Amsterdam: Luxury Light Festival Cruise Unlimited Drinks Included

Super entertaining! Rene is a fountain of knowledge and a perfect host!!

Amazing experience! Erwin and Lili were so fun and the drinks were deliclious!

Crew was lovely. Nice boat - comfy cushions, pillows and blankets. While we did not partake in the cocktails - several on our boat definitely got their money’s worth. Better than taking the cruises near Central Station.

We turned up last minute and were fully accommodated. The tour was lovely and Rene and Quessia were very informative and friendly! Really beautiful and drinks kept flowing.

Kimjoy and Adrianna were wonderful hosts and made for an unforgettable experience. I will be booking again the next time I am here

Great experience to see the lights on the river. The staff was friendly! Easy to find had a great time.

Great tour seeing more than the little canals! Great host Quessia & smooth captain Ward! No toilet on board - bare in mind

Did the canal cruise yesterday and it was an amazing experience. The sailor and host gave a great tour of the canals and made sure that we enjoyed the boat trip. I can warmly recommend this to anyone.

Great fun with a great group! Rene (captain) and Stephanie (our host) were great - hardworking and great fun! Lots of laughs and great information!! Would recommend 1000%. Thanks for the great tour!!

Kim and Martin excelents guides!! We Love The trip!!! So fun! They know much about The history from The City! Thanks a lot!

Me and a friend got the bright idea to go on such a boat adventure as the weather was perfect and none of us has yet been on the water in Amsterdam. The booking went very quickly via the website and we arrived to be welcomed by the captain and host who are very professional, informative, funny and friendly. We enjoyed some wine, listened to the interesting things they could tell us and chatted and observed the beautiful canals and all the history. Overall a wonderfull experience.

Thank goodness they include a little drink with our cruise. They told us we were in for a treat, a guided tour. The captain spoke for about a minute and our guide for about three before the captain drove the wrong way along a one-way canal and became stranded for 30 mins. We know this as each boat that annoyedly passed, let us know!

Amazing trip, brilliant tour guides, we booked online and as a result we were able to book an all included drinks package (this did not appear to be available with a walk in booking, so definitely book online). The tour was definitely one of our highlights of our trip to Amsterdam and would recommend to all.

We had a great time on this cruise with unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks. The guy (Sven) who drove the boat was a wealth of knowledge of the area with history, landmarks etc. Highly recommend it!

Was a nice tour but extremely cold. I thought we were gonna be on a hard covered boat. But was open.

This was a really good experience. The guides and captain were awesome and very knowledgable. However, it was rainy and cold and there was no heat at all. The boat is partially open. That took away from the experience in my opinion. I think this needs to be clearly stated when booking.

Great tour and great hospitality by Zofia and the skipper Jozef. Had a lovely tour of the Amsterdam Light Festival with both of them

The host and captain of the boat were friendly and entertaining, with a good knowledge of the history of Amsterdam and the light displays of the Amsterdam Light Festival. Our glasses were kept topped up and the boat was comfortable and cosy with pillows and blankets to keep us cosy and warm. From time to time, the host got his guitar out and entertained us with songs which added to the magical atmosphere of the evening. We were told by staff at our hotel that this was the best cruise company and they did not disappoint. Will definitely book with them again.

Janine and zofia made our trip SO fun! Definitely worth the hour of entertainnment and booze. Beautiful weather, gorgeous views and great fun facts.

Unfortunately not the best experience. The operator had hugely overbooked (or allowed additional walk-ons) and as a result, there wasn't enough seats. We had to climb over a table and sit on the shelving at the back. It was really awkward when the operator was asking everyone to 'squeeze in together, in solidarity' and no-one was budging because there was nowhere people could go. As we were sat at the very back, the tarp kind of material wasn't very clear looking out at the various light festival exhibits. The waitress was very friendly, chatty and provided a good service. Overall a waste of money, sorry to say. My feedback to the operator is to avoid cramming people in like that.

The joining instructions were simple and easy to follow, and the team met us at the location and were very welcoming. They helped us on to the boat, which was cosy with blankets and a fully stocked bar. The boozy coffee certainly helped to warm us from the inside and is recommended. The tour itself was interesting with a few facts about the area thrown in for good measure on the way. We would recommend this company for a light festival in the future, and should we find ourselves in Amsterdam at any other time of year, we would use them for a normal tour.

