Sailing in and out of Amsterdam cruise port

[prish]

We’re on a Norway fjords cruise out of Amsterdam on August 13 and just received an email from our TA saying we will now sail out at 3.30 instead of 5.30pm due to increased salinity. 
 

Does this happen frequently, don’t remember it from previous itineraries out of Amsterdam, though those were from several years back. 
 

My concern is that we are delayed getting back, we have a flight out of Schiphol the same day and a later arrival would certainly impact our flight back home. Should we rebook for the next day?

 

Am hoping one of you seasoned cruisers will have some comments and suggestions, thanks in advance! 

Edited August 1, 2022 by prish

[Ine]

7 hours ago, prish said:

We’re on a Norway fjords cruise out of Amsterdam on August 13 and just received an email from our TA saying we will now sail out at 3.30 instead of 5.30pm due to increased salinity. 
 

Does this happen frequently, don’t remember it from previous itineraries out of Amsterdam, though those were from several years back. 
 

My concern is that we are delayed getting back, we have a flight out of Schiphol the same day and a later arrival would certainly impact our flight back home. Should we rebook for the next day?

 

Am hoping one of you seasoned cruisers will have some comments and suggestions, thanks in advance! 

It happens seldom. But this year due low levels of water in the rivers the lock in IJmuiden can only be used during some hours each day. It is the way to keep salt water from the ocean coming into North Sea Canal. Some companies even changed port of departure to Rotterdam or IJmuiden. Making your departure earlier is the easiest way I think.

Nobody can tell yet what might happen on your return. 

[Scottishclover]

We disembarked the Celebrity Apex in Amsterdam yesterday. We also had sailaway at 3.30pm due to low salinity but I got the impression that this was sprung on the captain as their was no prior notice beforehand. It did not have any impact on the return. When we woke up early yesterday morning we were already docked in Amsterdam. 

 

What might affect your flight home is the utter chaos at Schipol airport. We got there 4 hours beforehand as advised and we stood in a queue for 3 and half hours to get through security.  I had read about this beforehand but it had to be seen to be believed. We were relaxed as we knew our flight had a small delay but we would have had to run if it had left on time. We left the ship at 7.45 am for a 1 pm flight. There were hundreds of people in the queue who missed flights. There is no fast tracking, any queue jumpers sent to the back of the queue (security guards patrol the line) and no exceptions - everyone needs to stand in the queue. I would not attempt a flight before 1 pm.

[prish]

5 hours ago, Ine said:

It happens seldom. But this year due low levels of water in the rivers the lock in IJmuiden can only be used during some hours each day. It is the way to keep salt water from the ocean coming into North Sea Canal. Some companies even changed port of departure to Rotterdam or IJmuiden. Making your departure earlier is the easiest way I think.

Nobody can tell yet what might happen on your return. 

Thanks for the explanation Ine, I hadn’t heard of this previously.

 

Scottishclover, I replied your post about the long lines at Schiphol departure, thanks for the update. Maybe your sail away was the first to be brought forward, hence no advance notice. We received an email from our TA yesterday, more than 10 days ahead. 
 

Have booked a 7am private transfer to the airport, so hopefully we’ll make our flights. 

[Ashland]

We just did a few pre cruise days in Amsterdam and was notified on Sunday that our sailout time had been moved up to 3;30 for our Tuesday sail. I have no idea why that change has also affected our last port day in Oslo with an earlier departure.

 

Our concierge will escort suites off ship as early as 7;00. Luckily our flight isn't until 2;30 and have SkyPriority...AMS is just a mess...it took us 3 hours just get out of this airport when we landed.

[MAVIP]

33 minutes ago, Ashland said:

We just did a few pre cruise days in Amsterdam and was notified on Sunday that our sailout time had been moved up to 3;30 for our Tuesday sail. I have no idea why that change has also affected our last port day in Oslo with an earlier departure.

 

Our concierge will escort suites off ship as early as 7;00. Luckily our flight isn't until 2;30 and have SkyPriority...AMS is just a mess...it took us 3 hours just get out of this airport when we landed.

Reason will be the Ijmuiden locks. Less ships can enter and leave the North Sea Channel and only between set (and reduced) hours because of the drought. 

[prish]

Thanks for the input, appreciate your taking the time to reply. Any idea if getting back into Amsterdam port is affected, do you return earlier or later? Thanks again!

[MAVIP]

1 hour ago, prish said:

Thanks for the input, appreciate your taking the time to reply. Any idea if getting back into Amsterdam port is affected, do you return earlier or later? Thanks again!

