Amsterdam has a new tax on cruise ship stopovers starting January 1st, and some cruise lines plan to duck it by staying away.
The €8 per passenger per night charge applies to all passengers on ships that make a stop at Amsterdam, but do not start or end there. The city says it needs the money to offset heavy demands on the city and its public spaces by large volumes of tourists.
So far, CMV Cruises and MSC Cruises have announced they'll skip Amsterdam for now, with some stops moving to Rotterdam.
Other lines are considering their options, saying they can't afford to add the fees. For a 2,000-passenger ship, the charge is €16,000, and since most cruises are paid well in advance, the short notice, only two months, of the implementation means that the companies will mostly have to absorb it.
The Cruise Lines Industry Association says its members are 'disappointed' and feel they are being treated unfairly, saying "This means that cruise passengers visiting Amsterdam, who already pay a significant amount in port fees and other tariffs, will have to pay a further €8 per 24-hour period that they remain in the city, whilst other day tourists, who arrive in Amsterdam by train, bus or car, would not have to pay a day tourist tax and do not also pay port or other fees."
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