Fantaseas Houseboat Holidays

November 2010 I was "trying" to plan my partners 30th birthday which was in April 2011. I wrongly assumed that 6 months would be adequate enough time to plan this event and find a great way to celebrate it. By January I was struggling to find a venue I was happy with, I was also trying to think of something different, to create a great memory. Considering after 30 you stop counting birthdays right?!

In mid February I stumbled across the idea of a houseboat, I'm not particularly a sea/water person but thought it would be a great opportunity to do something different. I phoned a few companies who were very blasé and unhelpful, some didn't even bother to return my phone calls/emails. I work 7 days a week and I was becoming desperate to find just something. I almost booked a venue I was purely settling for as time was running out and plans needed to be set. As a last ditch attempt I decided to search Houseboats again on the net one last time when during my search I found Fantaseas. I sent an email late that night and assumed the usual run around of chasing them up in a couple of days to see what they had to offer. To my complete surprise I received a phone call first thing the following morning!! Wow, a company that cares! I spoke with the friendly staff over the phone and told them the dates I was hoping to secure.
It was now early March and by this stage in the year I was asking the impossible, the date I was originally wanting was unavailable. However the staff were incredibly helpful, they were full of suggestions on other possible dates and which vessels were available and really helped me. I was able to secure a date which was a couple of weekends later then my original request. And I must mention this ended up being a blessing in disguise. The weather turned horrible the weekend I originally wanted, family from overseas were not able to attend on those dates due to an unexpected circumstance and it bought me some more time to arrange things thoroughly!

The birthday was definitely memorable for everyone on board. It was much better value then booking a venue for a few hours on a Saturday night as we all benefitted from a holiday also. The boys would go out fishing and us girls would laze around on the beach or on the upper deck in the glorious sun. The sound of water softly lapping and the boat gently rocking us to sleep each night was beautiful. My partner loved being out on the water so much he purchased a boat the very next weekend after returning the houseboat, he goes out regularly and the fish always seem to get away :p

I cannot recommend Belinda and the team from Fantasea's any higher. I have told everyone and anyone about my Houseboat Holiday. Their customer service is exceptional, their pricing very affordable, the vessels well equipped and homely and the experience is a MUST for anyone - sea lovers or not. (Date of experience: Apr, 2011 )