Riverly Anmeldelser 962

I am writing because I have just returned from a 10 day trip on a Penichette and I am utterly disappointed. I have been travelling with locaboat for around 25 years. Allways had relaxing and beautifull holidays. This time it was pure nightmare. I returned home more tired than I started. First, I had to change location. I was going to the Lot and it was not navigable. Understandable, you can't controle nature. I was given an alternative to maintain my travelling dates in Buzet sur Baise. I was ok with that, even though it was a canal I already knew. Got there and was given a bigger boat. Ok with that too. It was similar. But that is where it ends. I was given a boat with a new refrigerator, that was bipping constantly. I was told that, and I went along with it. I latter realised this brand of refrigerator has an alarm when it is not levelled...not the ideal on a boat that moves. I did the small class on driving the boat. All fine. I know the Penichettes very well. But when I wanted to start my cruise, the boat didn't star. They had to change a part on the engine. I thought that would fix it, but was I wrong! I spent my vacation calling every other day because the boat wouldn't start. Only on the 8th day, did they come and figured out it was a smaller- I believe electrical- part that was causing all the problems. Fixing that caused the light on the dashboard that signals that the boat is well connected to electricity on the port to break fown. Along with this constant never knowing if I was going to be able to travel, the boat had a design problem. On one of the toilets, there is a cabinet above it. While I was cruising, the door opened and jammed the flush button. So I was completely without water. I had to spend one night with buckets on the toilets to flush. Then I hear that starting season is allways difficult. That there is allways some boats breaking down, but that after it is ok. This is not a cheap holiday. I payed over 3000 euros for it.
If you can't garantee a safe start of season, then don't have the season open. A good company shouldn't have first class clients and second class ones. If your fleet is aged, don't make your costumers pay for it. Especially those who have been loyal for decades.
If I ever consider risking a boating holiday ever again...it won't be with Riverly.

We nave navigated with LocaBoat four times in Europe. Staff is aways helpful. The boats always have functioned perfectly - never any mechanical issues. Of course, the canals themselves are scenic and the lock-keepers are alert and friendly.

We had a marvelous time. The boat was great, and although several things went wrong, emergency care was quick. Unfortunately there was an error where the taxi that was booked by locoboat in Argens for taking us back to Toulouse Airport from Bram, failed to arrive as it was misbooked to come to a different venue ....we had reconfirmed the booking twice with Bram but the locoboat personnel checked that a booking had been made, but not the pickup point! So we just barely made our flight, not a joyous ending to a delightful holiday!

Sewar smell in vessel was very unpleasant

Problems with the boat mechanics

Good quality vessel with extensive inventory. Good service from and communication with base manager. We added the all-in package to the contract which was after all worth the extra money. We asked once for clearing a technical issue. Locaboat sent a very skilled and helpful technician who did not solve the issue but checked the whole electrical system and made clear there was nothing to worry about. Boat was running well and smoothly.

Communication and the website ate not customer oriented, at least not towards us who do not speak or read french.
I hate to get confirmation emails which cannot be answered. If there is faults, what can you do? Especially when the phone number on the website is not working.

We were met by very friendly and attentive staff who spoke good English.
They were at pains to explain the canal and boat functions. We were taken for a test drive and off we went. If at any time we needed help, advice or assistance, the Locaboat team were there to help.
We had a fabulous week on the du Midi.

The boat was older and therefore a little tired, showing signs of many seasons use. However, everything worked. We were comfortable and warm when it was cold. We lazed or drive the boat from the flying bridge when hot.

Driving these boats is a learning curve but anyone with a little experience will find it quite manageable, quite quickly. That said, the boats are surrounded with strong fendering like a dodgem. Speeds are kept sensibly slow. Any collision should therefore be manageable!

Hire from Locaboat, we had a great week on the canal du MIDI…

Before our cruise, the scheduled boat had a serious mechanical problem that took it out of service. After an email discussion, Locaboat provided a larger boat for the original route. The bigger boat was more challenging to maneuver but it allowed us to keep all our travel arrangements and cruise plans. The boat was in good shape when we arrived and the checkout cruise, though brief, was thorough and we headed off. The boat came with the needed bits and supplies and we did some local shopping to fill any gaps. We did a one-way week on the Canal du Nivernais and the Yonne, and it was a lovely, restful trip. We had several quiet nights on the penichette balanced with nights in towns along the way. We had to contact Locaboat when the oven would not light, and they talked us through the safety valve.

Everything happened fairly much as planned. Geronimo was very helpful during check-in. He also provided us with a cart to bring back our groceries for the boat. The boat functioned properly except the heater made a buzzing noise one evening. Turning off and on the next day seems to have fixed. The itinerary was good but the times are optimistic, allow 2 extra hours each day. Some overnights were crowded even for our September trip.

