Disney Magic cruise ship: maiden call in Amsterdam

May, 2017 -- Earlier this month I went to the nearby IJ river (pronounced somewhat like 'eye') for a nice morning walk.

The IJ is a busy waterway, connecting the Northsea with the port and city of Amsterdam, and connecting both with a large chunk of Western Europe.

In addition to cargo vessels, tourist tour boats, public transport ferries, and pleasure crafts, the IJ also sees many cruise ships. And on this particular day I was fortunate to catch the Amsterdam maiden call of the Disney Magic.

The Disney Magic on its maiden call to the city of Amsterdam - Photo by Anton Hein.

There's a lot of discussion in Amsterdam about the negative impact of tourism, because the number of tourist visiting the city has boomed to such an extent that the city has started to look like theme park.

Nevertheless, I do enjoy the sight of these huge ships arriving right in the center of town. They moor at the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam (PTA) just to the East of Central Station.

Anton Hein