Shefford Leisure Group and our Dutch Waterways holiday, booked through just for groups (part of Grand UK). Our group was superb from day one, good company. We were met on time in Shefford and we were soon making our way to Dover and the Channel Tunnel, we had a lovely driver Keiran who was very helpful and nothing too much trouble also a Grand UK tour manager, which was a great help and saved me a few headaches!! After arriving in Calais we travelled to Amsterdam where we met our boat The MS Esmerelda, a fairly small river cruiser. Our luggage was taken to our cabins which were small but housed everything we needed for comfort. Soon we made our way to the Dining Room where we were introduced to the staff who efficiently served our first four course meal. It didn’t take us long to get accustomed to their high standards! Hot or cold breakfasts were available to suit all tastes, a 3-course lunch and a 4-course dinner each day. All the staff so helpful and polite and nothing too much trouble. Certainly to be recommended.
The following morning we were allowed to go ashore for a walk around Amsterdam, it was a special day for them and everyone was dressed in orange, fancy hats, feathered bows and the locals were setting up their stalls in readiness for their ‘family day’. Back on board we continued our journey with various stops to Dondrecht, Antwerp, Ghent and Brugge where some of us enjoyed a horse and carriage ride around the romantic city of Brugge. We returned to our ship and cruised all night reaching Rotterdam and we met Keiran, our coach driver who had driven to Delft to meet us which is a lovely Dutch Town. Evening entertainment well, most of our party entered into the spirit and entertained the ‘lookers on’. We had a Pirates night where they even tied up the Captain! All very good fun and of course in any cruise one has an evening with the Captain in full regalia. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, even though the weather was not that kind and chilly – so moonlight romantic nights on deck were out of the question! The other disappointment was the scenery, as although we managed to see all these places the views in between were more commercial with huge locks large enough to house large containers travelling from one port to another. (not a tulip in sight!).
Everyone agreed they had eaten too much, enjoyed the company and when’s the next trip! What more can I say!!
Enid Pamment – Chairman
Shefford Leisure Group