Amsterdam, Netherlands

Welcome to Amsterdam, Where The Bikes Outnumber The People

The good news is although it drizzled late yesterday morning and was windy by 12:30 PM courts were dry and even with the wind Keith enjoyed two hours of Pickle Ball with Elizabeth and Cindy and some other players who we enjoy playing with.


Before dinner, we attended the Captain's Reception and Crystal Society Reception. Captain Vincent welcomed everyone and also spoke about our arrival to Amsterdam. The Captain noted that we will go through the Locks at 5:00 AM and while he will do his best to keep noise to a minimum, we might hear some of it. We are so happy to be docking downtown and Captain Vincent noted we will be the only Ocean Vessel in port.

After entering the Palm Court and speaking with Andrew Tripoli, Captain Vincent we also spoke with Food & Beverage Manager Svein, Bar Manager Kate, Dr. Soto, Chief Engineer Nenad and Shore Excursion Manager Alex and some of the guests. We prefer to walk around and not sit. At the same time, guests were enjoying the live music and some were dancing and others we enjoying drinks and canapés.

Crystal Society Future Cruise & Loyalty Manager Andrew Triplow recognized a couple celebrating their 50th Milestone who started sailing Crystal in the 1990's and recognized those Society Members who have several milestones. Andrew all noted that around 64 guests are on their first Crystal Cruise.

Following is last nights Waterside Dinner Menu

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Since this evening was a formal night they also had a Supper Club for eighty guests who signed up for the event. The Supper Club is reminiscent of the Supper Club of years past on land with a nice dinner and dancing and live music by the Crystal on-board entertainers. ​Last night they one hundred guests attended the Supper Club.

Then we were off to Waterside for an amazing dinner. The menu featured lots of wonderful items including appetizers such as caviar and oysters and the entrees included lobster and steak so you could make it into Surf & Turf. The lobster was one of the highlights and it featured a new look and we enjoyed it very much.


Between the delicious cuisine, the outstanding service and the beautiful dining venue dining at Waterside is always a t

Today's Daily Reflection Program.

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After an early morning workout in the Fitness Center, I made my way down to the Promenade Deck at 4:50 AM. It was windy for sure. After making my way to the bow (front) of the ship and eventually seeing the pilot boat I realized there would be a little delay. I spoke with another guest and said I think it will be better on Deck 11. He looked at me puzzled. I walked up to Deck 11 and it was less windy and about ten minutes later I saw the guest on Deck 11 and he said I was right. I took some photos and video as we approached and went into the lock and then went down to Deck 7 to get a couple of photos and another perspective. It started raining around 5:10 AM. There were four other guests outside at this time. Two gave up due to the rain but one of them returned at 5:30.
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Isn't it funny how life sometimes plays out? Our inaugural trip to Amsterdam was last September on the Crystal Symphony. We strolled around portions of this amazing city, but there was so much to see that we were thrilled to make a comeback today. We absolutely adored our tour guide, so we booked another tour a few days later, specifically asking for her again. Last year, thanks to a little oopsie, we missed the Anne Frank Museum, so today we finally made it happen! It wasn't the tour company's fault, mind you. Nope, the blame squarely lands on the third party we booked through, so this time we went straight to the touring company.

We're not sure if this has happened to you but it's funny how things work out. For example, we never were to Amsterdam before last year and now we are here the following year. Never to Liverpool until 2015 and in addition to visiting last year we will return on this voyage. Never had a pre-cruise stay in Reykjavik until 2021 and then back again last year and now this year. Didn't transit the Panama Canal until 2007 and we could count on all fingers and next with some of our toes how many times we have visited.  No matter how many times we have visited these places and others like them, we count our blessing, pinch ourselves and enjoy each visit as if it is the first one. 

We met tour guide Kaleigh at the pier at 9:30 AM. The change from last year is last we didn't dock downtown but rather at a port about 50 minutes away in ljmuden.  We did end up near the pier when we were transferred back to the port at the end of the tour so were familiar with its location.

​Amsterdam is the capital and the second largest city of The Netherlands after Rotterdam. The city has close to one million residents within the city proper. For several decades Amsterdam was a small fishing village before eventually becoming a major world port.

Amsterdam is known for its canals, a state museum, the Van Gogh Museum along with several other museums, the Dam Square, 

Last year we visited several areas of Amsterdam with our tour guide including the Jewish Synagogue. As mentioned we didn't get to the Anne Frank House last year. In grade school we read the Diary Of Anne Frank and we watched the Movie. As children, we learned about World War II in school and outside of school we learned from parents and grandparents, other relatives and their friends about World War II. To put this all into perspective, Anne Frank died in February of 1945 and World War II in Europe in May of 1945 ten years before we were born. When visiting relatives on weekends unlike today we would sit with the adults and listen to the stories about items such as The Great Depression and World War II and how life was back then. Often today, while the adults are speaking the younger ones might be in another room watching TV, playing a game or on some type of electronic or smart device.

The conversations we heard coupled with what we learned in school put many things into perspective for us. Foremost is that our parents generation put their children first and wanted them to have more than they did including education. It also taught us to see things as the glass is half-full and not complain about the little things that do not go our way. When it comes to cruising