“Someone could be on the desk welcoming guests. Had to wait both sides of my visit.
Boat was showing lots of signs of aging including the ducked up lino flooring in the kitchen area.”
Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry you had to wait at both the start and end of your visit. We were unfortunately short-staffed on 23 July, but we appreciate that this should not have affected the welcome you received.
We’re also sorry that the picnic boat was showing signs of age, particularly the lifted lino in the kitchen area. We have passed this on to our maintenance team so it can be inspected.
The Barnes Brinkcraft Team
“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
“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.
“Unfortunately we had several issues with the boat. Hand basins in the bathrooms did not drain properly. Smell from the toilets until pumped out and blue chemical added. Vacume gave off burning smell so couldn't be used. Overall the boat looked old and tired.”
Dear Ameet
Thank you for your feedback, and we’re sorry that several issues affected your holiday aboard Royall Ambassador.
We do describe Royall Ambassador as one of our older-style cruisers, but the basins should still drain properly, the toilet system should not cause an unpleasant smell, and the vacuum should be safe and usable. We also appreciate your comments about the boat looking tired.
We will review the boat carefully, including the bathroom drainage, toilet system, vacuum cleaner and general presentation. Your feedback is helpful and will form part of our assessment of whether the description and photographs accurately reflect the boat’s current condition.
Yours Sincerely
The Team at Barnes Brinkcraft
“We had a great holiday but the boat was not as described. The floor plan was very misleading. Two of the “double” beds were not suitable for 2 people. None of us are large so I don’t know how anyone bigger than us would have managed.”
Dear Jan
Thank you for your feedback, and we’re pleased to hear that you had a great holiday overall. We’re sorry, however, that the sleeping arrangements were not as you expected.
Your booking was made through Hoseasons, whose listing does not currently include the same level of detail and photography as our own website. On our website, we show the actual sleeping areas and explain that some berths may be undersized and unsuitable for an all-adult party, asking guests to check with us before booking if berth size is particularly important.
That said, we appreciate that the floor plan gave you a different impression of the double berths. We will review this with Hoseasons and look at how the layout and sleeping arrangements can be described more clearly, so future guests can make a fully informed choice. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
Best Wishes
The Team at Barnes Brinkcraft
“Overall the week's boating was very pleasurable and Regal Star an excellent craft. The office staff were very friendly and informative. The information given after booking was very comprehensive and added to the general planning of the week.
However, one observation rather than a direct criticism was the time spent in making sure basic handling, particularly manoeuvring onto moorings was understood. This was very limited before being sent on our way. This lead to some difficulties at certain moorings.
~”
Dear Anthony
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave us your feedback. We’re sorry to hear that you felt a little more instruction would have been helpful.
For anyone else reading this, please do just let us know during your handover if you would like anything explained again or in a bit more detail. We are always more than happy to help, whether that’s going back over the controls, ropes, mooring, heating, toilets or anything else that helps you feel confident before you head off.
And of course, if once you’re underway you feel you would benefit from a little more tuition, you are very welcome to come back to the yard and we’ll happily go through things again with you.
We want everyone to relax and enjoy their time on the Broads, so please never feel awkward about asking — there are no silly questions when boats are involved!
All the Best
The Team at Barnes Brinkcraft
“We had a good time but very disappointed with the boat seemed to have maintenance issues which needed resolving eg very bad knocking from prop at certain revs engine seemed very laboured and steering was very stiff”
Dear Tony
Thank you for your review. We’re really pleased to hear you had a good time, but we’re sorry the day boat didn’t feel as it should.
We take comments like this seriously, and our maintenance team will check the knocking from the prop, the engine performance and the stiff steering so we can get these issues resolved. Thank you for letting us know.
“Good welcome, boat wasn’t ready till 4pm which was difficult as we’re bought food and the weather was very hot and we weren’t allowed to leave the food in the fridge on boat which would have helped, the lady in the office said we could leave our food in their office which helped. Boat needs a new kettle as kettle handle kept fulling off and at one point the lid came of when pouring boiling water causing a burn, the boat says it accommodates 12 people we were a group of 7 adults 1 child which was tight at times so can’t see how it would accommodate 12 very easily, the holiday was good and the boat efficient for what we needed, although could do with a tidy up in a few places as quite run down.”
Thank you for your review and for sharing your experience.
We're pleased to hear that you enjoyed your holiday overall and found the boat suited your needs.
We're very sorry to hear about the issue with the kettle, particularly as it resulted in a burn. This is certainly not acceptable and we'd like to apologise for that. Had we been made aware during your holiday, we would have arranged for a replacement to be delivered straight away, wherever you were on the Broads.
We appreciate your comments regarding the boat not being ready until 4pm. Our boats are available between 2pm and 4pm depending on turnaround requirements, and unfortunately your holiday started on one of our busier changeover days. We're glad our team were able to help by storing your food while you waited.
With regard to accommodation, we agree that while the boat can sleep up to 12 people, some of the single berths are smaller and may not be suitable for all adult parties. We do try to highlight this in our boat description and encourage guests to discuss their party's requirements with us before booking so we can help them choose the most suitable boat.
