transportation

my first thought is based on other discussions on this forum, not experience. But before you decide from any of those options have you checked whether the cruise company offers transfers from the airport?

I looked on the Celebrity website, under Excursions... the cost is rather extravagant, upwards of $200 per person. I am trying to find a more cost effective choice.

It would help to know which cruise terminal your ship will be at. The PTA in Amsterdam, or the Rotterdam terminal? Celebrity uses both. If it's the PTA, you can take the train to Amsterdam Centraal for about €5.50 /pp. Then it's a 10 minute walk on level paved ground to the cruise terminal. Google says a taxi from the airport would be in the €45-80 range depending on traffic and time of day.

Thank you for your reply. Celebrity is at the PTA terminal. I will consider which options will work best for us.

I would take the Google AI answer with some caution.

The national taxi rates are here, they are in dutch but the important bits are mostly numbers:
https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/taxi/vraag-en-antwoord/wat-zijn-de-kosten-voor-een-taxi
there are two levels, cars or mini vans, and maximum prices. You have to add together three factors>
the start tarif (pick up) , the km tarif (distance) and the minute tarif (journey time).
Google Maps direction say currently (Sunday evening) the fastest route is 25km in 21 minutes.
So the maximum fare in a car would be €4,31 + 25 x €3,17 + 21 x €0,52 which is almost €95 - in heavy traffic it could go over €100. But drivers can offer lower rates which are displayed on cards or fixed prices, which need to be agreed before the start.

So there you are, as clear as mud! Which is also how I would describe the Celebrity website which in one section says transfers can be booked through your account (without mentioning excursions) but also offers an end of cruise excursion of Amsterdam canals plus transfer to airport (without mentioning price).

From Schiphol Airport you take the train to Amsterdam Centraal, a train ride of 15-20 minutes, then make the 10-minute walk to the PTA. Check the official train site for the Netherlands and you'll see the fare is 5.50 Euros each, and there are trains every few minutes from Schiphol:

https://www.ns.nl/en

If you cannot walk the 10 minutes after your train ride, you can get a taxi for around 10 Euros.

In the Celebrity portal, check under "pre-and post cruise" and not "excursions." The regular transfers aren't shown under excursions and they are much cheaper. The transfers shown under excursions usually include some sort of sightseeing which is why they are more.