Amsterdam - (proposed) closing cruise ship terminal

[OlsSalt]

Having been to Key West before its cruise ship popularity, and after it turned itself into a brash cruise ship port, I vote with the Key West locals. It was a horrible transformation of their formerly very low key, charming town.

 

I think Santa Barbara accommodated its few shoulder season cruise ship visits - it is tender port so that limits it, and the beach front area mainly visited by passengers has always been devoted to tourism. We locals rarely visit it anyway. Not much impact on the rest of town, when a cruise ship is in port or not.

 

Plus shore excursions took passengers out of town, and into Solvang and the Santa Ynez wine country. Other than seeing some people carrying HAL bags, most of us did not even know a cruise ship was in town.  Though the size of some to them (Princess) did dominate the scenic view lines if you looked out towards the ocean from the hills. 

 

Port fees helped supplement the local Harbor Commission enterprise zone. However, none of this mattered to the local environmental action groups. Not sure what the future of cruising will be for this port stop. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

9 minutes ago, ldtr said:

It basically overwhelmed down town when ships were in. Also resulted in a lot of retail space getting taken over by cruise ship following companies. How many t shirt shops, key lime pie stands and diamonds international like stores does a small town need.

 

I hate that diamonds international and its ilk are in every port. I know they're popular, but I can think of much better uses of my time and money.  At this point in life, I don't need a lot of 'stuff,' so I'm not buying souvenirs. But I do try to find a small bar or coffee shop or bakery to spend some money in a local business.

[Turtles06]

17 minutes ago, ldtr said:

It basically overwhelmed down town when ships were in. Also resulted in a lot of retail space getting taken over by cruise ship following companies. How many t shirt shops, key lime pie stands and diamonds international like stores does a small town need.

And the problem isn’t limited to small towns. Some years ago, on a port call to Barcelona, a few of us from our Roll Call had a private shore excursion with Spain Day Tours. Our fabulous guide was a Barcelona native, and she told us that so many stores and other commercial establishments that supported residential communities were being replaced by souvenir shops and other shops catering to tourists that it was becoming a real problem for local residents in some parts of the city. 

[cruisemom42]

1 minute ago, Turtles06 said:

And the problem isn’t limited to small towns. Some years ago, on a port call to Barcelona, a few of us from our Roll Call had a private shore excursion with Spain Day Tours. Our fabulous guide was a Barcelona native, and she told us that so many stores and other commercial establishments that supported residential communities were being replaced by souvenir shops and other shops catering to tourists that it was becoming a real problem for local residents in some parts of the city. 

 

That's exactly what happened in Venice. Local stores that supported locals turned into tourist shops. The other factor is that property prices are unsustainable for a local. Every property in Venice proper is being bought up and transformed into a boutique hotel, B&B, Inn, etc. 

 

While I enjoy visiting Venice, it makes me sad that there are so few spots left in the city where you don't feel like you are in some EPCOT Center version of the place.

 

[POA1]

1 hour ago, OlsSalt said:

Did local authorities drop Santa Barbara

No. Local authorities did not "drop" the port call. They merely said that cruise ships couldn't disembark passengers there. That is completely different.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, OlsSalt said:

Having been to Key West before its cruise ship popularity, and after it turned itself into a brash cruise ship port, I vote with the Key West locals. It was a horrible transformation of their formerly very low key, charming town.

 

I think Santa Barbara accommodated its few shoulder season cruise ship visits - it is tender port so that limits it, and the beach front area mainly visited by passengers has always been devoted to tourism. We locals rarely visit it anyway. Not much impact on the rest of town, when a cruise ship is in port or not.

 

Plus shore excursions took passengers out of town, and into Solvang and the Santa Ynez wine country. Other than seeing some people carrying HAL bags, most of us did not even know a cruise ship was in town.  Though the size of some to them (Princess) did dominate the scenic view lines if you looked out towards the ocean from the hills. 

 

Port fees helped supplement the local Harbor Commission enterprise zone. However, none of this mattered to the local environmental action groups. Not sure what the future of cruising will be for this port stop. 

I feel the same way about Key West. Cruise ship impact was very negative on it as both a local community as well as a tourism destination.

 

On the other hand Montereys ban made no sense. The ships visited during the off season, during the week when the town was pretty empty and provided demand for local businesses resulting in more off season jobs.

 

The reason was for risk of an environmental incident when the major incidents over the past 20 years were either land based. a major sewage spill, or airline, a plane dumping fuel.

[Iamthesea]

50 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

The Central Rotterdam train station can easily take you anywhere in the country.

