The crew were very friendly, hardworking, and accommodating. They were the primary reason why the bike-and-barge cruise was a satisfactory experience overall.

The food was generally good, but it did not meet what we would consider ?luxury? standards. Dinner service would benefit from offering at least two entrée choices, selected by passengers the day before to assist with kitchen preparation. In addition, dinner service was often poorly paced, with delays of 20 minutes or more between courses being quite common. We also felt that a complimentary glass of wine should have been included with each dinner service.

We were surprised that, while travelling through two countries renowned for canal cruising, the breakfast buffet on the barge was designed with serving lines that ended in dead ends, forcing guests to work their way back through the line to return to their tables. There were also never enough pastries available to satisfy demand, a problem that occurred every morning of the cruise.

Another concern was the breakfast service itself. Guests were allowed to access the cold buffet for approximately 20 minutes before staff came around asking whether anyone wanted cooked items such as eggs or French toast. This process seemed inefficient and unnecessarily delayed the meal.

The outdoor amenities also fell short of expectations. There was insufficient shaded seating on the main deck and absolutely no shade available on the upper deck. Compounding this issue, the air-conditioning system malfunctioned throughout the entire cruise. On one particularly difficult day, the electrical problems were severe enough that there was no ice available for drinks, the lounge and cabins became uncomfortably warm, and there were insufficient shaded areas outside for all passengers seeking relief from the heat. In addition, the wind was often coming from the stern, causing engine exhaust fumes to drift across the main outside deck. At times, the fumes were unpleasant enough to discourage passengers from using this area altogether.

Finally, passengers had no access to their running bar tab during the cruise. Charges were presented only at the end of the trip, making it impossible to monitor spending throughout the voyage.

While the crew worked extremely hard and did their best under the circumstances, several operational, service, and comfort-related issues prevented the cruise from meeting the level of quality and luxury that had been advertised.