Portland Spirit Cruises and Events

Really cute and cozy experience. Follow the directions you are sent in the email as they have to different boarding areas. Everything is explained well in the email. The food options are nice and tasted good, didn’t feel microwaved. How this differs from other cities- The ticket at base does not cover drinks like coffee and also there is little to no dancing. While other cities do a DJ in the top area and dance this is not like that. This is not a dig at this cruise, more helping people manage expectations. It’s better regarding cleanliness and bathroom location than the party boats, and the interior is chic wood. We ubered there for cheap, but there is also a parking lot right next to the port. If ubering just tell them to enter the chain link area as it takes you outside it. Overall a cute experience for a date night feel or a family venture.

We had a fantastic family weekend! It was both my daughter's and my birthday, so we chose to celebrate in Oregon. I booked our spot online to make sure we didn't miss out. The staff was amazing; they were friendly and always ready to help. The entertainment was perfect, and they served apple cider and bottomless mimosas. The buffet had a great selection, and we enjoyed the best brunch cruise, creating wonderful memories together.

My idiot Uber driver brought me to the wrong place. So I called and asked them to hold the boat for 1-2 minutes. They said yes. I showed up at 7:01 to see them pulling away. Pathetic company.

You’d better perfectly meet the 6:30-7:00 window, or else these thieves will steal your money.

I’ve been on plenty of boat dinner tours before. This one is beyond pathetic and the operators should be ashamed of themselves. Assuming they even have the capability of such.

I've done the portland spirit numerous times. I feel like they are stuck in 2007, which I'd sad because id love to enjoy this ship once again.

If a ferry merged with an Elmer's. EXTREMELY overpriced for what you get on a dinner cruise. If a cruise sans food is only $35 and a dinner cruise is $103, I'd expect pretty decent food for $68 per person. Cocktail was $12 for the smallest glass just bigger than a shot. Waitress forgot half our stuff. Dessert was preprocessed. The food came out only moderately warmed. The salad was intended for a baby rabbit At least we were on the river. C'mon y'all. Stop bleeding a turnip, forcing everyone to pay for every bloody thing. This ain't Spirit airlines despite the name. Reinvent your business model and step it up.

REPLY TO OWNER RESPONSE and additional information: I chose to quote the price of a day cruise without food at $35. A cruise of this duration was my only comparison element. Honestly, this would've been better anyway because we would have seen the sights - why increase the price of dinner cruises when 75% of the dinner cruises in the fall are staring off into darkness?

Additionally, I'll note that several tables around us sent their food back due to it being cold and/or because they didn't like it. Clearly the quality and quantity are suffering despite your "best" efforts. Perhaps offering smaller sections to newer waitstaff and bigger portions of hot food made of truly quality ingredients would make a difference.

Had so much fun with the whole family.

DO NOT DO THE DINNER CRUISE.
It’s nothing more than a floating diner.

The staff are over worked, young and forgetful. To their credit, they are extremely polite.
The owners are obviously trying to eke out every penny of profit possible…The food portions are small. The drinks are even smaller. Food was cold, old or overcooked. Inside the boat cabin was FREEZING. Apparently it’s too much to put the heat on in October when it’s less than 50 degrees outside.

Also, I’m not sure why they’re doing cruises in the fall / winter… There’s nothing to see because the sun goes down so early. (Our fault there.)

MAYBE just doing a cruise would be worth it. Paying for a meal on this boat is absolutely a NOOO.

Great way to spend the evening in Portland, Oregon! The city views at night are amazing and there are lots of neat houses along the river if you're into architecture! Captain Todd and Loren were also very pleasant! 10/10!

Had an incredible time. The guide, Silas was awesome. The staff from Lauren in the office to the Skipper were awesome, gracious, and accommodating. Wish we went a bit further, past Beacon Rock, and got to stop the boat and explore. Wish there were less folks on the boat, so that everyone could have a good amount of time on the deck. Going to do it again, and hopefully have a large enough group to book the entire ride. Lovely, and informative. Silas was great!

I’ve lived here for over 20 years and finally decided to try the Portland Spirit as a Bon Voyage Dinner for a friend who’s moving. The boat trip is a visual marvel, even for a Portlander who thought they knew this city like the back of her iphone, I was in absolute awe at the myriad of sights: The mind blowing + totally punk-rock graffiti amidst the industrial ruins of Ross Island; some really cool modernist luxury homes; rows of colorful + quant floating house, a historic mansion or 2 you never knew existed; and all set against a surreal backdrop of Lynchian Evergreens.

