Cruiseships – Passenger Terminal Amsterdam

I live near the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam. During the ‘cruise season’ (march – october, but some cruiseships may arrive in november / december), there is usually a couple of cruiseships per week. Sometimes several arrive at the same time (I have seen as many as 5 at the terminal a couple of years ago). There is room for 2 really big ones (300 meters) or some small ones and sometimes they use the quay across the harbour at the Java-eiland if more arrive. Since the harbour is not 300 meters wide, the really big ships have to turn around at the other side of the Java-eiland.

When one of the really big ones departs during the weekend (usually late in the afternoon), there is often a crowd watching. On the right you can see two of the bigger ones: Costa Atlantica and Century. Both come to Amsterdam quite often. Quite a few of the cruiseships are on a round trip which they repeat every one or two weeks, so we often see the same cruiseships coming back to Amsterdam.