From the arrivals hall
to the gangway.
Ocean cruises leave the Netherlands from three quays: the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam on the IJ, the Cruise Terminal Rotterdam on the Wilhelminakade and the Felison Cruise Terminal at IJmuiden. We drive you from Schiphol or your hotel to the right one, with every case in the car and the sailing time in the plan.
Three quays, three very different drives.
The Passenger Terminal Amsterdam sits on the Piet Heinkade, on the south bank of the IJ a short walk east of Centraal station, beside the Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ. It counts as an Amsterdam address, so the fixed Schiphol prices apply: about half an hour from the airport outside the rush hour, in via the A10 ring and the Piet Heintunnel and straight to the terminal forecourt.
The Cruise Terminal Rotterdam is on the Wilhelminakade on the Kop van Zuid, at the foot of the Erasmusbrug and next to Hotel New York, the old Holland America Line building. From Schiphol it is a run of just over an hour down the A4 and A13. The Felison Cruise Terminal in IJmuiden lies at the mouth of the North Sea Canal by the sea locks, beside the ferry berth for Newcastle: from Schiphol or Amsterdam via the A9, about forty minutes when the roads are clear.
Embarkation, disembarkation, and the night before.
Flight tracked from booking, chauffeur inside the arrivals hall with a name sign, cases straight into the car and a drive timed to your boarding window rather than to the first taxi in the rank.
Ships clear their passengers early and in groups. Tell us the time the ship has given you and we are at the terminal exit with the car, so you reach Schiphol the three hours before departure we recommend.
Many parties fly in a day early and sleep near Centraal or on the canals. The hotel to the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam is a short ride; the hotel to IJmuiden or Rotterdam is a longer one we quote as a fixed amount.
Collected at the quay, cases in the boot, and a day in the city or in Haarlem by the hour before the flight home, or a drive to a hotel anywhere in the country.
A Van Class seats seven with seven cases; a party of twelve travels in two, parked side by side at the terminal, with one dispatcher holding the plan.
For ships leaving from the Wilhelminakade we also serve Rotterdam itself, Rotterdam The Hague Airport and the hotels on the Kop van Zuid.
How an embarkation-day transfer is planned.
Give us the flight number, the ship’s name, the terminal named on your cruise documents and the boarding window. Dispatch checks the terminal against the ship and comes back with the car and the timing.
From booking onwards the flight is tracked. If it lands early, the chauffeur is early; if it lands late, the sixty minutes of free waiting after landing absorb the delay and dispatch keeps the terminal timing in view.
The chauffeur meets you inside the arrivals hall with a name sign, takes the luggage and walks you to the car in the garage nearest the hall. Nothing is stacked on a coach or handed to a second driver.
At the terminal the chauffeur unloads at the drop-off and stays until the cases are with you or at the terminal’s luggage drop. For disembarkation the same happens in reverse: car at the exit, cases in, off to Schiphol or the hotel.
Fixed to the Amsterdam terminal, quoted fixed to the others.
The Passenger Terminal Amsterdam is an Amsterdam address, so the published Schiphol prices apply. Rotterdam and IJmuiden are quoted per kilometre as one all-in figure at booking, taxes included, no meter and nothing added on the day.
Bookings made within 12 hours of pickup carry a 10% short-notice surcharge. The Mercedes-Maybach runs Schiphol ⇄ Amsterdam at €225 to and €250 from the airport and is confirmed on WhatsApp.
Six things that make a cruise transfer go smoothly.
Quays, turnaround days and fleet coordination for river ships: a different operation from the ocean terminals.
The Wilhelminakade in detail: the approach over the Erasmusbrug, boarding windows and the argument against leaving a car for a fortnight.
Chauffeur service in Rotterdam: the Kop van Zuid, the airport and the run to Schiphol.
The airport standard behind every pickup: flight tracking, name sign, free waiting.
Several cars to one plan for a large cruise party.
The one named on your cruise documents. Ocean ships in the Netherlands use the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam on the Piet Heinkade, the Cruise Terminal Rotterdam on the Wilhelminakade or the Felison Cruise Terminal in IJmuiden, and some sailings marketed as Amsterdam actually embark at IJmuiden. Send us the ship’s name and dispatch checks it before confirming the car.
To the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam about half an hour outside the rush hour, to IJmuiden around forty minutes, and to the Cruise Terminal Rotterdam a little over an hour. Your chauffeur plans the departure against the traffic on the day, and for a morning landing that usually means leaving with time in hand.
Keep the car. A Business Class by the hour from €65, minimum two hours, takes you into the city for breakfast or a walk along the canals with the cases locked in the boot, and delivers you to the terminal when the boarding window opens. Dispatch quotes the whole morning as one figure.
Three full-size cases in a Business or First Class car, seven in a Van Class, on top of hand luggage. Cruise parties tend to travel heavy, so tell us the count when you book; a party of six with nine cases goes in a Van Class and a Business Class rather than one crowded car.
For the time the ship has assigned to your disembarkation group. Ships let passengers off in waves, so the car is booked for your wave, not for the moment of docking, and we plan to have you at Schiphol three hours before an international departure. Ask the ship for the earliest wave if the flight is tight.
Message dispatch on WhatsApp and the pickup moves with the ship. Cancellation is free up to one hour before the booked pickup time, and a transfer moved to a later hour is simply rebooked, not charged twice.