On the 5thof May the Netherlands celebrates Independence Day. Meanwhile, the Passengers Terminal in Amsterdam and the cruise terminal in Ijmuiden are having a busy day of their own. The 5thof May is only one of two days where the Amsterdam area welcomes over 10,000 cruise passengers.
With the arrival of three large cruise ships: Celebrity Reflection (3,655 passengers), MS Nieuw Statendam (3,128 passengers) and MS Zuiderdam (2,364 passenger), the Amsterdam Passengers Terminal is experiencing its busiest day of the year. In total, these three ships bring up to 9,237 passengers and 2,842 crew members to the heart of the Dutch capital.
Amsterdam Cruise tax
Due to introduction of a special tourist tax on cruise ships arriving in Amsterdam’s city center, more cruise lines are opting for the nearby located port of Ijmuiden. One of those ships opting for Ijmuiden today, is the Costa Cruise Lines ship Costa Mediterranea. The Italian cruise line adjusted its original itinerary and opted for the port with lower taxes instead. Despite the ship docking in another port, an additional 2,537 passengers and 920 crew members will arrive in the Amsterdam area on Independence Day. A large number of these passengers will be transported by coaches to the city.
Busiest day of the year for the Amsterdam area.
In total, four large cruise ships will arrive in the Amsterdam area on May 5. These four ships bring 11,774 passengers and 3,762 crew members. Another busy day for the area is August 25: the second busiest day of the year with over 10,000 cruise passengers in the area. Similar to today, three ships will dock in Amsterdam and one in Ijmuiden on that day.
An overview of the five busiest cruise days in the Amsterdam area in 2019:
| Date | Amsterdam | IJmuiden | Maximum passengers |
| May 5, 2019 | 9,237 | 2,537 | 11,774 |
| August 25, 2019 | 7,843 | 2,537 | 10,380 |
| May 28, 2019 | 4,728 | 3,617 | 8,345 |
| October 22, 2019 | 3,938 | 3,737 | 7,665 |
| April 14, 2019 | 0 | 6,977 | 6,977 |
Cruise data Amsterdam & IJmuiden
Avoid-Crowds.com periodically collects data on all cruise itineraries of ships with 500 passengers or more. The recently introduced taxation on cruise ship arrivals in Amsterdam caused alterations to these itineraries. Information displayed on this page are collected from the official local cruise terminals. Data is collected from the following websites: Passenger Terminal Amsterdam (https://www.ptamsterdam.nl/nl/cruises-portal) and the Ijmuiden cruise terminal (https://www.felisonterminal.nl/calendar).