Even so… the most interesting part of the experience was observing all the ways it could be SO MUCH BETTER. Seriously Portland Spirit. Call me! It’s time to talk about the Titanic in the room.
On a glorious late August evening less than 10 tables were occupied, the demographic eerily similar - think Old Portland Lake Oswego. By Portland’s standards the food is not good. The entertainment is either unremarkable or straight up cringe. BUT none of these quips compare to the drab ambience. I’m not trying to be cruel Portland Spirit, I’m here to help.

Your ship is dusty + outdated and NOT in a good way. While the grey+ beige color palette harmonized quite well with the patrons, I kept fantasizing about how the experience could be dramatically enhanced by just a cosmetic facelift. Less retirement home dining hour, more PNW Love Boat. Throw those yucky rubber-bottomed rugs, white linen banquet tables, cubicle-style ceiling panels, and restaurant supply store chairs overboard for some wall-to-wall patterned carpets, vivid velvet curtains, moody lighting, sensational flower arrangements, and eclectic vintage barware. Then hire a talented lounge singer whose voice is so teleporting the experience makes you feel like you’re floating in a dream and gift your guests a limited edition record as their souvenir. The clientele is already here, Portland Spirit, and you’ve got some spectacular things going for you. I suspect a long-overdue rebranding could sale you into the modern era where you’ll find a new wave of Portlanders clamoring to hop on board.

The staff at the establishment was exceptional, displaying a high level of friendliness and remarkable accommodation. Regarding the dining experience, while the food was satisfactory, the cocktails and snacks stood out as my favorites. The overall experience provided a delightful two-hour getaway, allowing us to relish the beautiful scenery.

We enjoyed a fantastic Father’s Day all you can eat bbq buffet celebration. The queue for embarking was long, but the line moved very quickly after the crew helped some physically challenged folks on first. The plank walk was very steep, so if you do have mobility issues, just let them know and they will help you. The crew was welcoming, and friendly. Our assigned server was a gem! We actually embarked early and she suggested we start filling our plates up before the crowd came along. Perfect advice! First in line and no waiting, but, even at that, it seemed like the food line moved fairly quickly.
The buffet selection and quality was truly lovely! We went on the bbq lunch cruise, but they actually had some items left over from the breakfast buffet and it was delicious. The eggs Benedict was delicious! All of it was delicious. My husband was happily surprised by this quest, and he happily helped himself a few times to the buffet table!
The cruise was equally lovely. Chilly, but so relaxing sitting either inside at our table or going to the top level to sit in some deck chairs and watch all the beautiful houses as we floated by. There is some amazing architecture along the way. Would love to know what they look like inside!
We also enjoyed the piano playing. It lent an elegant touch to the cruise.
We truly enjoyed surprising my husband and he felt like a king. It’ll be something we do again for another celebration, I’m sure.

Good food, good drinks, friendly staff, amazing views. What more could you ask for?

From ease of site navigation to booking, to reminders, to arrival, Viator nailed it! This is the 2nd time our family has booked a boat tour with Viator and they do not disappoint. Visiting from California, we wanted see the waterfront sites of Portland. Service was great, the brunch buffet food selections were freshly prepared and delicious ?. I really appreciate & enjoyed the ambiance and the pianist. The server kept the mimosas coming whether at your table or the lower deck or upper observation deck, mimosas were served. Restrooms were tidy. An overall nice cruise on the Willamette River.

I had such high hopes for this based on all the positive reviews but it was honestly the worst part of our entire anniversary vacation. To start, it took forever to get a glass of wine at the start to the point that we started joking that maybe they were pulling the grapes off the vine first. The salads were lukewarm temperature wise, probably because they were just sitting out for a while in the middle of the dining room as we boarded the ship before being served. For dinner, the rack of lamb was small, but good. The short ribs were OK. And then we waited for dessert. And waited. And waited some more. About at least 30 minutes, and realistically probably closer to 40, after finishing our dinner, our server appeared at our table for the first time in more than a half hour to inform us that they had run out of the cheesecake we had been waiting on. Judging by other reviews, I see that this is a relatively common problem. The lemon blueberry cake I got as a replacement was delicious though and the only thing saving this from being a 1-star review.

All in all, our dessert was served at 8:15. The sunset in Portland was around 7:45. Sure would have been nice to see the sunset on the sunset dinner cruise but we were busy eating dinner at that time.

Really, really disappointed that this was the experience given the price of everything.