Once we were through IJmuiden locks, it was a pleasant two hour cruise down to the city itself. I'd done this trip last year, on Vision of the Seas, so knew that it was a busy area with lots to see. Not only are there ships there are birds, with large gull, tern and wader nesting colonies, and also, for aviation enthusiasts, aircraft on final approach to Schiphol Airport.
There were a couple of bulk carriers at the chemical works next to the locks, Sanmar Paragon and Cape Agnes, whose photos I posted in the previous post.
A couple of times we were passed by the Amsterdam-IJmuiden fast ferry, the service takes about 40 minutes one way.
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| The Amsterdam-IJmuiden hydrofoil Catherina-Amalia |
Something I had failed to notice last year was a large tower at IJmuiden, which I thought was some sort of town hall clock tower but which is, instead, a water tower built in 1915 and now a listed building. How I failed to notice this is anyone's guess, as it is the tallest building in the vicinity, with a brick red roof and stands out for miles but, then I am not the most observant of people, unless I am specifically looking for something - an unfortunate trait that does get me into trouble now and again!
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| IJmuiden water tower. It's kind of cute |
It was a pleasant journey east along the canal, as the sun was warm and it didn't cloud over until we got to Amsterdam itself (and, even then, it cleared), which made a nice change from the crap weather we have endured over the past few months. There were quite a few ships in, although I don't think there were as many as last time, whether that is to do with the recession (depression?) or just it was a quiet time, I have no idea.
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| Autumn, 8539 gt, built in 2008, Marshall Islands flag, IMO 9416795 |
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| Saturnus, 190 gt, built in 1978, Netherlands flag, IMO 7719052 |
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| Frio Arkhangelsk, 6971 gt, built in 1993, St Kitts and Nevis flag, IMO 8860444 |
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| Looks as though it could say 'Catnip'(!) but is actually Sapphire. 8886 gt, built in 1988, Russian flag, IMO 8509545 |
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| BW Rhine, 43797 gt, built in 2008, Panamanian flag, IMO 9341940 |
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| Gunhild Kirk, 30241 gt, built in 2009, British flag ( :-)) IMO 9476812 |
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| Nina Victory, 26218 gt, built in 1997, Norwegian flag, IMO 9105114 |
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| Okhta Bridge, 27829 gt, built in 2004, Liberian flag, IMO 9256937 |
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| Hoegh Tropicana, 33359 gt, built in 1980, Norwegian flag, IMO 7903093 |
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Dolfijngracht, 13706 gt, built in 2009, Netherlands flag, IMO 9420825
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| Geopotes 15, 10188 gt. built in 1985, Netherlands flag, IMO 8414790 |
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| Toledo, 61321 gt, built in 2005, UK flag, IMO 9293624 |
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| Piltene, 30641 gt, built in 2007, Marshall Islands flag, IMO 9323376 |
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| Isarstern, 11426 gt, built in 1995, German flag, IMO 9105140 |
On arrival at Amsterdam's passenger terminal we were greeted by the Amsterdam Port Choir who were singing Dutch sea songs as we came alongside. They were later downstairs in the terminal. The music, Dutch sea shanties, isn't my cup of tea at all, but the singers and musicians were very good at what they did.
Also, it being a weekday, workers in a nearby office block watched our arrival, apart from one bloke who had his head in his hands staring glumly at a computer screen. Presumably his spreadsheets weren't to his liking.
Once the gangway was open Patsy went ashore to meet a friend, David, who had been living over in Holland for about 18 years. I had a few things to do (finish a beer and a sandwich!) and said I'd catch them up at the cafe on the pier, next to the terminal.
At the Amsterdam terminal it is possible to get close up photos of your ship, something it is not easy to do in the UK thanks to a combination of clutter in the way (at least in the case of Southampton, unless the ship is at berth 101 and not facing away from you or you take a harbour trip) and security jobsworths. Jobsworths are everywhere, but seem particularly bad at home. In Holland, though, I have never seen an overzealous security guard, although there is one bloke in Zeebrugge, Belgium, who takes his job a bit too seriously, according to Patsy, chasing people away from the barrier and generally putting himself about. Security is necessary, of course, but overblown paranoia, as is often the case in the UK, isn't.
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| Pretty girl |
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| Nice arse, even with the new addition. |
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| From the other side |
Later that evening, as it was an overnight stay as Amsterdam cruise visits seem to be (I guess once the ship has gone through the locks and along the canal and presumably paid a lot of money for the privilege, it may as well make a night of it), I took the opportunity to attempt some night shots. My current camera is a Canon 7D, which performs well at high ISOs, and the results weren't that bad, despite being hand held as I didn't bring a tripod with me.
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| Sunset |
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| Funnel with the rising waning gibbous Moon behind |
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| Tracey, Alison, Jane (out of shot), Sian, Jeff and Patricia hit the dance floor. |
It was a late night with us all going our separate ways at something like 3am. I can remember dancing and some very nice poncey pink cocktails! They were lovely and just the sort of drink that you can drink lots of, thinking it to be no worse than lemonade, until you suddenly find that your legs won't obey commands from your brain! Suffice to say it was a late start the next day and I spent most of what was left of the afternoon in a nice chair on the Promenade Deck.
We sailed at 6pm and, unfortunately, it was formal night (poncing up night, as Patsy calls it). This is my one whinge about cruising. I hate,
hate, HATE formal wear and it does put me off cruising - I love the rest of it, except for the 'poncing up'. It is one thing I don't understand about cruises - people are supposed to be on a holiday so why force them to dress a certain way in the evening? You can't even wear normal casual clothes and slip off to another part of the ship, such as a quiet bar away from the formalities. It's utter bollocks. At least give people a choice.
Left to my own devices I'd have lurked in the cabin, ordered room service and watched TV except Patsy didn't want to go to dinner on her tod, especially as our table companions were two elderly couples who already knew each other. Putting two single people with two couples is not the greatest idea ever, a group of singles would have been better and I think you can request that kind of arrangement, not that requests always get listened to! The elderly couples were very nice people but, still, singles would have been better.
Anyway, before we got to dinner, there was two hours of sailing along the Nordzeekanal. There were a few ships around so I took a few last photos before having to grace the dining room with my precence.
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| Furenas, 8930 gt, built in 1998, Faroe Islands flag, IMO 9153214 |
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| Stenberg, 11935 gt, built in 2003, Gibraltar flag, IMO 9283978 |
By the time we reached the locks it was time for dinner, so I had to tear myself away from the scenes outside and go down to the Peninsular Restaurant. While we were at dinner, the sky turned a very strange colour and the mist turned pink and purple with the sunset. It almost looked as if we were in for a storm but none came along.
The following morning we would be at Zeebrugge which will be in the next part.
To be continued...