This is one of the older, more traditional boats in our fleet and is designed to offer simple, comfortable accommodation at an affordable price point. That said, we appreciate your comments regarding areas that could benefit from some attention and will pass these on to our maintenance team.
Thank you again for your feedback, and we're delighted that despite these issues you were still able to enjoy your time on the Broads.
Kind regards,
The Barnes Brinkcraft Team
“Very difficult to complete booking. I have a confirmed booking but when I log into my account I'm told I have no bookings. Also difficult to add more than one guest name.”
Thank you for your feedback, and we’re sorry to hear you found the booking process frustrating.
We were able to see your booking successfully in our system, but it’s clearly not ideal that it wasn’t visible when you logged into your account. We’ll be looking into this further with our booking software provider to see what may have caused the issue.
We also appreciate your comments regarding adding guest names. While this isn’t something we’ve had reported previously for day boat bookings, feedback like yours is really helpful as it allows us to review the customer experience and identify anything that may not be working as smoothly as it should.
Thank you again for taking the time to leave a review, and we do hope you enjoyed your time on the water.
“We found the Brinks Sunshine boat we hired to be rather slow with a maximum speed of 4mph and much of the time would only do 3mph. We felt we needed a bit more speed so in future we would not hire this boat again. Otherwise we had a nice afternoon.”
Dear Julian
Thank you for your review. We’re pleased to hear you had a nice afternoon overall, but we’re sorry the Brinks Sunshine felt slower than expected.
Our day boats are governed for use on the Broads, where the speed limits are low and usually between 3 and 5 mph on the river. That said, we would normally expect the boat to feel comfortable within those limits, so we will ask our team to check whether this boat has been governed a little too far down.
Thank you for letting us know — we appreciate the feedback.
All the Best
The Team at Barnes Brinkcraft
Hi David,
Many thanks for pointing this out to us — we really appreciate the feedback. We’ll look at how we can make the directions clearer for future customers.
As a quick guide for anyone needing help finding the day boat site:
If you see the main Barnes Brinkcraft boatyard on your left, take the next turning and follow the dyke round to the day boat site.
If you see Barnes Brinkcraft on your right, you’ve gone slightly too far — simply turn around and follow the directions above.
We hope that helps, and thank you again for letting us know.
All the best,
The Team at Barnes Brinkcraft
“Staff member very welcoming
Boat not great value for money
Seating area smelt of damp
Dirty
Tables wobbled
Cobwebs and dirty windows
Pads on seating area on upstairs part slipped off”
Hi Joanne
Thank you for your feedback and for highlighting the warm welcome from our staff member. We’re sorry parts of the boat didn’t meet expectations on this occasion. I’ve passed your comments on to the team so we can rectify the issues you mentioned, including the cleanliness and tables. We do appreciate you taking the time to let us know.
All the Best
The team at Barnes Brinkcraft
“We had a great afternoon check in was quick and off we went
I was disappointed with the booking process because I had to change our original booking to a boat to accommodate more people in our party
this new boat cost less than the original boat booked but they wouldn’t refund the difference of £50 which is quite a considerable amount, it wasn’t as if I had cancelled I just amended my booking.
The boat was basic and a little tired but done the job the weather was perfect and we enjoyed ourselves”
Thank you for your review — we’re really pleased to hear you had a great afternoon on the water and that the weather behaved itself for you too!
We’re sorry to hear you were disappointed with the amendment to your booking. As bookings are made online, each boat’s maximum capacity and pricing are shown during the booking process. Over the busy bank holiday weekend we were almost fully booked, so when changing to a different boat we unfortunately weren’t able to offer the same flexibility as we sometimes can with earlier amendments.
We do appreciate your feedback regarding the boat itself. Our day boats are designed to be simple and practical for exploring the Broads, although we’re always looking at ways to improve and refresh the fleet.
Thanks again for choosing us and we’re glad you still enjoyed your time on the river.
“Always had great experiences, and excellent service, in the many, many years that we have holidayed on Barnes Brinkcraft boats. Only marred this year due to our error and getting the dates wrong by a week and we fully accept that this is our mistake. In fairness BB did manage to alter our booking to the following week on the same boat for which we are truly thankfull. However due to this now being classed as a new booking we lost our early booking discount and our online booking discount, which cost us around £80 in total. It would have been nice to have just paid the difference between the weeks (around £40)and keep our early booking discounts but sadly wasn't to be. Lesson learned for us, double check the dates!!!. Still looking forward to our hoildiay and will still book with BB as they are a great team and have excellent boats.”
Dear Paul
Thank you for your kind review and for holidaying with us over so many years — we really do appreciate it.
We’re very pleased we were able to move your booking to the following week and keep you on the same boat. We’re sorry the change meant the original booking discounts could not be carried across as you had hoped, and we do understand your disappointment.
Thank you again for your lovely comments about the team and our boats. We look forward to welcoming you back aboard.
