History

Industrial herritage sails as classical luxurious cruise ship

Build in 1930 by shipyard Boot in Leiden, Netherlands and named 'de Adelaar' (Eagle)

It was one of the first freight ships with a build-in engine, the model name is 'luxe motor'. The ship has been sold a few times and changed names several times as well. The last years as a freighter it sailed with the name 'Frisica 2'.

The main transported cargo was sand & stones through the Netherlands & Germany.

 

A new future for this ship was designed in 2001 when the previous owners Henk & Jantien bought the freighter and coverted it into cruise ship Merlijn the magic of water. One of the most successful Bike & barge ships was born, many satisfied customers can confirm!

Vienna to Passau

September 03 - 10 / 2022
Last September, 24 friends from West Michigan biked along the Danube. Each day there was beautiful scenery and our guide, Ilse, was very knowledgeable about the history and interesting places that we visited. The Merlijn was our home for seven nights. The rooms where very comfortable abd had everything you needed. The food was delicious. Each morning there was something different for breakfast and the dinners were top notch. The barge was spotless, everything looked like it had just been painted or cleaned. The owners, Coen and Christina were very attentive to our every need. This was our third trip with the Merlijn and everything just keeps getting better.