3 Star De Holland boat/barge tour reviews — 1 to 3 of 3

4.2 out of 5

 


Harrison and Sharene K.
1 year ago

Verified Reviewer

  De Holland Authentic Holland
Netherlands

The trip started out on a sour note because the De Holland was not moored at the De Ruijterkade West location shown in the Tripsite "Final Travel Information" PDF, but instead was across the IJ river next to the Buiksloterweg ferry terminal. Despite being told by Tripsite that the document would be updated with last-minute changes, the document was not updated with the correct location, and none of the passengers who booked through Tripsite were notified of this critical change. (We heard that Boat-Bike Tours, the organizer of the tour, DID notify the passengers who had booked directly through them.) We followed the De Holland on the Vesselfinder website so we knew where it was moored, and we notified a few other traveling companions, but a portion of the Tripsite group showed up at De Ruijterkade West and the boat management had to arrange for their transportation to Buiksloterweg, which delayed the departure. To our knowledge, Tripsite has never acknowledged or apologized Read More

Margaret Terrett
8 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  De Holland North Holland Tour
Netherlands

I would recommend the trip with reservations. The food on the boat was not special but ok. While our leader was competent I did not find him helpful at times and other times I found him condescending. The route descriptions were well done but we had to argue to have one for each rider even though it clearly stated we would each a have one. I would have like much more about the places we were visiting included on the daily route descriptions. Carrying a visitor guide is not easy on a bike. The bikes were not in good shape for our trip. The mechanic tried to do his best but they were not a "freewheeling" experience. On mine the gears did not work, others had similar issues. When the holiday depends on a good cycling experience then the bike becomes a priority.
I cannot recommend the experience whole heartily except for the amazing landscape of northern Netherlands. That part I really enjoyed. Also I enjoyed being part of a group. I would not recommend a person or couple try the trip because no effort was made to mix the people. I was part of a big group and so I always had people to cycle with.

Susan Monaghan
8 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  De Holland North Holland Tour
Netherlands

There was some disconnect in passing along information. For example the barge had to leave earlier than 6:30 but info was not passed on. Fortunately my friends and I arrived and boarded the sister ship and got the info that the Angela Esmee was instructed to leave the port due to some Dutch holiday celebration. Good thing we took the initiative. There was no one waiting on the dock to give us this info.
Info about running a tab for drinks was false. We had to purchase tokens from a machine to use at bar. Bikes were somewhat rickety, having seen their 2nd season (according to a mechanic I talked to). Mine and some others made a grinding noise the entire time. The mechanic tried to fix it, but eventually I just tolerated it. I heard one mech say the bikes had a couple more trips this season. Good luck to the next owner.
Food was very good and the staff were very friendly. I would recommend a Bike and Barge trip to friends, but we ran into another group on a similar tour riding green bikes...they LOVED their bikes. We couldn't come close to saying that about ours. The green bike tour paid similar costs.