Enforced relaxation while drifting along
at no more than 4 miles per hour, a flurry of activity
as you come to a flight of locks, camaraderie when you
meet other boaters, friendliness when you tie up at the
pub for a drink or meal. A holiday of contrasts, taken
at a slow pace. The variety is endless; city, town, village
and country, wide and narrow canals.
Every
bend in the canal brings forth some new delight, every
mile some
new feature. You can never see it all, no matter how
many times you return. But why worry? Narrowboat holidays
are for relaxation, for unwinding from everyday pressures,
for doing what you like, when you like. With us you
have the choice of six bases, each with their own unique
routes
to help you discover a little more of this beautiful
country of ours.
You can either book on-line or by completing the booking
form in the brochure. We require 25% deposit to confirm
the booking, with the balance due 8 weeks before your
departure date.
Once you submit the booking form on-line or sign the
booking form in the brochure, you are then entering a
legal contract and will be liable for the full cost of
the holiday. It is recommended that you protect yourself
by taking out our cancellation protection scheme, which
will cover the cost of cancellation due to sickness or
accident.
A full inventory list is
available here and the hire charge also includes gas, bed linen and
VAT. We will also send you a grocery list which
you can fill in and return to the base and your groceries will be waiting
for you when you arrive (£5 charge plus the cost of the groceries
payable directly to the base).
The Damage
Waiver Scheme fee of £50 covers
you in the event of damage, loss or accident to your
boat or its inventory during your holiday. It is
non-refundable and avoids the requirement for a damage
deposit payment of £500 to cover the insurance
excess pending any claims. Please ensure all passenger
names are on your completed booking form.
Exclusions:
1. Speeding (reported or witnessed. The limit is
4mph).
2. Malicious, negligent or intentional damage to
the boat, its inventory, third party property, the
canal and its structures.
3. Damage to the rudder, skeg or transmission due
to cill damage in a lock.
4. Return of the boat late or in an unclean condition.
In the event of any of the above being
reported, we shall claim
the full cost of repairs, replacement or compensation.
Boats are available between 2.30pm and 4pm or from 9.30am
on Wednesday departures. Boats should be returned and
vacated by 9.30am, or 2.30pm on Tuesday returns. If a
boat is returned late or unclean, it will cause a delay
for the
next hirer. In this event, we reserve the right to charge
additional costs.
Well behaved
pets are welcome, but please keep them off the furniture
and bedding. There is a charge
of £25
each and no more than 2 dogs please.
Both are welcome, but do be careful of storage on your
trip if you put them on the roof, as they can get
pulled off by bridges or trees.
There is a 12v socket on each boat and inverters are
also available to hire from the base, allowing you
to use a normal plug (max 100 watts).
The boat
has a 100 gallon water tank which should be refilled
daily from water points along the canal.
Diesel fuel will be charged upon return of the boat
and the cost per litre will be slightly lower than
supermarket prices. (2010 – average cost £10-12
per day). The boats will typically use between 1.2-1.7
litres per hour depending on driving style. The central
heating systems are oil fired, which will also use
diesel during colder periods.
Directions
and information on public transport to the bases are
included in our base information sheets,
which are sent out with your booking confirmation.
They are also available on our website by clicking
in the ‘bases’ section. We also have
an agreement with Enterprise Rent-a-Car who will
provide reduced rates for Black Prince customers.
Information is available here.
All of our
bases have free car parking, but we are unable to accept
responsibility for loss or damage
to customer’s vehicles.
We provide a range of maps which are available to order
on the booking form prior to departure. Additional
guides and maps including Waterways World and Lockmaster
Gateway series are available at our bases along with
souvenirs.
For every fixed bed we provide an interior sprung mattress,
duvet and cover, a pillow and pillow case, a mattress
protector and sheet. For beds made up in the evening
in the lounge area, we also provide bedding. We provide
one towel per customer.
Each boat is equipped with a life-ring and buoyancy
aids are available free of charge. These come in
four sizes to suit toddlers to adults and will be
individually fitted before you leave.
Fishing is allowed on rivers and canals provided you
have an Environment Agency rod licence, which is
available on-line or from any post office (except
when fishing is prohibited on rivers between 15th
March and 15th June). Many clubs will not object
to fishing from boats but some may require you to
buy a day ticket.
An additional license is required for the River Avon,
Thames and Nene. Further details can be given at
the base before departure.
We are the largest builder of hire boats in the UK
and we introduce new boats regularly giving us the
youngest hire fleet in the country.
|
