We did the signature architecture boat ride and it was spectacular! The views were incredible and the guide was very knowledgeable. She didn’t make a bunch of hacky jokes like most tour guides do which was a relief.
Malik Ahmad
I booked this Premier Tour (The Odyssey) for the 4th of July fireworks mainly. A few highlights regarding my trip:
Excellent service & super kind & attentive servers. They made sure our dietary restrictions & specific requests were taken care of.
Would say the main course was okay, but I wasn’t expecting much. The dessert section was great though. The selection of cakes was so good.
The best city views. While we were not able to watch the fireworks due to intense fog, the visit was still very memorable.
Suggestion: They can work a little more on food as the food was just average. Drinks were great. We were also given gifts & they also said goodbye in a respectful way & gave cookies.
Maquee Edwards
Would have like to leave a glowing review since I received so much help with my dietary needs before the cruise, but because of events that were out of my hands I couldn't attend. Sadly, city cruises was not able to provide me with any alternative options to make use of my experience.
Carnecia Whiteside
We had made a reservation in advance through Viator, a third-party service. However, upon arrival on the scheduled boarding date, despite having received multiple reminder texts and emails, my family and I were informed that our reservation could not be located. This was particularly disappointing as we were celebrating my aunt's 60th birthday.
Roni AKA Assassin
I celebrate city cruises both for brunch and dinner. Brunch cruise was very professional but casual. The food is buffet style and delicious. The unlimited Mimosa was on point. I like to thank Peter and Sam. The dinner cruise was vibe. The steak was so yummy. The drinks was the way I like them. My birthday weekend was fire. I appreciate the birthday shouts out on both cruises.
Cameron Toperzer
Thank you Tay for helping us book this while we were in town! And a giant thanks to our amazing waitstaff, Lesly and Anna for making our experience so memorable! Everything was amazing from the ambiance to the food to the amazing DJ on board. If you’re in Chicago book with them for a memorable experience.
Quin Freeman
Excellent experience! Food is very good. Crew is nice , courteous. Inside controlled air. Perfect view of the city of Chicago!!
Jay Ratkowski
Very happy I went even though I probably wouldn’t go again. Views are fabulous. Food is banquet style, not amazing. But it’s fun and romantic and unique.
Neyshalee Nevarez
Broken window shade on $800 Valentine’s Day evening cruise, couldn’t see out the window to see the skyline. Food sold out on cruise, was given a “special” plate to compensate.. it was the bottom of the beef & chicken pans. The marinated greasy mystery dish got me sick. We regret the decision to spend our anniversary like this.
Shey Sant
The worst food I've ever eaten in my life.
Seriously, we frequent many restaurants to experience the cuisine, and I'm a natural critic; I know how to respect and appreciate each establishment.
I'll tell you what I liked... The waiters, the staff who greeted us, the doorman, the security guards, the service, the cozy atmosphere, having this river experience – that's incredible. The staff is great.
But the food... either they need to change the chef, or the chef needs to seek more training.
My God, the menu is unbelievably bad.
It costs 135 per person here. My husband paid 270 for the two of us. We wasted our money.
Because we couldn't eat anything; the menu is limited, and you have to pay extra for the better dishes, which I doubt are actually any good.
But I think it's not just because of the menu, but because even my husband could prepare something better with the same ingredients.
I paid $300 for this crap... Nice atmosphere and service but my god the food is awful.
The potato and cauliflower soup was actually good but it was a completely blended liquid, nothing solid besides the two tiny pieces of broccoli. Other than that.
The sausage ravioli had a horrible taste to it like it had been freezer burned or almost a plastic taste. The seabass was absolutely flavorless, literally just a skinny, roasted piece of fish. It was also on a bed of Lima beans or something and it just absolutely didn't go together.
We also got the seafood pasta. Everything was still flavorless and the pasta sauce tasted straight out of a can, with again a hint of plastic or something off-putting...
Completely disappointed but at least we got some nice pictures. And be sure to try the shipwrecked sundae if you want a nice hard beverage that really tastes like cough syrup 👌
Jeanne Jones
We did the Chicago Premier Plus Bottomless Mimosa Architectural Brunch Cruise on the river December 28. Our server was Artesia. (Sorry if I spelled that wrong). Anyway, she was fantastic. We’ve been on quite a few of these cruises in NYC, DC, San Fran… We have found that the server can make or break your experience. We are so happy we had Artesia. She didn’t miss a beat. Outstanding service and she was always smiling. We had the kale salad, chicken, and cheesecake. The salad was fresh and delicious, the chicken was hot and moist, and the cheesecake was one of the best we’ve ever had. Everything came together for a wonderful experience. Very interesting information about the history and buildings. The boat was nice and clean and warm. All of the staff were very friendly and efficient. Highly recommend this cruise. The only negative would be that it was pretty hard to hear the tour guide, should have better speakers.
