Reviews

We travelled with Boat & Bike this year, doing the Hansa route, beginning and ending in Amsterdam. Was our first time cycling in The Netherlands, and we thoroughly enjoyed the countryside. If you’re a fair-weather cyclist like us, don’t be fooled by the flat landscape. The winds can be really strong, and arrive from nowhere. If we did it again, we would definitely go e-bike! Our tour guide was BRILLIANT (thank you, Paulette), and the crew of the MS Nassau really hardworking, and friendly. The food was quite exceptional! So why an ‘average’ rating? The website shows the ship having been recently refurbished, but not all of the cabins have. Ours was not, and we were at the stern end of the ship, trying to sleep with the noise and fumes from a generator, as only two of the seven overnight stops had on-shore power hookups. I slept hardly at all in 207, until we were moved for the last three nights. I noticed that some members of the crew had better cabins, and I felt that this should not have been the case. We’ve come away with some good and happy memories, but feel VERY STRONGLY that, if you know you need to generate power overnight AT ALL, that paying guests, on holiday, should not be placed in adjacent cabins. We’d go back to The Netherlands in a hearbeat, though, and this tour is a brilliant way of seeing the beautiful Hansa towns.

Nicely refurbished boat with a few teething problems that need sorting out. The styling of the ship is fresh and contemporary and the staff are all very friendly and extremely helpful at all times. I thank them for making our stay so good. The cycling was so enjoyable. Good clear instructions and we used the GPS app which really made it relaxing. Lovely countryside and towns to visit along the way. We cycled 50+ km each day which was easy for us as we paid extra for the very nice electric bikes. You can vary the assistance to your peddling so you can get a decent amount of exercise without getting exhausted after 6 days cycling. The bikes were brand new and in great condition. The staff were helpful if there were any adjustments needed. Unfortunately the saddles were the basic hard ones and after 6 days, even with padded shorts and my own padded saddle cover it was very uncomfortable. I really wanted to give 5 stars on my review but there were a few things that really need to be sorted to allow me to do so: Our premium double cabin had a bed which was raised too high even for someone who is 5’8″. The front edge of the bed had a wooden edge which was extremely uncomfortable to climb over. Needs a step or the wooden edge to be removed. However the mattress was very comfy and we slept really well. The shower tray was very shallow and the curtain didn’t keep the water in. The whole bathroom was really flooded every time we washed. Very dangerous and slippery. In addition the proximity of the basin to the toilet meant that it was an uncomfortable squeeze to get to. The windows were difficult to shut due to the plastic part in the frame being loose and difficult to clip the window into. There was often a smell of sewage in the corridor on the lower deck. Thankfully the rooms did not smell! The electrics needed attention. Our ceiling lights failed and the cabin air conditioning was intermittent. In the main salon the wall lights randomly flickered bright and dim which drove me crazy! Finally the food was not of the best quality. The breakfast was almost the same every day. It was missing good coffee (you had to pay for proper coffee at the bar) and bacon and pastries – the sort of indulgences you enjoy on holiday but don’t have at home! Dinner three course meal was uninspiring. The daily soup was EXTREMELY salty as was a lot of the food. The soup seems to just taste of salty stock and only changed colour each day but not flavour. The salad course was very bland and insufficient. One table spoon per person at most. Some of the main courses were tasty but the desserts were like school food. The live entertainment provided one night was not needed or required. It just made the ship very noisy and only a couple of people stayed to listen. Jose who was our cycle guide obviously cared deeply that everyone was looked after and enjoyed their trip. A really lovely lady who briefed us each evening as to the route for the following day. The only thing that might have made the briefing better was to have a few more photos of the recommended places to stop along the way so you could get more of an idea of where you might like to have your lunch. One finally thing: Almost all the guest were at or over retirement age and there were only 6 English speakers, the rest were German. We were a family with two teen children and felt out of place. On arrival we were allocated a table for the dining room with two Spanish speakers and were expected to stay at the same table every meal time. As only one of the Spanish guest could speak English it make meal times awkward. Would have been better to be at a table of just 4 or to have been able to mingle with other guests each evening. In summary, the cycling trip is really enjoyable the boat and cycles are of a good quality but there are a number of things which could easily be addressed to make it really worth 5 stars.

