My AmaZing experience in Amsterdam on the AmaPrima – Part 1

A few weeks ago I was told I was going to be staying overnight on the AmaPrima in Amsterdam for one night. As a River cruise novice I was pleased I was going to be getting first hand experience of a river ship and all that it entails. But I was also slightly apprehensive. What would the cabins look like? Would I be disappointed or delighted with the facilities? Would the entertainment match that of the bigger Ocean Cruisers or a more sedate affair?

My travels began at 6 am on Saturday morning, I would love to say bright and breezy but I don’t want to start by lying to you. I got the bus to Dublin and spent the 3 1/2 hrs in dream land making up for the early start.

My flight to Amsterdam was departing from Dublin Airport. This would be my first experience of flying from the new airport terminal with Aer Lingus. The new Terminal 2 opened in 2010 at a cost of 1.2 billion euros so I was interested in seeing how efficient and trouble free my visit through the airport would be.

My experience was a brilliant one. From leaving the bag drop area (I had checked in on line) it took me about 10 minutes to get to the departures area. This was a Saturday lunch time so I expected to spend a while milling through the crowds, but the airport security were prompt and, dare I say it, friendly and helpful. I spend about 2 hours having a nosy around the shops and cafes and then off I went to Amsterdam.

My advice for landing in Amsterdam Airport is to wear flat shoes. It must have taken me 25 minutes to walk from the arrivals gate to the baggage carousel, not the greatest start to my adventure in Holland. I was meeting up with three other home workers from Cruise.co.uk who were flying from Newcastle. As there was four of us we decided to get a taxi to the hotel. We were staying at the Citizen M hotel just outside of Amsterdam Centre. It is a new modern hotel, about 10 mins tram journey from the main tourist area. The hotel has a feel of a hip New York hotel and all the public areas are cool, modern and well staffed.

The hall ways throughout the hotel are a bit strange and you would be forgiven for thinking you were already in a ship.

As Fab as the downstairs was I don’t think I was really prepared for the rooms or their layout. As you walk in the door there was a toilet ‘pod’ on the right hand side, a shower ‘pod’ on left and the bed then behind a net curtain.

The bed was what can only be described as huge and extremely comfortable, with a large flat screen TV on the wall. The TV box controlled everything from the lights in the shower to the window blind. It was futuristic, slightly clinical, but certainly has lots of appeal.

After a wonderful sleep we woke up bright and early on Sunday morning. We had breakfast at the hotel, which was lovely and set us up for the day ahead. Check out was simple and completed ourselves using a touch screen computer that is similar looking to those self check in desks at the airport. The hotel called us a taxi and after a quick 20 euro taxi ride we arrived at the Amsterdam Passenger Cruise Port.

We were greeted by a canopy with the ships name on it and a very friendly gentleman who was so helpful he was nearly going to lift our suitcases from the boot of the taxi.

Keep posted for my next instalment of our journey next week.