Amsterdam Sightseeing Canal Cruise (Blueboat)

Video

Itinerary

• Blue Boat cruises follow the standard Amsterdam inner-city itinerary without any major differences from most other companies.

Meeting Point

• 🗺️ Near Rijksmuseum: Stadhouderskade 501, 1071 ZD Amsterdam
• 🗺️ Near Heineken Experience: Stadhouderskade 550, 1072 AE Amsterdam

During The Cruise

The Ship

• The boat has a capacity for up to 55 passengers. There’s a main indoor passenger area with tables and seats (4 seats/table) and also an uncovered open-air area in the back.

• Winter: The ship is well insulated and heated, which on the positive side means there is no fogging of windows. I did not feel cold when I was in November. You get 360° panoramic views through the large windows. The seats were comfortable.

• Summer: The ship is permanently covered, so it doesn’t change in comparison to winter. To stay cool, the windows can be opened.

Food And Drinks

• The regular sightseeing cruise ticket does not come with any food or drinks. However, I decided to upgrade my ticket for an additional cost of 10 euros, which included a snack box.

• The snack box had a soft drink (or beer or wine), chips, popcorn, peanuts, and stroopwafel. It wasn’t anything exceptional, but if you want some snacks to munch on, it’s a decent option.

Crew

• During the cruise, there was only one captain on board. However, he didn’t introduce himself or engage with the passengers in any way. He was solely focused on driving the ship. As a result, the atmosphere on the boat was duller compared to other cruises where the captain was more interactive and entertaining.

Audio Guide via Earbuds

• There’s an audio guide available in 19 languages (Spanish, Turkish, Traditional Chinese, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Arabic, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian).
• The sound and content quality are great, and I found it interesting. However, the narration is too sparse (at least initially), and I felt the narration parts were too short. Additionally, it doesn’t point out which side to look at when discussing buildings.
• The Captain didn’t introduce himself and wasn’t an active participant in the cruise. As a result, the cruise felt flatter.
• There are disposable earbuds available that you can plug into the audio guide on the walls at each table. It’s nice, but not too environmentally friendly. You can also use your own earbuds.