Nice boat, Nice people, Very helpful

We loved our adventure but definitely did not have clear route instructions- and most towns were basically closed down. Still a fun trip and would do it again - but a different route

Once we got on to our base site our experience was great. However we had a great deal of difficulty navigating the web site and difficulty finding out the details of our reservation. There was not a spot on the website dedicated to our particular reservation with all of our details. We were traveling from a long distance (USA) and we had a lot of difficulty figuring out exactly where the base was and how to get to the base. There were many cruise routes available on the site and we didn't have a clear understanding of where we were going until we actually got to our base. Once we arrived at the base we realized that there was only one route available because the canal had been emptied north of the base due to a leak.

The good news was that the staff at the base at St. Leger were very helpful and had prepared materials to help us on our journey. Because of a breach in the canal we were only able to go south. Unfortunately it was a very economically depressed area and we didn't understand that most towns did not have restaurants or facilities that would be open. Fortunately we had done some grocery shopping at the base of St. Leger so we did have food on board the boat. We also didn't understand that we would be negotiating over 70 locks in our one week visit! We did need assistance on day three when we had a skylight that leaked and we got help right away.

Yes, it rained. We had a week of rain..... so I think a suggestion to bring rain pants as well as a rain coat in the event of inclement weather would have been helpful.

From the promotional materials we envisioned a week of gliding down a canal, stopping at local restaurants and wineries and riding bikes to local points of historical interests. What we got was more like a week of camping in the rain (except we had a very nice boat and good sleeping accommodations) and preparing our food on board in between navigating many many locks.

Nonetheless, it was an adventure and we had a great time hanging out with our friends despite the inclement weather. My major feedback would be to revamp the website to make it more user friendly and more accurate in terms of the potential experience. We were woefully unprepared for what was in store....

We had planned to go between Joigny and Corbigny but the canal authorities had closed a lock for 2 weeks halfway between the two Locaboat bases and we could only do a half trip.
When we arrived at Joigny we found the groceries we orderded 3 weeks prior had not been supplied, the base was understaffed and we could not get assistance to go to the local supermarket to get them.
We ended up taking a marina trolley and walking the 20 minutes to the local supermarket and carting the 70Kg load back to the boat on foot.
On the plus side the office assistant, Jeromino was as helpful as he could be under the circumstances but was hampered by the lack of resources. The boat provided was in good condition and very clean and presentable, all the facillities on board worked properly.
To be fair the canal authorities had closed a lock for 2 weeks halfway between the two Locaboat bases which put extra load on the Joigny base although they had plenty of notice to prepare for that.
Despite a difficult start we had an enjoyable trip

The people we dealt with, from the concierge who helped us arrange the trip and the accounting people who squared things away and all the staff at the bases, were very friendly and helpful. Although I am not sure I would recommend that route to anyone, with 69 locks in essentially 6 days, it was very pleasant and until we reach the industrial area near the base in Dompierre sur Besbre, quite pretty countryside. We think a little more printed troubleshooting guide would be helpful, such as how to address the bow thruster that shut itself off intermittently and the inverter that alarmed after about 10 hours when it was not plugged in or the engine run (usually at 5 am). Overall a very nice pleasant experience.

It was as expected, we hav done this before, and it worked as we thought it shouls

Reise 12. - 19. Sept. 2025, Boot E400, Baujahr 2007, Bu.Nr. LOCIta2015 10015-01. Boot mit umfangreichen Mängeln: Bilgepumpe alle 2,5h, Schalter bleibt am 3. Tag (So) hängen => Dauerlärm, Techniker von Basis repariert 2 h lang nach Urgenz, Wasserdruck-Haltepumpe läuft in der 1. Nacht alle 2 min für 5 sec., nach Kontakt mit Basis E-Schalter ausgeknipst => nachts kein Wasser mehr in den Nassräumen. Sonntag Abend Dauergeräusch im Bug-Nassraum => wir finden den zugehörigen Schalter für Thermostatrelais => kein Warmwasser mehr. Bootsleinen teilweise durchgescheuert, auch an den Fendern u. weitere Mängel in der Ausrüstung Bootseinweisung insb. zu den Schleusen mangelhaft, weswegen wir unsere geplante Route abbrechen müssen. Team der Basis Chioggia "Rendez Vous Fantasia RSL"teilweise sehr unfreundlich und überheblich, keinesfalls kundenorientiert. In Summe war unser Bootstour ein unerfreulicher, teurer Flop
Unterschrift: DI Erich Steingassner

It was our eighth trip with Locaboat fourth on the midi canal. It’s an amazing place where we always find new things to do and do the things that we loved in the past. Locaboat about makes it so easy. I can’t wait to do another trip next year.

An incredible experience on a large and beautiful E400 boat. We were greeted and instructed by very kind and helpful staff. We spent a wonderful weekend enjoying the landscapes along the river. My husband has a motorboat license and handled it well; however, in my opinion, it’s important to have at least some basic boating skills, since passing through the locks can be quite challenging — they are very narrow.

Fantastic experience locaboat was only a phone call away with any questions we called several times and they were always pleasant ready to help. And they did.... Immediately. Quite refreshing

Excellent advice on where to travel and what to anticipate