TheBands

I could book a caravan with Hoseasons for less, I could do the same to France with Eurocamp including ferry/tunnel. All holidays in peak season are expensive and the broads is no different in that respect. My original post wasn't comparing the broads against other types of holidays however, it was simply stating that £1900 is a lot of anyone's money.

I will apologise, I certainly did not intend to cause any offence. Yes I could have booked a cheaper boat, but as we are a family of five adults we wanted a larger boat with more bedrooms and as I'm in the fortunate position of being able to spend a little more then that is what I did. We haven't however booked one of the 'glamour' boats as that would be outside of our reach. The point I was making was to the other poster that if people have chosen to spend their hard earned money on the broads then it's their business - regardless of being furloughed or not. Many who have been furloughed will be struggling with coping on only 80% wages and my comment about the broads was in that context, no holiday would be 'cheap' in those circumstances. Again, I apologise. PS. I took a lot at your website, I wasn't aware of your yard previously. Have you reopened yet as I couldn't seem to find any availability for any combination of dates and party sizes ?

And why shouldn't they still spend their money on a holiday?

Point me to it. £1900 for one week it is costing me. i don't begrudge paying it, but do not tell me it is cheap.

No doubt there are some who may have taken furlough as an extended holiday, reality will bite for many when there is no job to go back to, others have worked throughout and may or may not have more job security. Either way no-one is getting a free holiday on the broads, the broads are not a cheap option for anyone. Whoever takes a holiday on the broads is ploughing their hard earned money back into the local business in the area either way. I find your comment both patronising, short sighted and ill-judged. ps. I havent been furloughed but I don't begrudge anyone wanting to spend their money on a holiday in the uk.

Wish I had £65k. Costing us nearly £2k just for one weeks hire . Could be that they need the room for another new boat?

EDIT: Just noticed that the link on Silverline's website for Reflection actually takes you the Illusion page - so don't know if they a4e the same or not.....

We are on Silver Illusion at the start of August (family of five, all now adult sized) and we also hired it in the past (2014). It's a great boat, four genuine bedrooms and yes small berths but that is all boats and Illusion is as good as any boat we have ever hired in this regard. As with all boats take max occupancy figures with a big lump of salt. Good layout, decent room in the central lounge area and the kitchen area tucked down out of the way of the main passageway works well. Only two bathrooms but I have never understood why you need three on a boat - my own house only has one bathroom...... From the website the boats look to be identical, I'm not sure how reflection could have bigger berths unless it meant compromising on the kitchen/lounge space. Hired from Silverline a couple of times, in my experience they are briskly efficient (which might upset some and may not be what a first time novice wants but I am absolutely fine with). Would solidly recommend them. Silverline's website links you direct to hoseasons, we have never had any issues with hoseasons and they are offering full refunds if (please god no) we have to go back into regional or local lockdowns.

We are booked with Silverline Marine via hoseasons. Pick up time is 5pm and I get that additional cleaning time is needed but not sure what happens to social distancing and pick up times when you have 10 sets of families all anxious to board 10 different boats at 5pm?

Sounds like we will be having fun finding moorings on our holiday then... Holiday diary: 7:00am - left overnight morning headed towards...... 7:15am - spotted boat leaving mooring, took its place for the night.....

Flight refund already received, its the non-refundable deposit on the accommodation we booked and theme park tickets that will sting. Mostly not done too bad on refunds but will have to claim on insurance for a couple of things and after the per person excesses.... It is what it is and I'm just grateful to have a holiday to look forward to. Will be really interested to hear how the first few weeks go after things open back up.

So, we have hired a cruiser from SilverLine Marine starting 1st August. Had originally planned a three week holiday abroad but I'm glad that our flights were cancelled. We will lose about £500 in non refundable deposits but could have been much worse. Since lockdown started I have been working from home and will likely be doing so for the foreseeable future. After 12 weeks of having nowhere to go and nothing to see I cannot wait to experience the magic of the broads again. It will be our 6th or 7th time of hiring on the broads but the first time in such unusual circumstances. I know there is still a lot of fear about Coronavirus and this is probably magnified in some of the small communities in and around the broads, our visit will be utterly respectful of those communities. The simple joy of puttering from one location to another and seeing different sights has me counting the days down to our visit. I would welcome the perspective of the forums members with regards to our visit, what sort of welcome can we expect, how busy do you expect it to be, are there any changes to moorings, will any of the broads pubs/restaraunts be open, etc etc? many thanks.