3 Star National Parks of Dalmatia E-Bike & Boat Tour Reviews — 1 to 3 of 3

The boat facilities were good and as described in the material. Quality of food was excellent and the staff on board were amazing - polite, helpful, friendly and the bar prices were quite reasonable. The two guides for the biking were similarly very helpful and friendly, making sure we understood the routes, our bikes were in good order etc. We were warned ahead of time that the biking involved a number of hills and strongly advised to stay with the recommended ebikes, which all of us did. We have been on a number of bike and barge trips in Germany, France, Holland etc and perhaps it is not fair to do a comparison, but we found the following differences:
Most of Croatia was on roads, and although not overly busy, compared somewhat unfavourably with the high quality and extensive bike path systems in other parts of Europe.
All other bike and barge trips involved a breakfast on the boat, then we would make our own bag lunches, leave around 9:00 and have a leisurely ride until noon, stop for an hour at a nice spot, eat lunch then bike for a few more hours before getting back to the boat for supper. In Croatia, it was fairly hard steady biking with most short stops out in the open and very little shade available. Although we were regularly told we could stop and take pictures any time we wanted, it felt like there was a push “get it done”. Most riders were in their 60’s and 70’s with some even older and a few did not do all of the rides.
On other ventures, we would typically have one supper off the boat at our own expense. On the Magellan, some rides were in the morning and some in the afternoon, but all lunches (excellent by the way) were on board and we were left on our own except for only two suppers on board. Bottom line is we had too much “free time” (ie not much to do except for a few ocean swims off the back of the boat), and the evening meal costs added up.
We had understood from others that the Croatian coast was beautiful with so much to see and while we were only exposed to a very limited part of Croatia, we were underwhelmed.
These comments are not meant to disparage Magellan, the guides and the other staff, but are based on our personal preferences.

Hi!

The most memorable part was able to ride to several different places (different landscapes and villages), in beautiful Croatia and meeting other travelers.

We gave a 3 star review (more likely 3.5) due to the following reasons/observations/experiences during the trip.

a) We were originally scheduled to travel on the ship Yolo and while we were given a discount to participate in the adventure on another boat, we feel that the boat the Pacific was definitely a downgrade and not worth the partial discount. We were assigned to cabin #12, which sits just above the engine room and adjacent to the boat's generator. We expressed our concerns during initial boarding but we were told that all the cabins were taken therefore, sleeping was simply impossible when either the engine or generator were running (which was most of the time). We could not take naps before dinner in our room and of course, sleeping during the night was a challenge. Perhaps cabin #12 should not be allotted to a paying customer.

b) Another issue with cabin #12 was the smell coming off the bathroom. The smell showed up when the boat was in port and it was being serviced. We do not exactly know what caused the smell but we shared our concerns to a boat member. I believe cabin #13 adjacent to cabin #12 was also having the same issues. The name under cabin #13 is John Campbell who was the leader of our group.

c) Group size of 36 people plus 2 guides was not only dangerous but challenging due to the fact that several individuals have never used an e-bike and did not have a lot of knowledge about biking. We could tell our guides were concerned while trying to keep everyone safe.

Finally, the room compromised our enjoyment of the trip but we were glad to be able to return to Croatia, a place where we got engaged over 15 years ago.

On the positive side:

a) The guides and the boat crew were amazing, especially during difficult situations.

b) The chef was outstanding! He was only 19 years old but very good and very gracious!

c) The diversity of villages and landscapes was stunning!

d) The opportunity by the crew to allow us to swim of the boat on various occasions was greatly appreciated.

Overall we had fun other than not sleeping but we will forever cherish our memories in Croatia!

Hilda Yount
Tim Van Meter

Road surfaces were rough. Ride routes were hilly. Brought our own bikes.