Reviews

Have done several boat and bike tours with other companies and they were all much better than this one – Hanseatic Cities of The Netherlands on the de Nassau. We were fortunate to have one of the larger cabins (others we saw in were smaller, especially the doubles) with three windows and a reasonable shower/toilet. Lounge and sundeck areas were OK. Meals were below average, hot options at breakfast were often hash browns, sausage or fried – not healthy. Cold options, including cut fruit were same every day. Lunches were OK, but again same options every day. No bananas for morning teas after first few days, just apples and oranges and no snack eg muesli bars. No tea and coffee available except at breakfast and afternoon tea, unless you paid extra. Food at afternoon tea was same every day and just cake – no healthy option like cheese or cut fruit. Dinners were too meaty and lacked vegetables (meals should be 1/2 vegetables). Vegetarian option I had one day was very salty. The bowl of salad provided at dinner often had too much dressing. Shouldn’t have to order all your dinner main course on first day. Drinks were expensive and drink packages ridiculous at minimum of 165 euros for seven days. Also wifi cost 10 euros (have never had to pay for it before). Bike saddles were uncomfortable and lacked water bottle holders and cyclometers. Map was not detailed enough – strip maps would work much better. Daily instructions had errors and briefings were useless – did not point out tricky parts. The was a self guided tour and if we had not had Organic Maps, we might still be out there as we managed a wrong turn every day. Did not use the GPS provided as we were told it drained phone batteries and you needed portable charger and would rather work from a map. Guided tour of Deventer was really good. Tour leader should point out more places of interest.

Friesland is beautiful with lots of pretty towns to stop for a break or lunch. The bike system is great in the Netherlands. Our small group had no trouble navigating without a guide. The Lena Marie Captain and Crew were all very informative and friendly. The food was excellent and exceeded our expectations. The other guests on the trip with us were all very interesting and fun! No complaints!

Excellent trip with good balance of cycling and other tour activities. The staff and crew were friendly, professional and attentive. The food was quite good and the itinerary was full and interesting. We plan to take another BoatBike trip next year.

The trip was stunningly beautiful and well planned. The trails and ports were varied and unique. The vessel, the crew, the accommodations and the food were all exceptional. I gave it 4 stars because I didn’t feel “prepared” to venture onto the trails each morning. The app wasn’t working for my husband and I am not tech-savvy enough to trust just an app to get me from point A to B. The trails are well-marked once you have done a couple days of them and understand what you are looking for. That wasn’t taught clearly from the beginning. Also, it was hard to gauge how much time I had along the trail to “sightsee” because I couldn’t judge the time it would take to finish and get to the boat. Although our cruise director had much knowledge and entertaining stories and humor, his ability to “teach” us each morning and instill confidence was a bit lacking. Also, I think there is potential for a lot more activities on board both before and after dinner. I think people would get out of their “shells” or cliques a bit more if there were some organized games or activities offered. But that’s just my opinion. I’m sure lots of people were fine just lounging around.

Good for a traveling solo female. Staff, food, activities AWESOME!! It was a common consensus that the Interim Cruise Director was condescending to the passengers.

The lodging, food, onboard service, and pace of the tour was excellent. The guides need more experience with roadside bike repair – sometimes they didn’t have the right equipment to tighten loose handlebars, fix moving seats, or pump flat tires. This needs to be a priority.

Great Team on Board, Great concept to get an unforgetable experience with Friesland.

We’ve never done any cruise-type activity. We have a horror of those large ships like floating, waste-dumping Disney World hotels. We loved the small barge. Angela, our guide, was patient, thorough, and friendly, without being intrusive. The bikes were fine, although we would have preferred to have our own clip-ins spun on for the week. The meals were interesting and varied. The staff were friendly and polite. The app was highly useful. Netherlands is a great country for biking and otherwise.

The crew and experience was awesome. We enjoyed every trail.

Everything worked to our complete satisfaction. The tour was well organized, the personnel was very friendly and highly competent.