My family of 4 thoroughly enjoyed this cruise. The captain, Thomas, did an excellent job maneuvering through tight spots and bringing us all around. Our hostess, Sara, was very enjoyable to listen to. She was informative and humorous, making the tour that much better. The only downside was that I specifically booked Friendship because of their "open-air" boats. I wanted no windows in the way of my views. Unfortunately, though, when we arrived, the boat was very much so closed (large windows but windows nonetheless, and only one round window out the "roof" which was wet and you couldn't really see through). This did make it so views were obstructed and definitely less of them. However, first, Sara did encourage people to get up if they wanted a clear picture (and she even opened the door for me once so I could get just that). Second, to be fair, it was January, and the weather was iffy (rain possible) and cold. We were happy to be warmer inside even though I did miss the views from what would have been over my head (full 360 views). If the weather is good, I'm sure they'd stick to the open-air boats; however, you just may want to confirm this before your arrival if it is important to you. Regardless, this cruise was the highlight of our Amsterdam trip! We will definitely be recommending it to anyone heading there.

I cannot recommend these guys highly enough! We chose this company from an Instagram recommendation and do not regret it one bit. We did the Festival of Lights trip which was absolutely fantastic. The host onboard (I'm so sorry I didn't catch your name) worked relentlessly to ensure all on board had a memorable trip, which we did. The boat was comfy and warm, excellent drinks and very informative. We got to see parts of Amsterdam we would never have seen on foot. Thank you to all! Book your canal trip with confidence with Friendship Amsterdam.

Our cruise got rescheduled 3 times, and in the end we got suggested a shorted cruise than was originally planned. The boat ended up being an open one, and we got extremely cold by the end of the cruise so the boat was definitely not a "luxury" experience as promised. On top of that, a crew member didn't make it clear from the start that the drinks were not included in our ticket, so having to pay in the end came in as an unpleasant surprise. The guides were nice but nothing more, didn't really add to the atmosphere.

This tour exceeded my expectations. The tour operators were very knowledgeable about the area and the Amsterdam Light Festival. Despite the rain and the cold, we were very comfortable and enjoyed the banter between the two guides.

We randomly bumped into Jost and Luna and they took us on the best boat tour. We learned so much about Amsterdam‘s history and architecture, it was very interesting. The two were super lovely and I highly recommend doing the boat tour with them at Friendship Amsterdam.

I enjoyed it. Emily and Joseph were amazing guides. They provided a lot of history about the city. I think it’s a quick, relaxing and beautiful way to see the city. If it’s your first time visiting. Also easy to get to from the centaal station. About a 10 min walk, while passing restaurants, coffee shops, and shopping. I used Google maps for walking, from the train station to help me navigate through the buildings.

This was a delightful way to see the Festival of Lights in the quaint and relaxing canal cruise. The guides were very informative and prompt. It was lovely.

We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and knowledge of our tour guides. We learned some unique facts about the canals and the artworks on display.

Yearly tradition and always a great experience. Nice staff delivering great service. Size of the boats create great atmosphere

The cruise itself was fine. The driver and host were friendly and gave some interesting information about the city and Light Festival. The issue occurred when we were told we had paid for tickets excluding drinks and were asked to pay a €43 drinks bill. When we checked out of interest later I realised I had paid for tickets including drinks. A disappointing end to a fairly pleasant boat trip.

Lovely experience but I think to describe it as "luxury" is inaccurate. The seats we had at the side of the boat were narrow and difficult to stop sliding off. Arrive early to get a more lying down style seat at eiher end. I think they could have described things as authentic rather than rustic as it was an historic boat. Crew were knowledgeable about the art and the city

Excellente service and a beautiful tour on a lovely boat it was a magical evening! Thank you Sarah and Joost!

While the staff onboard is great and friendly, the cruise is underwhelming. It was rainy and the cover used for the boat is NOT clear at all hence we as guests did not experience anything related to the Luxury Light Festival & Evening Cruises. It just became an evening boat ride on a rainy evening. Also, this tour did not take us to the Light Festival. We just cruised through canals and saw art installations that are lit up at night. Or they are the same thing? Anyway, would have expected that the tour company would have been more prepared when it's raining. The covers are not transparent so we could not see anything.

