Amsterday to Budapest questions

RossEckert

We are sailing on 10/18 on Esprit. Can anyone tell me if there is anything to do around the area where the ship is docked in Amsterdam? We are leaving the hotel around 2:00 and wonder if there is anywhere to get a cocktail or stroll around by the dock.

Also, I have read the included gratuities section but it seems vague whether there are staff on the ship you tip, bartender, waiter, housekeeping, etc.

Getting very excited about our trip, hoping someone can give me some answers on the above. Many Thanks, Mary Alice

British

All tips for everyone you can ever think of to tip are included on Tauck River cruises. This varies from land tours where it is more usual to have tips included apart from the tour director. If you open the Before You Go section on the page for your tour, you can look for Gratuiites Included and it will tell you that. Have fun!

crackers54

I unpacked and explored the ship, then got ready for the welcome dinner. There might be some hotels in the area. I looked on google maps and near the passenger terminal looks like riverboats docked and appears to be some places within walking distance, but if memory serves me the bar is open on ship when we arrived plus some munchies. You should call Tauck or send them and email.

Claudia Sails

We leave tomorrow AM for Amsterdam (Rhine and Moselle cruise) so have done a lot of research. The cruise ship docks are just to the east of the Central Station which is right on the water at the north end of the main canal rings - the oldest parts of Amsterdam. You'll be within a mile of most Amsterdam attractions.

According to the website cruiseportwiki - "There is a tram stop outside where you can take tram 26 one stop to Centraal Station (the city's main transport hub) or you can easily walk to the station (15 minutes). Cruise schedule and info here http://www.amsterdamcruiseport.com"

I clicked on that website and found the complete calendar listing river cruise ships, dates, and berths -http://www.amsterdamcruiseport.com/river-cruise-calendar. Dates are in day/month/yr format.
Your ship is scheduled to be at Ruijterkade Oost Steiger B. Type that into google and you can see where it is and what it looks like on street view.

For a drink and a view, there are two places I found that are between the train station and the cruise ship docks. One is the Hilton Double Tree hotel Skylounge on the 11th floor. The other is right next door - the Amsterdam Library. On the 7th floor it has a casual self service restaurant that also serves beer and wine.

Re tipping, no there is no one on the ship who you are expected to tip. If someone really stands out during your cruise, be sure to mention them by name in the end of cruise critique you'll get on the last full day. Tauck really does read and respond to these. We got a personal letter within 2 weeks after our cruise last year.

We are very excited too - hope I can sleep tonight.

Claudia Sails

Update, I did a little more digging and the google location isn't exactly where the portofamsterdam website says they are. The Ruijterkade Oost berths are even closer to the central station and the 2 drink locations I gave. Should be able to walk to them quickly.

Here is a link to an interactive map that shows more detail on the berths. http://www.portofamsterdam.com/Eng/Interactive-map-of-rivercruise-berths
Look for the 5 icons just to the right of Amsterdam CS.

Sorry for the confusion.