Le Boat Reviews 

It was very easy to book and make decisions on what will work for us.

Excellent boat and extremely helpful staff at Branges. The Seille river is beautiful and underrated. Nice towns on the Sloane to stop off at.

This was our second Le Boat holiday. The first was on the Canal du Midi, and this one, around Venice, was very different.

We chose the Mystique because the bedrooms are at opposite ends of the boat and there are two bathrooms. The only real complaint is the very thin mattresses, not really practical to bring a matress topper if you are flying..

Cruising the Venice area is quite unlike the Canal du Midi. Moorings are limited and sometimes costly, 60to 90 Euros, prices are in the Le Boat briefing document, though they are nice. In France we could pre-pay for fuel, which isn't available in Italy.

The cruising is wonderful, though at times a bit daunting, with huge expanses of water, some of it very shallow. You follow the channel markers that are generally very clear and Le Boat provide very good charts. Calling ahead for locks and bridges to be operated was never a problem, but you do need a phone. We also had no trouble phoning marinas ahead to book moorings, but don't rely on getting a reply to an email.

Some places getting on and off the boat is not easy, but this holiday is suitable for experienced and inexperienced boaters.
All in all, good service from HHI and Le Boat, and a great holiday.

We spent a fantastic week cruising the beautiful Rideau Canal with Le Boat. We’ve used Le Boat before, but this was our first time in Canada, and it certainly won’t be our last.

We received such a warm welcome from Veronica and her team. Danielle and Troy gave us a thorough and informative check-in, and then Igors showed us around the boat. He was incredibly friendly, patient and helpful, taking the time to make sure we were completely comfortable with everything before we headed off. A really lovely start to our holiday.

The boat was spotlessly clean, comfortable and very well equipped, with pretty much everything you could need in the kitchen.

The Rideau Canal itself is absolutely beautiful. There are so many lovely cruising areas and villages to stop and explore, and we saw turtles, chipmunks and even raccoons along the way.

The Canadians we met were wonderful, and a special mention has to go to the Parks Canada lock staff, who couldn’t have been friendlier or more helpful. They really added to the whole experience.

We absolutely loved this trip and came home with some fantastic memories. We’re already talking about returning in the spring!

From booking, through to collection of the boat, steering practice, practical suggestions, the experience was fuss-free and friendly. The Flanders route is spectacular and the harbourmasters are helpful and courteous. Facilities at the jacthhavens were good - we did find the facilities at Flandria, in Brugge to be the best of the lot. All in all, an incredibly relaxing holiday, and seeing these gorgeous cities from the canals is a unique experience.

All my questions are answered and quickly

So far so good! I am just a little nervous piloting a big boat like this, but have ocean sailed a 53’ before and had no worries in England on a narrow boat.

This was our first experience with Le Boat, and it won't be our last. Every step of the process, from booking to check-in to our final check out and debrief was a delight. All of the staff were friendly, super helpful, and extremely knowledgeable. I loved that they were able to provide an orientation that met our level of expertise, so we learned everything we needed to know to safely operate the boat and were able to get on the water quickly. They resolved questions I had when we were underway, and when our horn broke, a technician traveled to us to fix it and get us back on our way in almost no time. And we loved the suggestions they gave us for getting the most out of our itinerary.

We have booked with LeBoat a few times now for trips both in the UK and in France and each time we book, Marcus is so helpful, making booking pretty easy. Looking forward to our next trip in 2027!

Effortless booking experience. Very courteous staff, highly knowledgeable on the region requested and the fleet. Highly recommend.

Great company to deal with. From the email support, the staff on site to the beautiful boats. I highly recommend booking a trip with Le Boat. I will be doing this again in the future.

We had an amazing experience with Le Boat. The boat was very comfortable for our family of four, and the staff were great throughout. We also had a small accident, and everything was handled quickly, smoothly, and with no stress. Would definitely recommend!

We have used Le Boat for all of our trips, except the first one. Over the years, our experience has been great, and this one epitomised all we have come to expect from the company. Annalisa at the base was most helpful, going above and beyond for us. We completed early check in which is well worth doing if you are going to be in this region.

We’ve been on a Le Boat before an absolutely love the experience. It was very hot in France, but it was still magical. Everyone is so helpful with reservations and learning how to work the boat that we made another reservation in Italy. So excited for that.

As first-timers, we weren't entirely sure what to expect when planning a self-drive boating holiday, but Le Boat exceeded our expectations.
From our very first inquiry to the moment our trip became a reality, Alejandra was absolutely wonderful to work with. She guided us through the entire process with incredible patience, answering all our questions and making sure we felt completely comfortable booking this trip. Most importantly, there was never any pressure, which made the planning process entirely stress-free.
When we arrived at the base, we received the exact same level of care. A huge shout-out to Troy, Mike, and Igor for their incredible patience during our briefing. They made sure we were completely comfortable and filled us with the confidence we needed to start our trip on the water.
The trip itself was an unforgettable adventure. The exceptional staff and the overall experience were fantastic, and we are so glad we took the leap.
We would highly recommend Le Boat to all our friends and family, and we can't thank the team enough for making it happen!

What made our experience great was the excellent preparation that we had before the trip. Together Le Boat staff helped us to plan our itinerary, review the boat, its interior and learn how to operate it. As we were brand new boaters, we even had someone on the boat with us to guide us through the first small bit of the trip.

We started looking a while ago at river cruising holidays. The Le Boat website provides so much helpful information and options that we have booked a group holiday with the company.
After booking, a wealth of detail is available in the website to help us prepare for our cruise.

We have just returned from a weekend on an emerald star cruiser. It was our first time to embark on such a break. I had no real boating experience.
The boat is relatively simple to drive. We were instructed by Michael on how to drive and use all the appliances etc. He instilled confidence in us that all was going to be straightforward.
We spent the first night in Terryglass and had a lovely dinner in Paddy’s bar. The next day we cruised to Ballina/ Kilaloe where we enjoyed another lovely evening. On Sunday we went to Garrykennedy via Mountshannon. All the stops were great fun, other boaters helped us to dock when help was needed .
We had an incident where through our negligence a rope got wrapped around one of thruster propellers.
The staff of Le Boat/ Emerald star were really good about this and after we left they had to take the boat out of the water and remove the rope. They refunded our deposit in full and didn’t charge us for the inconvenience which shows that they are an honourable organisation.
Overall I found Emerald Star to be an efficient, friendly company and I and my family would be very happy to hire a cruiser off them in the future.
Daniel Murray

Wonderful way of seeing Ireland, the ports are an easy walk from the village and you truly feel like you experience village living in Ireland. The countryside is beautiful and the people are so welcoming and amazing! Even brief encounters with the local folks was like meeting a long lost cousin! Everyone willing to strike up a conversation and always helpful.

Even our brief time in the locks, the attendant would strike up a brief conversation and make you feel like he was thrilled to have you visit his country.

All throughout the parts of Ireland we saw were signs that said, "the smallest pub, tiniest church, tidiest town, the oldest, biggest, funniest...in Ireland (or world). I would like to add one more: "The friendliest people in the world!" (at least of all the places I have visited :-) and that is quite a few.

I highly recommend taking a trip on LeBoat!