“Thank you for the wonderful boat trip! We had a great time and really enjoyed the experience. The staff were friendly and helpful, the boat was comfortable, and the scenery was beautiful throughout the journey.”
“We are family of 5 and five stars for the ride in Brinks Sun shine. Kids loved it as well as us. It's very easy to cruise and not noisy. We had the best day experience. The Barnes Brinkcraft staff was friendly and provided with every information we needed. Highly recommended 5 stars from us!!”
It’s wonderful to hear you all had such a great day, Regina. We're delighted Sun Shine was a hit with the whole family, and that the team helped get you confidently underway.
Thank you for the recommendation. We hope to welcome your family back for another day on the Broads soon.
All the best,
The Team at Barnes Brinkcraft
“Great boat (Sun Charm), electric boat (very quiet). Kettle, loo, hot plate. Lots of space for the four of us, inside and outside. Booked for half a day and had great fun. Staff great and instructions clear. Deffo would book again.”
“Nice clean boat. Real friendly staff. Lovely area to take a boat out. Zak was super helpful and friendly and worked hard in the heat! Will definitely return!”
“Everything was very polite and professional. The boat was clean and well-prepared for us. However it would have been good to know ahead of time how tight the beds were!. they were quite short and the doubles were at most a 3/4 size, most tapering -so narrower at the end. We were a party of 8 and I chose a boat for 12 people to give us more space. However I must say that there is no way 12 people would ever have fitted on that boat: Emperor 2!
We will do another holiday here for sure but book a different upgraded boat and have fewer people.”
Dear Jacqueline
Thank you for your thoughtful feedback. We’re pleased to hear that you found the team polite and professional and that Emperor 2 was clean and well prepared for your arrival.
We are sorry that the size and shape of the beds came as a surprise. As with many boats designed to accommodate larger parties, some of the berths are shorter, narrower or tapered, and the double berths can be more compact than a standard bed at home. We completely understand that, having booked a 12-berth boat for eight people, you reasonably expected it to feel more spacious.
Your booking was made through Waterways Holidays, and having reviewed the information displayed there, we agree that the berth sizes were not explained as clearly as they are on our own website. We have asked for this wording to be updated so future customers have a better understanding of the sleeping arrangements before booking.
We’re delighted that you would consider another holiday with us. For a future booking, our team would be very happy to help you choose a boat with larger beds and a layout better suited to your party.
Yours Sincerely
The Team at Barnes Brinkcraft
“Booking holiday for 2027 was easy on line and received a receipt for deposit by return ,but conformation of booking showing actuall holiday booked did not follow I left a message on phone no response then emailed and then 3 days after booking I received confirmation on email .
I think these should be sent together it has always been the case when I have booked other holidays
My holiday this year with Barnes Brinkcraft was great hence booking for next year but I did book that through Waterside Breaks”
Dear Carolyn
Thank you for booking with us again, and we’re really pleased to hear that you enjoyed your holiday with Barnes Brinkcraft this year.
We’re sorry that your 2027 booking confirmation did not arrive promptly. You are quite right that the deposit receipt and full booking confirmation should follow through without the need for you to chase us.
Unfortunately, illness has left us unusually short-staffed in the office, which contributed to the delay in responding to your telephone message and email. However, we appreciate that this should not have affected the service you received, and we are sorry that you had to wait three days for confirmation of your booking.
We will check why the confirmation was delayed. Rest assured your 2027 booking is all correctly in place.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention and, most importantly, thank you for choosing to holiday with us again.
All the Best
The Team at Barnes Brinkcraft
“Great friendly service. Good price for the picnic boat. Very easy to handle plenty of room
.Absolutely loved it would thoroughly recommend this company.”
“The person I spoke to for booking was very helpful. After clarifying the few questions I had, I proceeded to book online only to find the the website froze every time I attempted to use it. I went back to the office and spoke to the person I had talked to before and booked over the phone. So I am £10 out of pocket already on this holiday as the booking system with its attendant discount failed. So good human and bad tech hence 3 stars.”
Thank you for your feedback, and we’re pleased to hear that our team was helpful when you called.
We’re very sorry that the website repeatedly froze while you were trying to book. We completely understand how frustrating that must have been, particularly as it meant you missed out on the £10 online booking discount.
We’ll make sure the £10 discount is applied to your booking, as you shouldn’t be left out of pocket because of a technical issue. We’ll also pass your comments to our website team so they can investigate what went wrong.
“Had an enjoyable 3 hour trip on the broads. Boats are basic but easy to handle. Clean.
My main issue was that this company who are obviously quite a large one with many warehouses and places where they operate from think its acceptable to not provide a single toilet for their customers. One has to walk into town to use the public one. Shame on you.”
Thank you for your review, and we’re pleased to hear you enjoyed your trip and found the boat clean and easy to handle.
We’re sorry the toilet facilities were not made clear when you arrived. Toilets are available at our main Barnes Brinkcraft reception, although the closest public toilets to the day boat departure point are located at Roys in the town centre.
We appreciate your feedback and will add clearer information about the available facilities to our website and customer information.
“The apartment was excellent, very well appointed and extremely clean, and perfect for our party of eight. The only reason that I haven't given it 5 stars is that the apartment is not really suitable for people with limited mobility (due to the height of the step up to the decking in front of the apartment and the incline of the newly tarmac'd ramp up to the deck). Having a boat was wonderful and everybody in our party enjoyed their stay.”
