AmaWaterways’ [AMA] instructions had said to go to their “desk” in Arrivals 3. There was no desk, but there were a couple of AMA staff floating around. We found them right away by the strategy of asking a Viking rep – he whipped out a cell phone and called his AMA colleague who came right over. [Unfortunately another couple didn’t think of this and had been wandering around for an hour. By the time they found the AMA rep they were quite upset.]
We weren’t sure what to expect from the AMA shuttle: would we sit on a bus for an hour waiting for other flights? So we were prepared to give them our luggage and take the quick train to downtown. But ours must have been the last flight for a while, because the bus left right away and whisked us to the ship about as fast as the train would have, and we got a taste of Amsterdam on the way.
AMA had a nice snack laid out in the lounge [where the departing APT passengers from the prior cruise were waiting], and our Cruise Director Reka Piros [who was great!] gave us maps and directions for sightseeing.
We walked over to Centraal Station to get Euros. The station is quite large and there are ticket machines everywhere, but it was hard to find an ATM. There were several Travelex stores exchanging money, but we didn’t want to pay an exchange fee since our Schwab debit card gives us a good rate with no fees. Finally we found an ING ATM and got our cash.
Then we went across to the Tourist Information to buy 24-hour transit passes [you can do this on board the tram, but the ATM only gave us 50 Euro bills and I wasn’t sure you could get change on the tram]
Then onto tram 5 and straight to the Rijksmuseum. We had bought tickets online so we were able to walk right in. The renovation of the museum is wonderful and we were able to enjoy the great Rembrandts, Vermeers, etc. despite the crowds. The Night Watch, after restoration, is much brighter than when we viewed it 40 years ago. We followed Rick Steves’ tour for the museum, with a brief stop for a 15 minute catnap sitting on a bench in one of the side rooms, and still finished in less than his suggested 90 minutes.
An easy walk took us to the Van Gogh Museum. We had purchased tickets online for the 1 pm slot [or 1300 as the Army and Europeans call it…] The reports about this ticket program are true: we lined up with the other 1 pm holders and waited 15 minutes while others just walked up to the ticket booth and went right in. No matter how empty the ticket queues are, the museum will not let timed-ticket holders in early. But on a really busy day, the walk-up line could be very long and then having a timed ticket would get you in much quicker, so it’s still good insurance to do it.
The Jazzbeaux both enjoy art but we usually don’t need to enjoy it at length – we have each independently gone through the Louvre in 30 minutes. [This is now a family saying, “do a Louvre”…] So it says volumes about how good the renovated Van Gogh Museum is that we spent three hours there. We explored all four floors and enjoyed not only the paintings themselves but also the scientific exhibits on the upper floors about the technology of paint pigments, restoration, and Van Gogh’s drawing techniques. We took a break in the middle for lunch at the museum café [nothing to recommend, except location], and ended with a short snooze during the film [which is in Dutch with subtitles, so once you close your eyes you don’t get much out of it…]
We had hoped to do one or two other places (Hermitage Museum and Amstelkring Museum), but we were so exhausted that we went back to the ship and collapsed on the bed.
Now the second (and last) complaint about AMA service. I had emailed AMA HQ about planning our sightseeing schedule and specifically asked when the Welcome Dinner would be and whether there would be a meeting beforehand. No meeting and dinner at 7:30 was the reply. But our nap was interrupted at 5:45 by a shipboard announcement that the mandatory safety drill and introductory meeting was about to start at 6 pm, with dinner immediately afterward at 7. Yikes! Well, there was no attempt to change as we hadn’t begun to unpack! This wasn’t a big problem, and was in fact good planning – but it was a problem that AMA gave me wrong advice beforehand.
As we entered the Lounge for the safety drill/meeting we were handed flutes of bubbly and waiters came around with trays of hors d’oeuvres. AMA’s reputation for good food was immediately borne out.
We wound up sitting in a cluster of chairs with a married couple from Delaware and 2 older sisters formerly from NY. We all decided to eat dinner together. That evening our conversation went on so long that we only left the dining room because we realized we were the only ones left! And we got on so well together that we continued to do so every evening [both dine together and close the place down…] Bonding right off the bat with “The Gang” was one of the highlights of the cruise.
After dinner we walked into Amsterdam on our own to see the infamous Red Light District. We wandered all over, had a friendly escapade with a Canadian couple who tried to direct us. They were doing a bicycle/barge cruise. We turned around and headed back toward the station. Others pointed us to the night scene. Another fellow saw our confusion and steered us to the street. And there they were!!!
Back on the ship, we finally had to unpack. The cabin seemed smaller than its measurements at first, but we were able to store all our stuff and get the suitcases under the bed so it worked just fine. The shower was a little tight, probably because it is shaped as a triangle. The French balcony was very nice: the window-wall gave nice views [the drapes shut out almost all the light so sleeping wasn’t a problem], and we were glad to be able to open the sliding door and look out several times. [I think our days of Inside Cabins are over…]
We slept very well even after our naps. The beds were comfortable enough and the ship was still tied up this first night. [Sleeping was never a problem even when underway – AmaCello is a very smooth sailer]
Jazzbeaux Rhine River Cruise 2013 