lindsey gutierrez
Over the past couple of years, my now-husband and I have attended more than a dozen weddings. While each was lovely, we knew we wanted to give our guests something truly unforgettable. When we took the Architecture River Cruise the year before, it instantly clicked - this was where we needed to celebrate. The backdrop of the city skyline, lit up against the river, was seriously breathtaking. The Odyssey boat, specifically, looks completely different than all of the other white boats on the river - it is entirely encased in glass. The day came together seamlessly. The food was really good (which everyone knows, feeding that many people at once, weddings don’t usually have the best food). But everything was delicious. The service was outstanding, and every detail was beautifully executed. Our coordinator, DJ, restaurant manager, and servers all went above and beyond to make sure the night flowed smoothly. Family and friends have not stopped gushing - we received countless compliments on how unique and breathtaking the boat was. Several friends and family members told us it was the best wedding they had ever been to. Towards the end of the night, my grandma turned to me and said “You are lucky you don’t have a sister, she would be very jealous at how high you’ve set the bar for a wedding.” Like any wedding, there were a couple of bumps along the way. Planning from out of state meant a few logistical challenges, such as when our tasting cruise had to be rescheduled after we had already booked travel. That said, City Cruises resolved the issue within 48 hours, and we were still able to enjoy the experience during our trip. We also learned some logistical details late in the process, like table size limits and the fact that tables and chairs couldn’t be removed from the boat or stored (we had a small guest count and this would have been nice, but we worked around it).. These are things that I think should be discussed before the contract (that being said - it would not have made a difference, we still would have booked the venue). But on the day itself, the decor was so beautiful that I didn’t even notice the extra tables, they did a great job of “hiding” them and getting them out of the way. All in all, we are absolutely over the moon with our decision to host our wedding here. The setting was extraordinary and the team delivered an experience we, and our guests, will cherish forever. If you want a truly unique Chicago wedding, I cannot imagine a better venue.
david Delavari
Kids’ worst experience ever. We even paid for the upgrade. Service was terrible. She served everyone else but skipped us. I had to ask the waiter to take our food order. The appetizer was prepaid, yet it never came until we asked for it. Everyone else got dessert, and we still hadn’t even received our meal.
Vip seating almost the same as everyone else .
Drinks took over 25 minutes to arrive, and they got the order wrong. I asked for ketchup for the kids’ meal four times—20 minutes later, I finally got up and told them I’d get it myself from the kitchen since they couldn’t.
The location on Google Maps is also completely wrong. I have never tipped zero in my 30 years, and even with bad service, I always leave at least 10%. But today was terrible in every aspect.
giselle navarro
Lady i spoke to (name sounded like Jamaica) she answered annoyed i explained to her that the website was freezing and wouldn't let us book so we made different plans later we received a charged i call to canceled and she said she couldn’t do anything she later put us on hold and came back mad saying she can refund us but it was are fault i said don’t be rude and she got even more mad .I asked if it was put through and instead of saying yes or no she just started being argumentative.Trashy customer service .
We did the signature architecture boat ride and it was spectacular! The views were incredible and the guide was very knowledgeable. She didn’t make a bunch of hacky jokes like most tour guides do which was a relief.
I booked this Premier Tour (The Odyssey) for the 4th of July fireworks mainly. A few highlights regarding my trip:
Excellent service & super kind & attentive servers. They made sure our dietary restrictions & specific requests were taken care of.
Would say the main course was okay, but I wasn’t expecting much. The dessert section was great though. The selection of cakes was so good.
The best city views. While we were not able to watch the fireworks due to intense fog, the visit was still very memorable.
Suggestion: They can work a little more on food as the food was just average. Drinks were great. We were also given gifts & they also said goodbye in a respectful way & gave cookies.
Would have like to leave a glowing review since I received so much help with my dietary needs before the cruise, but because of events that were out of my hands I couldn't attend. Sadly, city cruises was not able to provide me with any alternative options to make use of my experience.
We had made a reservation in advance through Viator, a third-party service. However, upon arrival on the scheduled boarding date, despite having received multiple reminder texts and emails, my family and I were informed that our reservation could not be located. This was particularly disappointing as we were celebrating my aunt's 60th birthday.
I celebrate city cruises both for brunch and dinner. Brunch cruise was very professional but casual. The food is buffet style and delicious. The unlimited Mimosa was on point. I like to thank Peter and Sam. The dinner cruise was vibe. The steak was so yummy. The drinks was the way I like them. My birthday weekend was fire. I appreciate the birthday shouts out on both cruises.
Thank you Tay for helping us book this while we were in town! And a giant thanks to our amazing waitstaff, Lesly and Anna for making our experience so memorable! Everything was amazing from the ambiance to the food to the amazing DJ on board. If you’re in Chicago book with them for a memorable experience.
Excellent experience! Food is very good. Crew is nice , courteous. Inside controlled air. Perfect view of the city of Chicago!!
Very happy I went even though I probably wouldn’t go again. Views are fabulous. Food is banquet style, not amazing. But it’s fun and romantic and unique.
Broken window shade on $800 Valentine’s Day evening cruise, couldn’t see out the window to see the skyline. Food sold out on cruise, was given a “special” plate to compensate.. it was the bottom of the beef & chicken pans. The marinated greasy mystery dish got me sick. We regret the decision to spend our anniversary like this.
The worst food I've ever eaten in my life.