All the Best
The Team at Barnes Brinkcraft
“First holiday with you, on arrival we were parked and told that we would have a phone call when the boat was ready. No phone call 2 hours later, tried to get the attention of the man who parked us, we were ignored. Now 4:30, after one of our group went to reception, we were told they didn't know we were there, now we were told to load the boat and to come and book in as the reception shut at 5! We were given a bottle of bubbly as an apology, but really not good enough for the price of the holiday! We enjoyed the boat and the rest of the holiday but would not book again due to the issue at the beginning of the holiday.”
Hi Carrie,
Thank you for your feedback — and I’m really sorry about your arrival experience.
It’s clear we let you down here. Being left waiting without an update, and then feeling ignored when trying to get someone’s attention, isn’t the welcome we want anyone to have. After a journey, you should be stepping onto your boat feeling excited… not frustrated and wondering what’s going on.
From what you’ve described, it sounds like there was a breakdown in communication on our side, and I completely understand why that left such a poor first impression.
For future reference (and I appreciate this doesn’t fix what happened on the day), you can track your boat’s status via the Barnes Brinkcraft app, which shows when it’s ready. That said, you absolutely should still have been contacted as promised — that’s on us.
I’m really pleased to hear you enjoyed the boat and the rest of your holiday once you got going, but I do understand how a start like that can colour the whole experience.
Thank you again for taking the time to tell us — it’s feedback like this that helps us tighten things up and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Kind regards,
Sara Thwaites
“Was a nice, peaceful week away on the broads however, the lullaby was too high to fit under nearly all of the bridges so we were limited on where we could go.
I would not book this boat again and would recommend anyone thinking of booking this boat to do a bit more research and book one that would allow you to explore more of the broads.”
Thanks for your feedback – we’re really glad to hear you had a peaceful week on the Broads, even if the boat wasn’t quite the right fit for your plans.
Just to clarify for anyone reading, Lullaby is a larger cruiser, which does mean it can’t pass under some of the lowest bridges such as Wroxham and Potter Heigham. We do make this clear in our boat information before booking, as bridge clearance is a key factor when choosing the right boat for your holiday.
That said, Lullaby can still access a significant cruising area – including routes via Ludham and down to Great Yarmouth (tides permitting) – which covers the majority of the Broads network. In reality, even many smaller hire boats have similar limitations depending on conditions.
Choosing the right boat really comes down to what kind of trip you’re after – if low bridges and maximum reach are top priority, we’re always happy to guide customers toward the best option before they book.
We appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.
“We were unable to take the Brinklet under Wroxham Bridge due to the canopy frame being fixed. This is a great shame, as we were hoping to visit Coltishall. The website shows the frame down. So, we were disappointed to find it was fixed upright. However, the service, as always was excellent.”
“The receptionist who took my call was very friendly and helpful as I had no idea what sort of boat to hire. According to our needs she suggested a picnic boat as it would have a toilet and a kettle and a hob if we needed it which was perfect as we wanted the boat for half a day and planned to have lunch on board. When we arrived we had to wait for quite some time before being shown to our boat as there was only one member of staff on duty, not really his fault we had to wait seeing as there was only him to show everyone the ropes. Luckily we looked in the cupboard before we left as there were no mugs for us to have a hot drink so my friend had to go and buy some before we set off. When we stopped for lunch we went to make a cup of tea but there was no gas as the gas bottle was empty and the handle of the kettle was broken so we wouldn’t have been able to use it anyway, there was no cutlery either, in fact the boat was not stocked at all with anything useful which we had paid extra for, we might as well have just booked an ordinary day boat🙁We mentioned this to the member of staff upon return and he said that it should have been cleaned and stocked the day before. Clearly this didn’t happen so for future bookings, might I suggest an inventory is done before the hire to avoid any further disappointments.”
Hi Helen
Thank you for your detailed feedback – and I’m really pleased to hear our receptionist was helpful in guiding you to the right type of boat. It’s just a shame the rest of the experience didn’t follow through as it should have.
You’re absolutely right that there were some things that should have been better prepared. The empty gas bottle and broken kettle are not acceptable, and the boat should have been properly checked before your hire. I’m very sorry that this wasn’t picked up and that it impacted your day.
It also sounds like there was some confusion around what is included on board. We don’t provide items such as mugs, cutlery or crockery on our day boats, and we try to make this clear on our website. However, it’s clear from your experience that this wasn’t communicated properly at the time of booking, which is something we’ve now addressed with the team.
You were also very understanding about the wait on arrival – thank you for that. As you spotted, we were a bit stretched that day, but that’s not how we want the start of your day out to feel.
We’ve taken your suggestion on board regarding pre-hire checks, and we’ve already reinforced these processes to make sure every boat is fully ready before guests arrive.
Most importantly, I’m really sorry your experience didn’t match what you were expecting, especially when you’d chosen a picnic boat for a special day out. If you’re happy to, please do get in touch with me directly at sara@barnesbrinkcraft.com and I’ll make sure we put things right for you.
Thanks again for taking the time to share your feedback – it really does help us improve.
Sara
Barnes Brinkcraft
