We were a group of 4 couples who flew from Seattle direct to Amsterdam. We flew out 5 days before the cruise started arriving in Amsterdam on the Tuesday with our ship departing on Saturday.

I had planned the trip well in advance with independant drivers booked in each port. We had booked with Maes B&B back in February and the day before we were due to fly out I received an e-mail caneling our reservation! Yikes! They had been closed that day by the local government. Needless to say I was scrambling to get us booked somewhere else at such short notice. Fortunately, we found Ibis located near the Central station and also near the Port Terminal! It all worked out!

That remained the only hiccough in the whole trip which was one of the best cruise experiences that we have ever had! We have peviously sailed several times with HAL, Carnival, Princess and once before with Celebrity. So, we are not neewbies! We are an average age of 60's and are active and like to keep on the go! Read more