A great weekend in Amsterdam!

On Saturday as you may already know I flew out to Amsterdam with some of my colleagues for the CLIA River Cruise Convention. What a fantastic weekend! I’ve been to Ocean Cruise conventions before but this was my first opportunity to be part of the River convention and I have to say it was even better than I expected. This year the convention was held in Amsterdam, a city I love and have visited a number of times whilst cruising.

We arrived into the centre of Amsterdam after a short 20 minute taxi ride from the airport. One thing that always strikes me in Amsterdam is the number of bicycles, the streets are packed with them and it seems everyone has one.  Apparently there are multi storey car parks just for bikes! The city was bustling as I remember it being on my last visits , full of tourists not put off by the rain!

Our River weekend began with a relaxing Canal cruise…a great way to see the city and to sit back and take it all in. A shame it was raining which meant the views weren’t as great as I remember but at least we didn’t get wet as the boats are all covered.  The cruise lasts about an hour and  is great trip and one I would recommend to anyone visiting the city. The narrow canals and the low bridges, the beautiful houses and buildings give a great first impression of Amsterdam.

After our cruise we made our way to the Emerald Sky, our River ship for the night. I have never been on board a river cruise ship before so couldn’t wait to get on board, and I wasn’t disappointed. The Emerald Sky is a beautiful stylish ship and it far exceeded my expectations, as did the other ships we saw over the course of the weekend. Look out next week for the ships we saw and of course there will be lots of photos to follow.

Our Saturday night in Amsterdam is one I will remember. We were booked into a restaurant that was highly recommended and so popular there was a waiting list to get a table booking. De Reiger has amazing reviews and after dining there I can understand why. The food was delicious, my mouth is watering just thinking about it now. We had a fab night of great food and wine and of course great company. General concensus was that after our meal we would head back into the centre and experience Amsterdam at night! What an eye opener that was! The streets were packed, the smells  of  marijuana on every corner, the girls in the windows…..what a city and a city in which anything goes so it seems! I have visited Amsterdam before but I’ve always been there during the day and never in the evening so it was great to see the city come alive at night.

So after a great first day we all headed back for a nightcap on board the Sky, an early night and ready for the first day of the convention…….keep an eye out next week for more on the River cruise ships and the convention.

Abbi