Kingfisher Cruises

Apr 6th, 2022

KINGFISHER CRUISES - Yesterday I took my Grandson on the Santa Cruise which I thought was operated through Barton Grange as it is advertised there, just outside the restaurant. In past years I tried to book in December and it was fully booked, so we were really pleased to get a place! Yesterday we arrived at the Marina and there was already a family queuing to get on so I was pleased that we were in the right place. As the family boarded my Grandson was keen to follow ( he had been up early and couldnt wait for his Santa adventure to begin) but we were told immediately as we stepped on behind the other family that they were not boarding yet - the family that were allowed on were Barry the elfs family. This would of been fine if it had been done more discretely but for a while we didnt understand why one family were stood there and we were not allowed to! The barge itself looked tired to be honest and I already felt a little disappointed . When we were allowed to get on we stepped downstairs to the seating area and its was brightly decorated with all the decorations from the 70s! my Grandson loved it to be fair and sat down in our seats and he eagerly awaited his journey to begin! We toured a small area of the Lancaster Canal and Barry the elf kept the children entertained well via his loud speaker system and the children seemed to be thou roughly engrossed in watching for Santa on our way. An hour and a half later we were back at the Barton Grange marina, I had been given a mince pie and coffee, my grandson a fruit shoot and a single roses chocolate - Santa had provided him with a gift. Although at 6 years old he enjoyed it, I did think it was over priced at 40 and felt disappointed with the poor quality gift ( a 5, at most, nerf gun ). If it had been 20 I would of thought it was ok, and a fair price but 40 was disappointing and obviously was nothing to do with Barton Grange which always provide a minimum standard of quality!
Oct 23rd, 2019