June 26th and now it says that we are leaving from the Waterlands Terminal. Anyone have any information on how far out this is from Amsterdam city center? Do they have check in facilities at this terminal or will we need to be bussed? Any information would be appreciated. 

[vicd1969]

Oh no, I'm on the June 19 sailing and also appears to depart from Waterland. That's not good news for me either since my hotel is within walking distance to the Cruise terminal near Centraal station.  I see that the Celebrity Apex is also slated to leave on the same dates, but am a bit surprised that they get the preferential location given that Holland America ships are registered in the Netherlands.  

[VMax1700]

6 minutes ago, vicd1969 said:

bit surprised that they get the preferential location given that Holland America ships are registered in the Netherlands.  

Apex : 3405 pax multiplied by passenger fee charged by port authority.

Rotterdam: 2668 pax multiplied by passenger fee charged by port authority.

It probably just comes down to money and the port authority will get more income from giving the larger ship the prime spot.

[VMax1700]

29 minutes ago, mr. godfredo said:

I looked at the port schedule for our upcoming HAL Rotterdam Cruise on June 26th and now it says that we are leaving from the Waterlands Terminal. Anyone have any information on how far out this is from Amsterdam city center? Do they have check in facilities at this terminal or will we need to be bussed? Any information would be appreciated. 

I asked about this on a thread on the British Isles/Western Europe forum.  

Information is from post #11 onwards.

 

[vicd1969]

Update: My preliminary boarding pass is now available and states the Rotterdam is departing from the main passenger terminal. I have therefore held off on reserving transportation, as my hotel is within walking distance of the terminal. How much should I trust the boarding pass information, however?

[VMax1700]

5 minutes ago, vicd1969 said:

Update: My preliminary boarding pass is now available and states the Rotterdam is departing from the main passenger terminal. I have therefore held off on reserving transportation, as my hotel is within walking distance of the terminal. How much should I trust the boarding pass information, however?

Well, it does say 'Preliminary', so I would think that may be a clue! 🤞

Our prelims for Oosterdam now state Trieste and the terminal.  Does yours state Amsterdam and PTA, Piet Heinkade 27 ?

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by VMax1700

[vicd1969]

14 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Well, it does say 'Preliminary', so I would think that may be a clue! 🤞

Our prelims for Oosterdam now state Trieste and the terminal.  Does yours state Amsterdam and PTA, Piet Heinkade 27 ?

 

On the first boarding pass page, it says "Passenger Terminal Amsterdam" and then in the details on Pier Information, it distinguishes between PTA, Piet Heinkade 27 OR VCK Waterland, Elbaweg...We are a group of 11, so making advance transportation would be helpful but we'll hold off until the final boarding pass with scan codes confirms it's PTA. If HAL is wrong about this, there will be hundreds of irate passengers showing up at PTA lol. Maybe I ought to check the Celebrity board to see where their boarding pass for the Apex is leaving from on that day, assuming two ships won't fit the PTA.

[VMax1700]

According to their website the maximum length of 2 vessels is 630m

Apex is 306m and Rotterdam is 300m, so they are within the limits, but I did find a reference to only permitting one ship to commence/end a cruise and the other ship must be on a port call day.

Fingers and toes crossed for all of us. 🤞

source https://www.amsterdamcruiseport.com/harbours/amsterdam-sea-cruise/

• 2 berths
• Maximum ship length 340 m ( due to second swing circle)
• Combined length of 2 ships may not exceed 630 m

[vicd1969]

Another possibility is that now with the pier-side COVID testing, maybe both Celebrity and HAL passengers check in at the main terminal and then a free shuttle takes whoever is at the Waterland terminal there after check in? 

[VMax1700]

26 minutes ago, vicd1969 said:

Another possibility is that now with the pier-side COVID testing, maybe both Celebrity and HAL passengers check in at the main terminal and then a free shuttle takes whoever is at the Waterland terminal there after check in? 

That makes a lot of sense, as there appears to be very few facilities at Waterlands, not even weather protection.

[rotjeknor]

The city of amsterdam is actively trying to ban cruiseships from the  citycenter. They have plans to move the cruiseterminal to …. the waterlandterminal. All the way in the western harbour. 
The HAL should just come to Rotterdam, we’ve had 3 cruiseships in port at the same time . No problem!

[VMax1700]

22 minutes ago, rotjeknor said:

The city of amsterdam is actively trying to ban cruiseships from the  citycenter. They have plans to move the cruiseterminal to …. the waterlandterminal. All the way in the western harbour. 
The HAL should just come to Rotterdam, we’ve had 3 cruiseships in port at the same time . No problem!

Probably easier to get from Amsterdam to Rotterdam than Amsterdam to Waterland! 

DW loved our couple of cruises which departed from Rotterdam.

[MAVIP]

On 5/2/2022 at 5:49 PM, VMax1700 said:

Probably easier to get from Amsterdam to Rotterdam than Amsterdam to Waterland! 

DW loved our couple of cruises which departed from Rotterdam.

Trainride 36 minutes..... and within 1 hour from leaving the cruise terminal Amsterdam our daughter was at home near the cruise terminal Rotterdam.

[MikeandBobNC]

I was able to see our preliminary boarding pass this morning.  It says we are to embark at Passenger Terminal Amsterdam, but no reference to Waterland or a transfer.

 

Voyage No/Name: Y248A / 21-DAY VOYAGE OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN & VIKING SAGAS
Embark Port/Pier: Amsterdam, The Netherlands / PASSENGER TERMINAL AMSTERDAM

 

 

EDIT - as I read further, it also states:

 

PIER INFORMATION
Please refer to your boarding pass page for the specific pier name.

Passenger Terminal Amsterdam

Piet Heinkade 27

or

VCK Waterland Terminal B.V.

Elbaweg 10, 1044 AD Amsterdam, Netherlands