Reviews

The ship and accommodations were very well maintained, clean and comfortable; the crew and tour guides were all excellent – knowledgable, considerate, experienced and fun.

I was so impressed with the crew, the marvelous enthusiasm of the guides, and the boat. A beautiful boat of high quality craftsmanship. The countryside was beautiful and the chef Sidi’s dinners were incredible. He even put together a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner for us.

Magnifique 4 is a beautiful boat! Staterooms roomy enough…. We spent little time in the room! Dining room very inviting and all meals just great. Cycles were in good condition and well maintained. Captain and hosts were friendly, responsive, and fun. The cycling Guides were amazing: knowledgeable, personable, fun. The route was interesting and I looked forward every morning to the day’s ride.

Well planned excursions and options, friendly, helpful, and communicative staff, great food, and great company!

I can’t say enough about traveling on the Magnifique four and biking through Belgium and the Netherlands. We had an unbelievably great time! Violet (host), Christine (host), Avi (the chef), Michael/Walter (captains), and Joelle (sailor) we’re an incredible crew with great hospitality that made us all feel like we were at home. Esther and Hilde were fabulous bike tour guides, I would highly recommend boat-bike tours to anyone!

The friendly captain inspired confidence in the way he talked about and handled the boat. The entire crew was pleasant, cheerful, and very hard-working. Public areas and our cabins were very well maintained. Chef made sure we had tasty and healthy food morning , lunch and dinner. Although would have appreciated some lunch variety. Even PBJ would have been welcome. The guides were knowledgeable and very good at describing sights and ride plans and guiding us safely during those rides. The rides took us through beautiful countryside that led to interesting sights and ride breaks. , Those who chose to stay on the Boat were made very welcome and had a great opportunity to see the gorgeous countryside that the boat sailed through We would definitely recommend such an adventure to other bicyclist.

Nice to unpack only once for 8 days. Boat, staff, guides, tours and bicycles were all great. Barbecue evening was very fun.

The guides and crew were fantastic. Boat was clean, tidy and comfortable. Food was really good. Overall fantastic experience

Overall, it was an excellent trip and we’ll be doing another one in the future for sure but adults only! For context, we are in our late 50’s. There were many positives but one major drawback. Accommodations: We booked a standard cabin that was below the main deck. Beds were firm, body wash/shampoo, conditioner and a hairdryer were provided. There is small closet to store clothing in. NOTE: the closet is not big enough to store checked luggage – my husband’s soft sided suitcase fit under the raised bed, but my hard sided one did not. The Boat – Manifique IV: The boat was very nicely appointed – great space outside and inside to enjoy the trip and views and a hot tub on the upper deck. The Bikes: The bikes were standard touring bikes. We found the bikes to be quite heavy (both e-bikes and regular ones) as compared to our road bikes or hybrid bikes at home. All the bikes had a cell phone holder on them and a pannier to store your lunch/jacket/ sunscreen/water bottle. There are no water bottle holders on the bikes. The boat was staffed by the captain, two sailors, a chef, the two tour guides, and two ‘we do it all’ hosts! All of the staff were wonderful! Everyone was warm, welcoming, fun and accommodating. You have a lot of interaction with all of the staff. Our boat was staffed by Captain Michael, hosts Mieke & Shay, Sailors Marchy & Julius, Chef Jules and Chef Michel (Jules left the boat after 3 days and was replaced by Michel) and tour guides Corrine and Esther. Esther and Corrine were the best tour guides you could ever ask for! Each spoke English, Dutch and German and were happy, smiling, engaged tour guides. At each of our stops along the way, they dispensed interesting facts and historical information about the area. They were safe and made you feel comfortable asking for stops as you needed them (water breaks, photo ops). Mieke and Shay were great fun to interact with, very accommodating and worked from sun up to sun down! The food was excellent – great variety and quality. We had halibut, salmon, steak, Asian, and BBQ! The intinerary had wonderful variety each day – countryside, small towns, cities – something for everyone. CAUTION: The only real disappointment on this trip was the volume of children that were on the boat. It NEVER occurred to us that there would be children on a ‘luxury’ boat and bike tour and unfortunately, 12 of the 35 guests were children ranging in age from 11 to 17. Four of the kids were the most polite, well-behaved kids I have ever met. Eight of the kids were the most entitled, ignorant, self-absorbed kids I had ever met as were their absentee parents. We assumed that guests would generally be between the ages of 40 – 80. This dynamic completely changed the tone of the trip. In the first two days, kids were running around the boat (despite being told not to by the staff), slamming doors, etc., well into the evening. If they were the first down for breakfast (you waited upstairs until you were called for breakfast), they ravaged the buffet, put their hands into communal food dishes instead of using the utensils provided, and were disrespectful to the staff. They did the same with the après ride food. They monopolized the hot tub (adults couldn’t get anywhere near it) and never left the hot tub to use a toilet…need I say more? They disregarded the ‘rules of the road’ when on the bikes and were, I suspect a nightmare for the poor guides at times. Though staff repeatedly reminded everyone of some common courtesies, it fell on deaf ears. Several guests took it upon themselves to school the kids in basic manners since the parents were completely out to lunch. This tour company should have ‘adults only’ options available. There were so many good things about this tour, but I wouldn’t book another one with this company unless it was adults only. There are many, many cycling tour options available and there are likely operators who have adults only options.

The crew were amazing. Immediately made you feel at home and with friends. Special thanks to Peter who was our bike tour guide, very knowledgeable and great sense of humor. Franklin was also helpful and kind, and always knew our names. We would also like to recognize Shea, she is such a kind spirit and we just loved her. Chef never disappoints and meals were amazing. Captain and sailors were also above and beyond in what they do.