Travel Disruptions

Welcome to Amesterdam!
Well, not so welcome after all ...
While we've been fortunate to avoid much of the global unrest, it finally caught up with us. A week ago, our sister ship, the Jewel of the Seas, was blocked from entering Amsterdam due to protests. With our own scheduled arrival and passenger exchange in Amsterdam on Sunday, June 18th, we faced a potential similar challenge. To ensure our smooth arrival, our captain made the difficult decision to skip our final port call in Bergen, Norway. Having visited this Norwegian city before and enjoyed several stops in Norway this week, the change wasn't a major disappointment.

The new plan was to reach Amsterdam and navigate through the locks before protesters could impede our progress. However, environmental activists from Extinction Rebellion had other ideas. They chained themselves to a lock at the Port of Amsterdam on Sunday, aiming to prevent our ship, the Serenade of the Seas, from docking. As reported in the news: "Extinction Rebellion activists blocked the Port of Amsterdam on Sunday by chaining themselves to a lock, preventing the arrival of the 'Serenade of the Seas' cruise ship. The protest aimed to highlight the environmental impact of cruise ships, which contribute significantly to CO2 emissions."

Despite the protest, our delay was minimal. Seven activists managed to hold us up for just a few hours before we successfully navigated the locks and entered Amsterdam. However, the incident left a sour taste, prompting us to reconsider our plans in a city that seems increasingly unwelcoming to tourists. We decided to limit our visit to a short walk ashore, deliberately choosing not to spend money in the local economy. We couldn't help but observe, as was the case in the past, the number of bicyclists that swarm the city. Here's also a nice photo of our ship once we finally docked (spending money on fuel and restocking with supplies).

All in all, we couldn't help but notice the irony of the situation. The city was teeming with emission-heavy vehicles, river cruisers, cargo ships and even housed refineries within its bounds. This observation led us to question the protesters' priorities. Why target cruise ships, which bring substantial tourist revenue to local businesses, instead of addressing the pollution issues in their own backyard? In the not too distant future cruise ships will be seeking other ports in the area and avoid the expensive delay and tourist frustration of this city. As a result, Amsterdam will need to find new ways to replace the income currently generated by cruise tourism. And, in spite of their mis-guided protests, it's well known that the cruise industry continues to upgrade its fuel sources and reduce emissions, showing a commitment to environmental improvement.

As we departed Amsterdam today, we were relieved to see the locks clear and unobstructed.

So now we're off on our final leg of this incredible adventure to the welcoming ports of Iceland, Greenland, Canada, Bermuda and eventually into the last port of call, Miami, Florida. We hope you'll continue to follow along on this once in a lifetime experience of the Ultimate World Cruise.