At 3 PM we arrived at Sixhaven Marina, our sea base during our three night stay in Amsterdam (pop. 840.000). Our marina is very nice and clean. All necessary facilities are available close to our floating home. A few minutes way from the marina is the free ferry service for crossing the river Ij.
After a quick shower it was nice to relax on Jennifer's sundeck with a cold beer. Suddenly the view changed for a few minutes; "Brilliance of the Seas" passed by on the river, very close to Sixhaven Marina. From my viewing position she looked really huge, 292 m long and 12 stories high. She can carry 2.500 passengers with a crew of 850. Her cruising speed is 25 knots (46 km/h).
I prefer Jennifer's more modest length of 15 m with a crew and a passenger total of 8-9 souls. Her speed is also more modest, 2.5 knots in heavy head wind and a top speed of 12 knots (seldom!).