 

We did a fantastic two day jaunt during an overnight turnaround day on the Voyage of the Vikings from Rotterdam - Gouda,  out to Zutphen, down to Maastricht for an overnight,  and still time to take in Delft before we got back on board in Rotterdam. 

 

I'd love some more information on your plan.  We will be taking a cruise out of Rotterdam next May.  Trying to figure out where to stay, and what to do for our pre-post cruise this trip.  We have been in and out of Amsterdam several times and want to do something different for upcoming trip.  The most recent was last May.   Previously, we have ventured to Germany, Belgium, and surrounding windmill and fishing villages of Marken and Zaanse Schans.

 

Add Charleston, SC to the list of banning cruise ships from embarkation.  They will still accept a cruise stop, but those are few and far between.  And then there are the ports in Norway that are trying to ban the ships.  

 

[susiesan]

For future cruises stopping in or embarking and disembarking in Amsterdam, the ships will have to find a new place to dock. They are being banned from sailing into Amsterdam and docking at the cruise terminal there. This policy will likely not go into effect until 2024.

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/amsterdam-makes-huge-move-and-bans-cruise-ships/107115

[Roz]

My trips to Amsterdam have all been in connection with debarking on a river cruise in the off season (late fall/early winter).  I didn't notice any crowding, but I can see where a cruise ship making a port stop in a compact old city, with narrow streets and sidewalks, could overwhelm the locals.  

 

I'll be going back to Amsterdam in December for another river cruise.  I stay in a hotel for 3 nights, eat in restaurants, use local transportation, visit a museum, take a local tour of some type, and buy gifts for friends and family back home.  I feel I contribute to the local economy, but local residents may see things differently.  

 

In talking with residents, the most commonly mentioned problem was "foreigners" coming in for bachelor parties and creating an unpleasant atmosphere in and around the Red Light District.  

 

I live in a tourist town (Nashville) and when I travel, try to be cognizant of what I do and its effect on local businesses and residents.  Right now tourism in Nashville is out of control and people are getting fed up with everything and everyone catering to conventions and tourists. 

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, POA1 said:

No. Local authorities did not "drop" the port call. They merely said that cruise ships couldn't disembark passengers there. That is completely different.

Monterey removed local support for cruise ships. Have not heard that Santa Barbara is doing the same. I live near there.

[basor]

9 minutes ago, susiesan said:

For future cruises stopping in or embarking and disembarking in Amsterdam, the ships will have to find a new place to dock. They are being banned from sailing into Amsterdam and docking at the cruise terminal there. This policy will likely not go into effect until 2024.

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/amsterdam-makes-huge-move-and-bans-cruise-ships/107115

Thanks....many ships are already docking outside of Amsterdam and providing shuttles into town.  I believe there will be more cities doing the same in the future.

[POA1]

12 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Monterey removed local support for cruise ships. Have not heard that Santa Barbara is doing the same. I live near there.

From what I've heard from our SB friends, it's more Montecito if that makes sense.

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

10 hours ago, LadyL1 said:

have time, visit the cube houses in Rotterdam, which are near the port.

Absolutely agree

 

- and make sure you go into the centre courtyard of them- you can also pay a just few euros to go inside one. Definitely worth it if you are ok with some pretty steep stairs

 

 

 

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, POA1 said:

From what I've heard from our SB friends, it's more Montecito if that makes sense.

The city of Montecito have no say in the piers controlled by the City of Santa Barbara.

 

According to news reports there have been the usually protests, but no new restrictions.

 

There was some damage to the piers during last years storms. However nothing that impacts cruise ships.

 

The schedule for fall 2023 and sprung 2024 seems to all be intact.

 

As far as the one ship that replaced both Monterey and Santa Barbara, it might be that with having to replace Monterey with a port further south they decided to replace both ports and just stayed south.

[OlsSalt]

1 hour ago, POA1 said:

No. Local authorities did not "drop" the port call. They merely said that cruise ships couldn't disembark passengers there. That is completely different.

 

At least they did not tell them to stop all the engines, and only paddle the ship in. 

All hands on deck and pick up your oar, would be a new twist on HAL's  On Deck for the Cause event.

 

Though I do admit, Santa Barbara still looks good from the sea.  So not all is lost telling ships you can look, but you cannot touch.

[OlsSalt]

56 minutes ago, POA1 said:

From what I've heard from our SB friends, it's more Montecito if that makes sense.

 

No, it is more Isla Vista UCSB activists and the many environmental organizations who target cruise ships alone and the cause of all global degradation.  There is always a group of students ready to take up the cause, backed up by the Bren Center for Environmental Studies. 

