Southern Tour Holland on De Amsterdam, beware

[PAB855]

Last August we were on a BoatBike tour on the river boat De Amsterdam.

On the Thursday morning (with two nights to go on board) one of the exit sliding doors on opening, knocked me over whereupon I knocked my wife over. She sustained a broken arm and other injuries.I escaped with bruising.

She is still seeing a physiotherapist and her arm has improved, but she still has problems with trying to clench her hand and has yet to be seen by the physiotherapist to attend to her leg as her walking is nowhere near her previous standard as she now has a limp.

There's heaps more I could say, but I would be interested to know, if anybody is on DeAmsterdam this year perhaps you could see if they have improved the safety standards on board, because there was no warning notice next to the door, there was no safety stop on making contact, there was no barrier, panel or casement to screen the door. It was the right hand door on the port side.

We were helped greatly by another couple on the tour, certain crew members, one of the two tour leaders and staff at the head office after getting home to organise getting our own recumbent trike and bike collected one month later by two family members who went to Holland to collect them.

We were not helped by the other leader, Peter, quite the opposite.

We were provided with a wheelchair. Both tyres were flat ( on a boat carrying over 100 bicycles ! ! ! ) , and one of the footrests was broken off by a crew member while opening it up ! Duct tape showed evidence of a previous failure.

We returned via our pre booked DFDS ferry who provided a 5star service in doing a fantastic job of seeing to our every need. We were given an upgrade on our cabin, evening meal and breakfast delivered to the cabin and in the morning we were a curious convoy as we were taken off the ferry - my wife in a wheelchair pushed by a crew member, me following, then a crew member pushing a cage trolley carrying 2pairs of panniers 2 other bike bags, a rucksack, a walking stick, a tripod folding seat and 2 cycle helmets. It was like Moses parting of the waters! We had a coffee and apple strudel at the terminal exit before the masses caught up with us - brilliant.

After a couple of weeks we contacted BoatBike tours to give them an account of our experience and to await their comments. There was no reply.

Three letters were sent over a period of three months, the third after we had received the 2019 brochure ! ! ! . How thoughtful of them. There was no response to any of the letters ( tracked and signed for ) .

I wonder if I will now get any responses.

Cheers

[PAB855]

I've just been looking at some pictures of the DeAmsterdam on a website which has appeared since last year. There's a shot taken from the lounge looking back towards the reception area and it looks as if there is something close to the wall on the right just before the sliding door. That was the spot where the accident occurred. It looks as if it might be a table! If so, that's a crafty way of providing a safety screen or barrier to ensure the door can still operate as before without striking a person in that location.

Too little too late.

[PAB855]

Has nobody booked a boat bike tour using De Amsterdam as the river boat on the Southern Holland tour in 2019?

[PAB855]

RIP off Britain has been contacted. Let's see if they can help.