Most Amadeus guests have a night or two in Amsterdam around their cruise. The family-owned fleet, with ships such as Amadeus Queen, Amadeus Star and Amadeus Cara, often begins or ends its Rhine and Dutch itineraries here, so there is usually time to enjoy the city before you board or after you step off. Below you can follow the Amadeus fleet live, check the 2026 and 2027 docking dates and find the exact quay your ship uses. Sailing the Rhine? Low water can change itineraries at short notice, so check our live Rhine water level tracker before you travel.
We turn those days into a private tour built around you: the canals, the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum, or a day out to Keukenhof in spring and the Zaanse Schans windmills. Your own guide, your own pace, no coach and no fixed group. We plan to your ship’s all-aboard time and keep a margin in hand, and we are glad to run the day in English or German, whichever suits you. The Lüftner ships run bilingual by necessity; we do not have to, so your day is in one language, at your level, with the questions answered as you ask them. Tell us your dates.
Not sure which Amadeus ship or sailing is yours? Find my river cruise matches your line and dates to the ship, its Amsterdam berth and how long you are alongside.
Amadeus ships draw about 1.70 m. That means the ship needs roughly 1.80 m of water to keep clearance under the keel.
The shallowest point we track on the Rhine today is Kaub at 1.16 m, measured 25 September 2026, 00:00 (Europe/Amsterdam). That is not enough for a 1.70 m ship at that point.
See live water depths at every Rhine gauge or check the Danube.
Amadeus and the ship's captain decide whether a ship sails, not this page. This is water level information we receive from the official gauge services (PEGELONLINE, Rijkswaterstaat, BAFU), converted into navigable depth. A ship also changes its own draught by taking on or releasing ballast, and at high water the limit is bridge clearance rather than depth. Always check with your cruise line.
If Amsterdam is a call during your Rhine itinerary rather than the start or finish, we shape the day around your hours alongside.
Every Amadeus call below is drawn live from our Amsterdam river cruise calendar, so the dates and berths update themselves.
The level of the Rhine is the usual reason an Amadeus itinerary changes, and our Rhine water-level updates track the five gauges that matter most for cruising.
Amadeus ships berth centrally in Amsterdam. These are the quays used for Amadeus calls, each with a map so you know exactly where to meet:
Piet Heinkade, city centre · 20 min walk to Centraal
Right on the IJ waterfront in the city centre, a 10 minute walk or one tram stop from Central Station. LP is your berth number, and “via Muziekgebouw” or “via Vriesseveem” simply tells you which walkway leads to your gangway.
Behind Central Station, west side · 5 min walk to Centraal
Behind Amsterdam Central Station, on the west side, so you are inside the station within 5 minutes of stepping ashore. The Dam, the canal ring and the Jordaan are all within an easy and very pleasant walk.
Western harbour · 15 min taxi or ship shuttle
A working harbour about 4 kilometres west of the centre, used when the central berths are full. Nothing lies in walking distance, so plan on a ship shuttle, a 15 minute taxi, or a private pickup right at the gangway.
Western IJ waterfront · 12 min walk to Centraal.
On the western IJ bank, a 12 minute walk from Central Station. The berth borders the Jordaan, which puts the Noordermarkt, the Nine Streets and the Anne Frank House all within a 20 minute stroll of your gangway.
Behind Central Station, east side · 8 min walk to Centraal
Just east of Central Station, 10 minutes on foot from the main station hall. NEMO Science Museum, the OBA library and the Maritime Museum are close by, around Oosterdok, and the old centre starts a 10 minute walk away.
Amadeus is unusual. Rather than keeping berths behind the booking, Lüftner Cruises publishes the six Amsterdam locations its ships use, De Ruijterkade Oost, De Ruijterkade West, Veemkade at the Passenger Terminal, Javakade, Westerdoksdijk and Coenhaven Westerhoofd, and offers a downloadable city map alongside them. It also says out loud what other lines leave you to discover: the port assigns the position, it can change at short notice, and ships regularly moor side by side so you may walk through a neighbouring vessel to reach the quay.
Tulip Serenade and Best of Holland and Belgium are both eight day round trips from Amsterdam, taking in Keukenhof and the Zaanse Schans windmills respectively, and the Classical Rhine Cruise runs the eight days down to Basel. Boarding is generally in the afternoon and disembarkation follows breakfast.
The excursion model is the real difference here, and it changes the sums. Amadeus does not bundle sightseeing into the fare. Excursions come as packages, A for a few, B for a middling selection and C for everything, with a discount for booking before you sail and full price on board. From 2027 there is a Package S for active guests. The four categories are AMADEUS Active, Taste, Classic and Experience, and Amsterdam appears under Active as a cycle along the canals. UK guests booking through the line’s Ipswich arm get an onboard credit instead of the packages, spendable on excursions, spa or bar.
Because you are paying per excursion either way, comparing a package price against a private guide is straightforward rather than awkward. Bikes and e-bikes are free on board from March to the end of October, so if cycling is your thing you already have wheels. What we add is the person riding beside you who knows where to stop.
A bilingual group excursion
Your private day with us
Tell us your language and your interests, and we will match the guide and the day. Plan your private day
Amadeus sails bilingual, so its own excursions are often delivered twice over, in German and then in English. It works, but it is a slow way to see a city, and the commentary has to suit everybody at once.
A private guide means the day is in your language, at your level and about whatever actually interests you, whether that is the Golden Age, the war years or simply where to eat well tonight. You decide how long to stay, where to stop and when you have seen enough.
The Lüftner fleet is family-run and berths centrally here, usually at the Passenger Terminal, along De Ruijterkade or at Coenhaven. Dutch itineraries generally pair Amsterdam with the Rhine, so a half or full day ashore is easy to arrange around your timings.
Sailing with Amadeus? Send us your dates and we will plan the day around your ship.
Header photo: Amadeus Queen by Vagabond-PRVienna (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
Cruising with Amadeus? Alongside your tours, we can arrange a private Schiphol airport transfer or a chauffeur between the airport, your hotel and your Amadeus ship, timed around your embarkation and disembarkation. Arrange a private Schiphol transfer.
We look after guests from every river and ocean line calling in the Netherlands. Pick your cruise line to see the tours, berths and docking details that apply to your ship:
Amadeus ships berth centrally, most often at the Passenger Terminal, along De Ruijterkade, at Coenhaven or at Westerdoksdijk, a short walk or transfer from the old town. Your exact berth is shown in the schedule above.
Whichever you prefer. Your guide works only for you, so the whole day runs in your language, with no need to sit through the same commentary twice.
Amadeus Queen, Amadeus Star, Amadeus Riva, Amadeus Brilliant, Amadeus Cara and Amadeus Imperial are among the regulars. The schedule above shows which ship is in on which date.
Yes. Your private guide meets you at the gangway, the terminal or your hotel, and the whole day runs on your timing.
The sooner the better for spring and peak dates, but we can often arrange a private guide at shorter notice too.