4 Star Princesse Royal boat/barge tour reviews — 1 to 18 of 18

Visiting the Dome and biking along the river. The food was excellent and the boat was beautiful.

Barge staff were excellent--great chef and friendly hostess. Dinners were great but breakfast and lunch were very repetitive. The staff needs better training in safety. We had 20 guests in our group with 2 bike guides. We were divided into 2 groups and rode with our group each day. Our guide was not friendly. Other than that, the bikes were new 7-speed bikes which were adequate for the mostly flat rides. The scenery was beautiful and the museums and city stops were interesting. I didn't enjoy having to ride with the group at a pace set by the bike guide and the slowest riders, and I don't trust Ride with GPS enough to ride on my own.

This is a beautiful region and accessing it from the river trails is wonderful . The boat was very comfortable and the wonderful staff met our every need with a smile . We had rainy days , and closures due to local holidays which impacted our visits to small town restaurants and shops . I would avoid national holiday weeks in future .
My suggestions to improve this already wonderful trip :
- have bike storage racks that allow a little more deck space for sitting out .
-eliminate the hot tub , it’s only used by a few and takes up too much deck space .
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It could be beneficial to avoid starting boat bike tours the day after a large celebration in the country/city from which we are departing. Our tour started the day after a massive celebration in Amsterdam called Kings Day. This required that we enter the city on the day of celebration which was not only more expensive but also precluded the possibility of visiting any of the sights as they were closed. Perhaps scheduling these trips several days after or before might be beneficial.

Our chef was outstanding! Our stop at a winery along the way was outstanding. Wish there were more fun stops along the way.

We were amazed at all the vineyards! We knew the area was famous for Riesling but we had no idea how immense the area was. We also loved the small villages. So much history there.

The guides and boat employees were very good. The food was excellent. The boat’s air conditioning was okay to poor in the rooms and nonexistent on the main deck. Many people had daily issues with their bikes (brakes, gears, e-bikes not always working, etc.). The guides were excellent but had limited bike mechanic skills. These trips need a full time bike mechanic and extra bikes available to trade out when some bikes are not working well.

There were so many memorable parts of the trip. The places we biked to were amazing. Astrid's meals were exceptional and beyond 5 stars. The staff was so friendly and helpful with any concerns we had.
However, the bikes we had were awful. The majority of the group had problems with both the ebikes and the regular bikes. My wife's ebike did not work properly for the first 2 days and she had an accident because of it. The power kept going off and the guide set it permanently on turbo, however, when she was going up a hill and turning onto a bridge the power cut out again and she was not able to pedal and fell into the cement barrier. Fortunately, nothing was broken but she was very bruised. Each day there were a number of bikes needing repair with problems with brakes and gears. We had friends who biked the same tour in the fall and he said the bikes were terrible then and was told it was the end of the season and that all the bikes would be refurbished and repaired before the tour began in May. I guess this wasn't done as only 2 or 3 actually had no problems.
Also, the guides were not that familiar with the routes and we went off track a few times. There seemed to be a personality clash between them and at one point they actually argued in front of the group, which was not very professional. Both guides, however, were personable and helpful when needed.

Cycling along the Mosel was magical! Vertical Vineyards! Who knew? Fabulous rides!

The wonderful paved cycle paths

The bikes were a problem everyday- not well maintained or just end of season but not good
The barge was very warm- esp with comforters- suggest availability of a sheet for these conditions. A soap dish is needed in the shower, the hair dryer was very inadequate. Need to have some sort of wax paper or plastic bag for the sandwiches- wrapping in napkins does not work. The barge should offer/highlight local wines!!! The whole point of this trip is particular.
Our guides Heddy and intern Micah were fabulous.

Great scenery, great chef on the barge, nice boat, and great guides! Overall a great experience. However if I must find something that needs a bit of upgrading, it’s the bikes. They were getting pretty tired and needing tune ups. Some had bald tires and most lacked correct air pressure in the tires, on previous Boat Bike trips the bikes were much better maintained. It was the end of the season and the bikes had gone through a lot over the year was the reasoning, but I paid so I expect good bikes regardless of the time of year.

It was so wonderful to cycle through 2 beautiful countries taking in the scenery and ambiance.

The trip wasn't exactly as I understood it would be. The staff were absolutely great, couldn't be any better. The guide was also very good, knowledgeable and patient. However, it seems to me that the objective of each day's ride was to get from point A to point B; we didn't stop enough to enjoy & explore the sites along the way. Also, I wonder about riding thru farmers' fields. Perhaps that was the only way to reach certain destinations. We needed better introductions in the first meeting. We should have introduced ourselves at that meeting. We were 32 strangers together for 8 days, let's start with introductions.
The food was pretty average. Breakfast was fine; once in a while there was hot food served but you had to be aggressive to get any, there wasn't enough to go around. Food available for lunch was fine, no complaints. Dinners were disappointing. We didn't need gourmet dinners, we needed substantial meals. The best meal was the BBQ, there was enough food. Other meals were inadequate. Dinner on the last night was abysmal and the dessert was a joke, 1/2 a glass of liquid. I would like to see bar prices posted and a statement produced on the last day. I have no idea if I was charged the correct amount or not; not that I don't trust the staff, as I said they were great. In spite of sounding like a chronic complainer, my wife and I are talking about doing another Bike & Barge trip, we really enjoyed this one. Don't take my comments as negative criticism, take them as suggestions for improvement, no one is perfect.

Love the boat ride, also liked the bikes and bike riding as well as our tour guide.
The food was too American, it could have been more European. The scenery was
lovely and the trails terrific. Weather fantastic. Would do it again.

When I first heard of a bike & barge trip, I thought I would be sleeping on a cot under the stars! After obtaining more info, I realized we would have a comfortable room but I was very impressed with our accommodations. It was like being on a mini cruise. Food was great, tour guide was personable and entertaining, friendly staff went out of their way to make this trip extra special. We had an arranged canal boat tour complete with champagne after arriving in Amsterdam! I would highly recommend the Magnifique and this crew, for an awesome way to experience Belgium and The Netherlands.

Barge had bugs in drains. Lots in room every night. Aldo specifically booked comfort class boat for the AC. They turned it off before 9pm every night.

Fantabulous! Will be back and do another trip. Am a Tripsite ambassador!