This text will not give you the exact information you would like to have, but I hope it helps understanding. We alle hope more news will follow soon as two days ago there was another meeting about the measures to be taken bij Rijkswaterstaat. 

"As a result of a prolonged period of drought and a shortage of meltwater and rainwater, the Netherlands is experiencing low river levels and high salinity levels. To monitor the quality of the water, Rijkswaterstaat has taken measures from 19 July 2022 onwards. These include an adjusted passage regime for the locks at IJmuiden. This means that instead of passing ships through the locks on demand, they will pass as many ships as possible at the same time. This will be done in twelve-hour blocks, thereby limiting the number of passages per day.

This has an impact on the calls at Cruise Port Amsterdam. Of course, in consultation with all parties involved, we are looking for the best possible solutions. In addition to adjusted arrival and departure times, a number of scheduled calls will no longer be coming to Amsterdam. We strive to communicate the most current information through the sea cruise calendar on our website.

Already cancelled calls;
MS Rotterdam 31-07-2022 & 14-08-2022 – goes to Rotterdam
Disney Magic 31-07-2022 – goes to IJmuiden

For more information about your cruise, please contact your travel agent and/or shipping company.

For more information about the lock regime see: https://www.portofamsterdam.com/en/news/high-salt-levels-north-sea-canal?fbclid=IwAR1rjqQXapE8gojDfLiZz28JKydbq6_M1sKOpxEd7nvtvEDnWY1VP7Ko_l8 "      

Enjoy your cruise!

[orla56]

Just got an email about this for Jewel of the seas 31/08 and we will leave at 3.30pm and arrive back in Amsterdam the night before Debarkation at 9pm.

[MAVIP]

11 hours ago, orla56 said:

Just got an email about this for Jewel of the seas 31/08 and we will leave at 3.30pm and arrive back in Amsterdam the night before Debarkation at 9pm.

That's all caused by the reduced times of the locks at IJmuiden.  (It's quite something for all passengers and the companies to adapt to all weather, covid and war changes, but we will cope as we love cruising....). 

[ladysail2]

I’m glad I saw this message. My cruise out of Copenhagen was cancelled for September 2023….so I chose a cruise leaving from Amsterdam. This problem with the drought may resolve itself by next year, but it may not. Now I’m aware of changes that could be made. It’s been a couple of years now of ‘pivoting’ to suit the circumstances….and yes, we love cruising, so we accept the changes and carry on!  I’ll pop in once in a while to check on the situation.

[prish]

23 hours ago, MAVIP said:

That's all caused by the reduced times of the locks at IJmuiden.  (It's quite something for all passengers and the companies to adapt to all weather, covid and war changes, but we will cope as we love cruising....). 

Thanks for the detailed explanation MAVIP. Any site where we can check about returning to port timings? If the canal is open in 12hr blocks this would necessarily mean ships need to come back by latest 3.30am, as most sail aways are scheduled for 3.30pm. I am sure there’s some site where this info is available, can anyone help? Thanks 😊 

[MAVIP]

1 hour ago, prish said:

Thanks for the detailed explanation MAVIP. Any site where we can check about returning to port timings? If the canal is open in 12hr blocks this would necessarily mean ships need to come back by latest 3.30am, as most sail aways are scheduled for 3.30pm. I am sure there’s some site where this info is available, can anyone help? Thanks 😊 

If I myself could find it, I would publish it of course. Tried in vain yesterday. The last official communications I could trace mention blocks between 06:00 en 18:00. As I understand there are lesser blocks now. And the drought gets worse. I will check again and come back. 

[MAVIP]

12 minutes ago, MAVIP said:

If I myself could find it, I would publish it of course. Tried in vain yesterday. The last official communications I could trace mention blocks between 06:00 en 18:00. As I understand there are lesser blocks now. And the drought gets worse. I will check again and come back. 

My conclusion: The actual situation at the locks can only be checked by companies/agents who have a log-in code. As passengers we have to wait for the communications by our cruise company.  (As the water levels itself are concerned: The information about the water levels in the rivers entering our country are not promising at all.)   

Could be interesting to check positions of ships entering and leaving the North Sea Channel in the apps for that purpose. Let me know if you have interesting conclusions, I have to leave as a granddaughter has her birthday today.

 

[prish]

10 hours ago, MAVIP said:

If I myself could find it, I would publish it of course. Tried in vain yesterday. The last official communications I could trace mention blocks between 06:00 en 18:00. As I understand there are lesser blocks now. And the drought gets worse. I will check again and come back. 