Guides knew so much about Amsterdam history and buildings etc. Beautiful ride with beautiful views.

The cruise was easy enough to locate and very close to Amsterdam Centraal station. We picked a day with the heaviest rain which can’t be helped. Despite this, the crew powered through with the tour. The guide was informative though sometimes the delivery was slightly haphazard in organisation. The seats on the side aren’t proper seats, more like the lean to slanted seats you might see sometimes as a bus stop where you can’t quite sit properly on but the seats on the very back of the boat were more comfortable but there was only room for a few. It’s an hour journey so standing like that for an hour where you just wanna sit and enjoy the canals isn’t the most comfortable experience. There were pillows and blankets too which were nice. There was a bar on the boat for anyone who likes drinking. Overall, given the abysmal weather conditions, the tour was as good as could have been given by the crew and it was nice to go on a cruise by the canals. Better seats on the side would have made the cruise much better.

This was a fantastic trip Great service from start to finish A lovely atmosphere on the boat and great knowledge of the boat staff - we were so well looked after and it was a really fun evening

The crew were very entertaining and enthusiastic. They were both knowledgeable about the city and I learnt a few facts that I did not know before. The light show is not as fantastic as the online pictures show and must be from previous years, but was still pretty. The boat is relatively small with cushioned seating around the edge and a tiny bar in the centre. If this is luxury as advertised then anything else must be an open barge with bare seating. The windows are plastic and the front was open so cold wind blowing through. Wrap up warm and you'll be fine!

This is the only canal cruise that is fun & informative. Great service & friendly staff made this experience memorable. Last year we did a cruise where they wanted to kick us off for talking. I will never do another cruise except Friendship

This was not great but not all terrible. Firstly this is not a luxe experience. We opted for the luxe cruise with cocktails. Paid almost 40 euros each for a trip we could have got for 20 each max. Had to pay extra if we wanted drinks and the only cocktails where on a menu that where charged so not included. At 40 euro each we thought we would at least get a hot drink. No blankets either a d due to the plastic roof that was blowing all over due to bad weather we also got soaked and were soo cold we fealt like crying. I actually thought we may be on the wrong boat but out booking was checked and confirmed. So I would recommend taking the basic cost trip for this reason as you all get the same anyway. On the plus side the crew were informative, and we got a few good photo opportunities.

The boat was very comfortable and we could see out of the windows really well. Bastiaan and Janine were really friendly and knowledgeable. It would be helpful if there was better signage for the embarkation point.

We were 5 minutes late because of the tram and the boat was already gone. It was the last boat that night, so we couldn’t go on another one. The owner said that we could join the neighbors boat but that we have to pay again and a refund was not possible. 40 euro gone for nothing…

Light Festival is nothing at all! several figures on the water, generally just swimming in the cold night.

Love the tour, great tour guide & we were lucky with our seat allocation. But all seats viewed the middle of the boat so you had to twist to see behind you which was often. Some people were practically laying down on a bed area at the front of the boat, looked super uncomfortable!

Thank you Pablo and Carly for the lovely tour! We asked a lot of questions and they were very obliging. The caramel vodka shots were delightful too.

If it's raining, better not to RUIN your day with this specific boat experience... They have plastic windows, so you couldnt see much of the outside from inside the boat. Then our tour guides opened all the windows and we ended up completely soaked... We took the 20:00 tour. Neither the lights were impressive at all, nor our guides were entertaining enough. Not recommended unless it's a dry day, I would say...

Despite the rain, the team kept us warm, dry and cosy, while enabling us to enjoy the light spectacular.

Really enjoyable, the guides were very helpful, friendly and knowledgeable. The meeting and ending point was very easy to find and located centrally. A great way to spend an evening

The pictures are deceiving. I booked a boat that had seating at tables, a hard top and glass windows as shown in the pictures. The boat we got had seating around the edges that was very cramped, the bartender was tripping over the guests feet. The roof and windows were plastic that was hard to see through so we rolled them up to see the light sculptures. We did not get the boat that was shown in the photos. The only reason I give this review 3 stars is that I thought the crew were excellent and very friendly.