budgie blog

Cream Teas, Chips & Serenades

2011-04-14T08:17:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! Things are buzzing here at Lancaster Canal Boats, and everyone's talking about food! Our recent Mother's Day cream tea cruise was a sell-out, and lots of happy ladies enjoyed their treats. Fish & Chip cruises are filling up fast and new dates have been added to deal with the demand. Our staff are already getting excited about the forthcoming food cruises, and we're all a bit starstruck meeting the one and only Barry McQueen. Our brand new Little Italy cruise on 1st July is lining up to be a hit, we are going to be joined by a special guest who will serenade our cruisers with his mandolin. Why not treat a special somebody (or yourself) to a night out with a difference and book onto a food cruise now - or of course gift vouchers are available for all cruises should you prefer to choose a date later.

New Year, New Start

2011-02-23T06:11:00.001-08:00

2011 has already been an eventful year for Lancaster Canal Boats!

On our return to work after the Christmas break, we discovered that our office had been destroyed by a burst pipe flood. We quickly moved to our new premises near to Lancaster Castle, and are now fully functioning here and able to deal with your enquiries and bookings.

Although the weather is still chilly, we have an array of cruises planned for the coming months, leading into our summer timetable, when you can enjoy a cruise in the sunshine (we hope). As well as all our old favourites, we have a couple of fresh new ideas to try, including our delightful Lune Aqueduct Sunset cruises and our delicious Little Italy pasta cruise. We hope you'll come along and try these new cruises and let us know what you think.

Our diary is already filling up....bookings are even coming in for 2012! We've welcomed back many loyal customers, and also been joined by lots of new faces, and we are looking forward to working with you and providing our first class cruise experience.

All weather cruising.....

2010-08-13T05:50:00.000-07:00

Summer has come...........has it gone yet? Feels like it this could be the case with the gloomy skies the past 3 weeks but maybe we have a late bloom of sunshine coming in September? This does not mean that canal cruising should be dismissed as an activity on your chill out itinerary!

In fact winter cruising can be just as delightful in its own special way. The shortening days and lowering temperatures bring a different perspective to the canal and it can be just as enjoyable. Our Luxury wide beam boat, Kingfisher is centrally heated and fully covered with cosy indoor seating so its an all weather winner. This year we have lots planned for the Autumn / Winter schedule for every one to enjoy.

Staying in August take advantage of our Family cruises over the Barton Grange Food Weekend (21st & 22nd) where you can take a mini cruise for a few coins and also sample some of the great bites available from the Garden Centre Restaurant with a cup of tea thrown in - all included in the ticket price £2 - check out http://www.budgietransport.co.uk/page/478/Not-Given.htm

Next exciting news we have decided to participate in the Lancaster Music Festival during the weekend of 8-10 October. Kingfisher will be a unique venue for the festival making it the only floating stage for the participating musicians. We have Folk on a Boat cruise, Handels Water Music Cheese and Wine cruise planned to name a few. Visit our webpage to view more details and book your seat.

October, November and December will see a variety of Fun Cruises sailing from Barton Grange Garden Centre including Fish & Chips, Race Nights, Cream Teas and a host of Christmas orientated themes closer to Christmas for the whole family. Just check our website to get the full picture of whats available.

Of course dont forget that we can tailor cruises to meet your requirements and the boat is a perfect and unique location to hold your staff / office Christmas Party with our fully licensed bar, dance floor, superb catering and friendly crew..............and of course what happens on the boat stays on the boat!!

On that note I will end this blog. See you soon.

Best wishes
Lancaster Canal Boats Blogger

Canal with a view.....

2010-05-03T11:23:00.000-07:00

It's been over a year since our last blog post! Now before I give you any news on Budgie and the canal boat sagas let me just make clear that the lack of blogging is in no way due to lack of action over the last year or a collapse in the popularity of our canal cruises.

Quite the contrary. The simple fact is that the boats have just been so busy which has rubbed off on the admin side of our operation - or is it the other way around?

Lets start at the beginning which is here on this bank holiday Monday. After a busy winter season with passenger figures up by 25% on last year we are finally on the cusp of welcoming the "Waterbus" service back to our canal which will start this Wednesday 5th May. Wednesday is Lune Aqueduct day on our timetable, one of our most popular cruises. For the full waterbus timetable visit our waterbus page and choose your cruise time and route.

Lots has gone on since we last updated you but the BIG news is that we are very proud to announce our "Fish & Chips Cruises" have been shortlisted for the 2010/11 "Best Tourism Experience" by the Lancashire and Blackpool Tourism Board. Now thats something to blow our horns about!!! We realise that "you" our passengers have a lot to answer for in this great achievement and it proves you have been talking us up and spreading the word about this fun, value for money evening of quality entertainment. Thanks to you all we really appreciate the support.

We are always trying to improve and streamline our product and are happy to announce that in the next 2 weeks we should be launching our online booking system to make life easier for those of you who prefer doing things online.

Budgie has had an active and hectic year, too much news to post on one blog. I have read that a blog should be short, sweet and informative. This is my first, so I will take advice from the experts and sign off for now.
Watch this space for more regular news and feedback on our season of sailing.

February 6th 2009

2009-02-07T06:16:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Budgie Blog. On here you will get some great information on days out in Britain, whether it be by boat, train, bike or road. We will also keep you up to date on whats happening both in our business and our day to day life.
A few bits of info to start with budgie transport operate a year round cruising programme on the lancaster canal. Not only have we special and private cruises we also have a summer waterbus service operating between Lancaster and Carnforth. We also run a regular service to the magnificent Lune Aqueduct.
this year we will be operating a pick up and drop off service for hotels in blackpool/st annes/lancaster/morecambe.
We run railtours under the name of ResiRail (residential railtours) with the first one in 2009 from Preston to Oban.
We have hire bikes at a number of locations including the Eskdale trail which operates out of dalegarth station on the Ravenglass and Eskdale railway.
We are also providing a airport transfer service to a number of northern airports, so you can fly to "BAT"(Budgie Airport Transfer) to and from your business meeting or holiday destination.
We have a number of groups and parties who enjoy our tranquil cruises on the canal and we offer something for everyone on the Lancaster canal covering over 35 miles of lock free water.
Enough said about the business what you really want to know is what makes us tick.
........... watch for the next post. Its winter, its a icy canal and yes its a private cruise with a difference. Bring on the police.........................