 

SB is the "home of the environmental movement - Earth Day" after the one oil spill decades ago. It was a wake -up call but this reaction today is excessive.  They are the zero tolerance climate extremists on this issue, and are organized to inundate the media.  

 

However, it always smells more like class envy than anything, when you drill down their  pretty off the wall online comments. Rich people on a floating petri dishes come here to dump their black water in our oceans and kill the whales sort of thing.  Zero fact checking or context for any specious objection they repeatedly raise,  does not help.

 

Yes, the Santa Barbara Harbor Commission is a city entity, and they do have a cruise ship subcommittee. Locally there has not been any specific news of immediate changes. But all a cruise ship has to do is show up, and the exact same and often debunked roars of protests begin again. 

 

A favorite one is to take a photo of the natural darkened border of the "marine layer" when it rests over the top of a ship smokestack and claim it is dirty plume of black smoke coming from the ship. This sets off wails of those who can directly  feel the air pollution affect their breathing whenever a cruise ship is in town. Etc, etc. Others point out even when a ship is not in town, there is still that same "dirty" gray border on the marine layer. No avail, the same complaint keeps coming back. 

 

Cruise hips are not any more or less a problem, and certainly a very minor part of the 24/7 cargo ship traffic in the same Santa Barbara Channel. But the insane and silly targeting of both cruise ships and their "rich and insensitive"  passengers with lurid inaccuracies is disturbing. 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

They have been talking about it for years ..

[quack2]

6 hours ago, AKJonesy said:

A few places are making noise including Juneau and Key West.  Of course those in Juneau making the noise are those with secure govt jobs and not those depending on tourism.  

Quit listening to Sarah.

[ORV]

From my reading of the article it appears this HAS NOT happened yet, they are just talking about it. Probable, but not a done deal. Did I read that wrong? 

[LHT28]

I think  quite a few ports  are now wanting to ban cruise ships

The residents are tired of  the crowds  of people

Some of the mega floating cities will so be  just that 

Key West, Bar Harbor, some California ports just to name a few  just in the USA

 

JMO

 

 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

4 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

 

I'd love some more information on your plan.  We will be taking a cruise out of Rotterdam next May.  Trying to figure out where to stay, and what to do for our pre-post cruise this trip.  We have been in and out of Amsterdam several times and want to do something different for upcoming trip.  The most recent was last May.   Previously, we have ventured to Germany, Belgium, and surrounding windmill and fishing villages of Marken and Zaanse Schans.

 

Add Charleston, SC to the list of banning cruise ships from embarkation.  They will still accept a cruise stop, but those are few and far between.  And then there are the ports in Norway that are trying to ban the ships.  

 

Check out the cube houses.

[cruisemom42]

There is no date set yet for implementation. The recent news is the result of a vote that they want to PURSUE doing this. No plan in place yet and many cruise ships are already confirmed for the 2024 season. I would guess they would begin to phase it in with 2025.

 

Rotterdam and Ijmuiden are alternate docking facilities. I don't know about the latter, but it's an easy train trip to Amsterdam from Rotterdam.

[RICHARD@SEA]

5 hours ago, POA1 said:

From what I've heard from our SB friends, it's more Montecito if that makes sense.

Money talks & there is a lot of $$$$ in Montecito...... they don't like the common cruise passengers lurking over the hedges.....

[CurlerRob]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

There is no date set yet for implementation. The recent news is the result of a vote that they want to PURSUE doing this. No plan in place yet and many cruise ships are already confirmed for the 2024 season. I would guess they would begin to phase it in with 2025.

 

Rotterdam and Ijmuiden are alternate docking facilities. I don't know about the latter, but it's an easy train trip to Amsterdam from Rotterdam.

About 40 minutes by car from Felison Cruise Terminal in Ijmuiden to Amsterdam Centraal Station. Or 1 hour 40 minutes by bicycle (after all, it is Amsterdam)! 🍺🥌

[OlsSalt]

1 hour ago, RICHARD@SEA said:

Money talks & there is a lot of $$$$ in Montecito...... they don't like the common cruise passengers lurking over the hedges.....

 

Not a fair comment. The wealthy in this town are either very low key, or they are generous private philanthropists. They like to live in Montecito mainly because the locals leave them alone.  

 

Their very long driveways,  tall hedges and vast acreage do not accommodate the unwelcome voyeurs in the first place. Nor was any interest ever expressed to view these local personalities, when I served as a port day cruise ship ambassador. 

 

When asked what some Montecito locals thought an about a certain very high publicity-loving recent couple who moved to these quiet neighborhoods, the steely answer was ....we don't.