Thanks again MAVIP, will ask Celebrity when we check-in to board on Saturday, maybe they’ll know.

 

Hope your granddaughter is having a wonderful birthday, wish her loads of fun and laughter today and in the years ahead!

[orla56]

This is the info I was sent.

 

Edited August 7, 2022 by orla56

[Ashland]

Just off Jewel yesterday on Sunday Aug 7th from our Arctic Circle. The earlier 3:30pm sailout worked out great. We arrived back into Amsterdam at 9:00pm on Saturday night and you had an option to disembark or come and go as you like and disembark as early as 6:45am on Sunday.

[prish]

Thanks orla and Ashland. Celebrity only informed us about the 3.30pm departure, nothing about when we get back to port. The last day of the cruise is a sea day, so I would guess the ship can speed up and return the previous night itself. Hopefully they’ll have some precise info for us when we check-in to board. 
 

My main concern is the crowds at Schiphol, I plan on asking for an earlier pickup if we arrive earlier in port.

 

 Thanks again! 😊

[susiesan]

I was just notified by NCL that this will impact my Norwegian Dawn cruise departing Stockholm Aug. 16. We were supposed to be in Copenhagen 8/24, sea day 8/25, arrive AMS 8/26. Now Copenhagen has been dropped and changed to a sea day 8/24, arrive AMS 8/25 at 4:00pm, too late to do anything. We overnite then disembark as originally scheduled 8/26.

NCL did not give the reason for the itinerary change nor are they offering a refund of the missed port taxes.

[Ashland]

4 hours ago, susiesan said:

I was just notified by NCL that this will impact my Norwegian Dawn cruise departing Stockholm Aug. 16. We were supposed to be in Copenhagen 8/24, sea day 8/25, arrive AMS 8/26. Now Copenhagen has been dropped and changed to a sea day 8/24, arrive AMS 8/25 at 4:00pm, too late to do anything. We overnite then disembark as originally scheduled 8/26.

NCL did not give the reason for the itinerary change nor are they offering a refund of the missed port taxes.

Arriving at 4:00pm isn't too late in Amsterdam ! We just did the exact same thing but our RCI Jewel with the schedule change arrived at 9:00pm and there were many people getting off/on late into the night. Amsterdam is a late night city !!! We had spent 3 pre-cruise days there so we opted to just stay onboard.

[Dutch_Travelgirl]

I agree that at first sight it may seem that a 4pm arrival is too late. The Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh museum close at 6pm. By the time you disembarked it’s probably too late. The Anne Frank house closes at 10pm, but unfortunately tickets for August 25 are already sold out. 
Luckily, Amsterdam itself doesn’t close at 6pm. You can still walk around in the beautiful zone, or even better; take a canal cruise. 

[Ashland]

9 hours ago, Dutch_Travelgirl said:

I agree that at first sight it may seem that a 4pm arrival is too late. The Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh museum close at 6pm. By the time you disembarked it’s probably too late. The Anne Frank house closes at 10pm, but unfortunately tickets for August 25 are already sold out. 
Luckily, Amsterdam itself doesn’t close at 6pm. You can still walk around in the beautiful zone, or even better; take a canal cruise. 

And eat at one of the many many outdoor cafe's !!! 

 

From our canal facing window at the Banks Mansion we could see lot's of people very very late into the evening/night/morning out and about.

[prish]

Appears Apex should have docked at 23.00hrs yesterday. Below is what I found online. Will ask when we check-in for our cruise later this morning.

 

The current position of CELEBRITY APEX is at North Sea (coordinates 51.52452 N / 2.28018 E) reported 0 min ago by AIS. The vessel is en route to the port of Amsterdam, Netherlands, sailing at a speed of 19.2 knots and expected to arrive there on Aug 12, 23:00.

IMO / MMSI: 9838383 / 215105000

Current draught: 8.3 m

Position received: 0 min ago

Course / Speed: 38.2° / 19.2 kn

https://www.vesselfinder.com › vessels

CELEBRITY APEX, Passenger (Cruise) Ship - IMO 9838383 - Vessel Finder

[MeHeartCruising]

Just an update that this issue is still happening with ships in Amsterdam.  Our British Isles cruise on Norwegian Dawn is actually now arriving in Amsterdam a day earlier than originally scheduled due to the waterway authorities changing our entry time into the canal.  We will skip our stop in Zee Bruge, Belgium entirely in order to make the canal appointment.  We will then arrive in Amsterdam at 9:00 am.  We will overnight in Amsterdam and disembark the next morning.