Thank you to a wonderful staff.

The Hanseatic Tour The renovation of the De Nassau was not complete as evidenced by the non-working air conditioning in our cabin; the flickering lights in the salon during meals; and the toilet paper fixture falling off the wall. The hotel manager promised to have the air conditioning fixed on three occasions and it never happened. The tour seems organized for German tourists — the food was obviously geared toward their tastes and only minimally toward the area we were touring in (The Netherlands); and the nightly briefing by the tour guide was 45 minutes of German and 15 minutes of English. The amount of information about the area we were about to ride through was minimal. We also missed out on preparation emails regarding the GPS app that we were supposed to download. We were surprised to find the exact same breakfast and lunch every day of the trip. The selection was surprising not Dutch in the selection of cheese, etc. Our last trip (with Eurosail) was much more geared to the area we were in and there was much greater variety. Lastly the ship’s crew although very hard working and polite was understaffed. Dinner took over 2 hours each night which left little time for town walks. The bikes were not thoroughly prepped before the start. Some tires were low, and this was not addressed unless the rider requested it. The routes were lovely, the GPS app great and the itinerary seemed well planned.

We were disappointed in the unfinished quality of the room. I was injured by a toilet paper holder that fell off the wall and was only fixed when I found a carpenter working in the hall and asked him to fix it, after having mentioned it twice to the purser. The cabin air conditioning did not work we also told them about this. The lights in the salon were flickering constantly due to bad power at each meal. There was little information provided about the different sights and locales. We were hoping to be provided with much more support in that area. Instructions were vague for tours about each area. Perhaps there was more provided to the german guests, but the english speaking guests were left in the dark. The bikes were in great condition and Robb was fantastic at making sure all was in working order. Food service was very accommodating for dietary differences, although there was little variety in breakfast and lunch choices.

100% for staff on the boat. Cooking included. Only one star less for the booking side. A bit confusing!!!!

Another excellent boat bike tour. Great tour leader, Iris gave excellent briefings and was frequently seen on the cycle paths. Clear large maps and daily hints.Good food and company. Those lovely Hansa towns and lovely old “Botters”, the 100 year old fishing boats now used for leisure sailing and regattas. Must get for a sail in one next time. Only minor irritation were the tiny basins on the De Nassau, but I hope these might change before 2020. And some smoking/vapors were not to my liking. But overall another great trip. Only have the Fresian Isles and Tulips still to do. Came back very relaxed, refreshed and fit. Back again soon. Thank you all the Boat Bike Team.

We had a great time and felt the trip was well organized for the most part. The boat was nice, with good food and friendly staff and guests. I would recommend the trip to anyone.

Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our holiday with Boat Bike Tours. Communication beforehand was excellent, and we liked the relaxed style of the tour. Food, produced by chef under difficult circumstances, was excellent, and staff members were universally helpful and friendly. The maps and information provided by the company were great and we enjoyed the evening walking tours. Our cabin was compact but comfortable with just enough storage (though there’s scope for that to be improved by a better design). The ship’s refurbishment wasn’t properly completed for the week we went, but didn’t have too much of an impact on us personally (unlike the crew). The start and end of the holiday were both marred by the ship being delayed (hence the four-star rating). Neither delay was caused by the company itself, but its communication wasn’t good, so that we were left wondering what had happened. We believe there is room for improvement here, and no doubt the company will have learned some lessons for the future. Nonetheless we have subsequently had an open and honest explanation and full apology from Boat Bike Tours, which have assuaged any concerns we had about booking with them again. We’re already looking forward to planning our next trip with them now!

We had a fabulous week on de Nassau on the Hanseatic trip. Our guide, Fred, was very friendly and helpful and he ensured the trip ran very smoothly. The staff in the ship were all friendly and helpful and went out of their way to make our experience a good one. The food was fabulous and had a good variety. The bikes were excellent and the bike crew was very helpful. The tour is well designed and the ‘Ride With GPS’ App was a great support. We absolutely loved the trip and would recommend it to anyone wanting to experience a real variety of Dutch environments.