Bellejour in April

By Ellen Rado
This item appears on page 12 of the August 2018 issue.

My husband, George, and I took Value World Tours’ Holland and Belgium “Tulip Cruise,” April 21-28, 2017, on the river ship Bellejour.

One thing I thought travelers should know — the weather was quite cool and windy in both Holland and Belgium (as low as 9°C up to a high of 15°C [48°F-59°F]), and our cabin, number 122, had little heat. Cold air came from the vents.

We were finally able to obtain some extra blankets, but, even with that, we had some sleepless nights freezing.

ELLEN RADO

Hollis, NY

ITN emailed Ms. Rado’s comments to Value World Tours and received the following in reply.

Regarding the cold cabin, I honestly have no way of determining what or how serious the issue was. I can only state that all cabins aboard the Bellejour have thermostats and, more importantly, the ship is heated through engine motors (like a car), meaning if there was no heat, it would have affected all the cabins, not just Mr. and Mrs. Rado’s, and we would have heard about it, but no other passengers complained. It would be highly unlikely for the cabin to not have had heat if the ship were operational.

I can only assume that the level of heat generated by the ship was not enough for Mr. and Mrs. Rado.

SAMO TOPLAK, CEO, Value World Tours, 17220 Newhope St., Ste. 203, Fountain Valley, CA 92708