Most APT guests have a night or two in Amsterdam around their cruise. APT’s luxury river ships, APT Solara and APT Ostara, often begin or end their Rhine and Dutch Waterways itineraries here, so there is usually time to enjoy the city before you board or after you step off. Below you can follow the APT 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. You have flown a very long way for this, so we would rather lose fifteen minutes of sightseeing than have you watching the ship leave, and we plan to your all-aboard time. Australian guests often land jet-lagged a day or two before boarding, so we pace that first day gently and save the demanding things for later. Tell us your dates.
Not sure which APT and Travelmarvel 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.
APT does not publish a draught figure for its fleet. Most European river ships draw between 1.5 m and 2.1 m, with the majority between 1.6 m and 1.7 m.
The shallowest point we track on the Rhine today is Kaub at 1.16 m, measured 25 September 2026, 00:00 (Europe/Amsterdam).
See live water depths at every Rhine gauge or check the Danube.
APT 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 the cruise rather than your embarkation port, we build the day around your hours ashore.
Every APT call below is drawn live from our Amsterdam river cruise calendar, so Solara and Ostara appear as soon as their dates are set.
When you have flown from Australia for the trip, it is worth knowing that a low Rhine can alter an APT itinerary, so do glance at the Rhine water levels before you fly.
APT ships berth centrally in Amsterdam. These are the quays used for APT 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.
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.
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.
APT is Melbourne born and still owned by the McGeary family, a century after Bill McGeary bought his first bus, and it sells its European river cruises with flights included from Australia. That single fact shapes the Amsterdam end of the trip more than anything on the brochure. Guests arrive off a long haul, often via one connection, and the sensible ones land two or three days early to let their body catch up.
Magnificent Europe, fifteen days from Amsterdam to Budapest, is APT’s most popular cruise, and it works in your favour. The ship stays in Amsterdam overnight on the first night and remains through day two before heading for Andernach, so there is a night and a full day here whether or not you add anything. Western Front Explorer is the fifteen day Amsterdam round trip, and there are Paris, Prague and Budapest extensions bolted on either end.
APT now sails its own ships in Europe, the 154 guest, 60 crew APT Solara, Ostara and Alara, with Green Award Gold ratings and no single use plastics. Excursions come in two branded tiers, Freedom of Choice and Signature Experiences, and on Magnificent Europe the Amsterdam day is a Freedom of Choice day, with the Signature Experiences saved for Andernach, Salzburg and Vienna.
Two things follow. First, the Amsterdam day is a choose-from-a-list day, not an exclusive one, so it is the easiest day on the whole itinerary to improve on. Second, the days before embarkation are entirely unstructured. APT releases the docking address to booked guests within 48 hours of departure, so tell us your trip code and we will meet you wherever the port puts the ship, jet lag and all.
A group excursion
Your private days with us
Tell us when you land and when you board, and we will pace your days in between. Plan your private day
Most APT guests have flown from Australia to be here, which makes every day ashore precious in a way a fixed coach itinerary does not really respect.
A private guide turns seeing Amsterdam into understanding it. You set the pace, ask whatever you like and change the plan the moment something catches your eye. After a long-haul flight, that also means a gentle first day, with a rest when you need one, rather than keeping up with a coach.
APT’s newest ships, Solara and Ostara, berth centrally at the Passenger Terminal, at Coenhaven or along De Ruijterkade. Australian guests very often extend either side of the cruise, so we tend to build two or three unhurried days here rather than a single rushed one.
Flying in for an APT cruise? Get in touch and we will make the most of your days here.
Sailing with APT? Alongside your tours, we can arrange a private Schiphol airport transfer or a chauffeur to take you from the airport to your APT ship or your hotel, and back again, timed around your cruise. Book a private 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:
APT’s ships berth centrally, most often at the Passenger Terminal, at Coenhaven or along De Ruijterkade behind Central Station. Your exact berth is shown in the schedule above.
Very much so, and most of our APT guests do exactly that. We can build two or three days that fit together, mixing Amsterdam with a day out to the countryside, Keukenhof in season, or the Dutch coast.
Solara and Ostara, APT’s newest river ships, are the ones you will see here. The schedule above shows which is in on which date.
Yes. We can meet you at the airport or your hotel and use that first day gently, which is usually the best way to handle the jet lag before you board.
As early as you can, given you are planning flights around it. That said, we can often arrange a private guide at shorter notice too.