Seriously, we frequent many restaurants to experience the cuisine, and I'm a natural critic; I know how to respect and appreciate each establishment.
I'll tell you what I liked... The waiters, the staff who greeted us, the doorman, the security guards, the service, the cozy atmosphere, having this river experience – that's incredible. The staff is great.
But the food... either they need to change the chef, or the chef needs to seek more training.
My God, the menu is unbelievably bad.
It costs 135 per person here. My husband paid 270 for the two of us. We wasted our money.
Because we couldn't eat anything; the menu is limited, and you have to pay extra for the better dishes, which I doubt are actually any good.
But I think it's not just because of the menu, but because even my husband could prepare something better with the same ingredients.
Restaurantji Recommends
I paid $300 for this crap... Nice atmosphere and service but my god the food is awful.
The potato and cauliflower soup was actually good but it was a completely blended liquid, nothing solid besides the two tiny pieces of broccoli. Other than that.
The sausage ravioli had a horrible taste to it like it had been freezer burned or almost a plastic taste. The seabass was absolutely flavorless, literally just a skinny, roasted piece of fish. It was also on a bed of Lima beans or something and it just absolutely didn't go together.
We also got the seafood pasta. Everything was still flavorless and the pasta sauce tasted straight out of a can, with again a hint of plastic or something off-putting...
Completely disappointed but at least we got some nice pictures. And be sure to try the shipwrecked sundae if you want a nice hard beverage that really tastes like cough syrup 👌
We did the Chicago Premier Plus Bottomless Mimosa Architectural Brunch Cruise on the river December 28. Our server was Artesia. (Sorry if I spelled that wrong). Anyway, she was fantastic. We’ve been on quite a few of these cruises in NYC, DC, San Fran…
We have found that the server can make or break your experience. We are so happy we had Artesia. She didn’t miss a beat. Outstanding service and she was always smiling. We had the kale salad, chicken, and cheesecake. The salad was fresh and delicious, the chicken was hot and moist, and the cheesecake was one of the best we’ve ever had. Everything came together for a wonderful experience. Very interesting information about the history and buildings. The boat was nice and clean and warm. All of the staff were very friendly and efficient. Highly recommend this cruise. The only negative would be that it was pretty hard to hear the tour guide, should have better speakers.
Over the past couple of years, my now-husband and I have attended more than a dozen weddings. While each was lovely, we knew we wanted to give our guests something truly unforgettable. When we took the Architecture River Cruise the year before, it instantly clicked - this was where we needed to celebrate. The backdrop of the city skyline, lit up against the river, was seriously breathtaking. The Odyssey boat, specifically, looks completely different than all of the other white boats on the river - it is entirely encased in glass.
The day came together seamlessly. The food was really good (which everyone knows, feeding that many people at once, weddings don’t usually have the best food). But everything was delicious. The service was outstanding, and every detail was beautifully executed. Our coordinator, DJ, restaurant manager, and servers all went above and beyond to make sure the night flowed smoothly. Family and friends have not stopped gushing - we received countless compliments on how unique and breathtaking the boat was. Several friends and family members told us it was the best wedding they had ever been to. Towards the end of the night, my grandma turned to me and said “You are lucky you don’t have a sister, she would be very jealous at how high you’ve set the bar for a wedding.”
Like any wedding, there were a couple of bumps along the way. Planning from out of state meant a few logistical challenges, such as when our tasting cruise had to be rescheduled after we had already booked travel. That said, City Cruises resolved the issue within 48 hours, and we were still able to enjoy the experience during our trip. We also learned some logistical details late in the process, like table size limits and the fact that tables and chairs couldn’t be removed from the boat or stored (we had a small guest count and this would have been nice, but we worked around it).. These are things that I think should be discussed before the contract (that being said - it would not have made a difference, we still would have booked the venue). But on the day itself, the decor was so beautiful that I didn’t even notice the extra tables, they did a great job of “hiding” them and getting them out of the way.
All in all, we are absolutely over the moon with our decision to host our wedding here. The setting was extraordinary and the team delivered an experience we, and our guests, will cherish forever. If you want a truly unique Chicago wedding, I cannot imagine a better venue.
Kids’ worst experience ever. We even paid for the upgrade. Service was terrible. She served everyone else but skipped us. I had to ask the waiter to take our food order. The appetizer was prepaid, yet it never came until we asked for it. Everyone else got dessert, and we still hadn’t even received our meal.
Vip seating almost the same as everyone else .
Drinks took over 25 minutes to arrive, and they got the order wrong. I asked for ketchup for the kids’ meal four times—20 minutes later, I finally got up and told them I’d get it myself from the kitchen since they couldn’t.
The location on Google Maps is also completely wrong. I have never tipped zero in my 30 years, and even with bad service, I always leave at least 10%. But today was terrible in every aspect.
Lady i spoke to (name sounded like Jamaica) she answered annoyed i explained to her that the website was freezing and wouldn't let us book so we made different plans later we received a charged i call to canceled and she said she couldn’t do anything she later put us on hold and came back mad saying she can refund us but it was are fault i said don’t be rude and she got even more mad .I asked if it was put through and instead of saying yes or no she just started being argumentative.Trashy customer service .
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