My mother and I went to Chicago for Mother's Day weekend, and we were both interested in a Mother's Day brunch cruise. I normally research everything thoroughly when I travel, but somehow I managed to slip on this aspect of the trip. I saw the Spirit of Chicago Web site and believed it would be suitable, considering both the price tag and several other indicators (dress code, first class package upgrade, etc.). I have never written a review that warranted only one star, but in this case it is completely necessary. Additionally, I feel it is my duty to warn others of this Chicago cruise "experience."

As I mentioned, I purchased the "first class" upgrade for my mother and I. The additional $45 per person supposedly bought us priority seating, a glass of champagne upon arrival, a special cheese plate appetizer, and unlimited drinks from the bar. I will say we were very happy with our window table once we were seated. Everything else, however, was not so pleasing.

We sat at our table for over 20 MINUTES before our server ever bothered to grace us with his presence - and he only did so at that point because my mother waved him down and pointed out that he was serving people who had just arrived while we'd been sitting there without service for quite some time. When he finally was about to take our order, he had to excuse himself to demontsrate the proper way to put on safety vests during the safety demonstration. Once we finally got our relatively simple drink order in (1 coffee, 2 mimosas), it then took another 15 minutes for us to finally receive our drinks.

When we reminded him about our missing-in-action glasses of champagne, he acted clueless. Then we mentioned we were supposed to get the appetizer. He went off to investigate. He eventually did bring us an eggplant parmesian appetizer right as we were excused to go up to the buffet - and the food was good, I will not fault them that.

As it turned out, the boat never left the dock because the weather was HORRENDOUS yesterday morning. That is not the Spirit's fault, but it did add to the disappointing experience. Supposedly everyone who was aboard is receiving a free future cruise at the same package level originally booked...but I really don't want to go back, no matter how much money I wasted to begin with.

Back to the service...we ordered 2 more mimosas during our brunch - basically grasping every opportunity that our server decided to grace us with his presence once more. He brought us one (after a 10 minute wait this time), but after waiting 20 minutes for the last one we became disgusted and left. He saw us departing and handed our drinks to us as we were leaving. Gee, thanks.

One other aspect that deserves an honorable mention is the horrible entertainment. If you are not into cheesy entertainment (think conga line and Electric slide), then please don't bother with this cruise. Besides multiple technical difficulties, these and other entertainment activities just seemed completely appropriate given the atmosphere on this rip-off of a cruise.

While I am extremely disappointed that I chose this cruise for Mother's Day brunch and not one of hundreds of fantastic restaurants in Chicago, we did depart with a priceless gift: the photo that the cruise staff took of us after boarding, when they didn't even wait for my drenched pants and hair to dry. At least this was the most memorable Mother's Day ever... Nothing will ever be able to top this, for sure!

Do not make the same mistake. I can recommend 1,000 places in Chicago that will blow your socks off.

I wanted something sumptuous for our 2nd anniversary. Like all men say, I’m married to the best woman in the world, and she deserves the best. Money was not the obstacle. Imported cotton blouse, $150 2-dozen red roses delivered to work, and why not an unforgettable dinner cruise? It’s just money, right? What’s $350 for the best woman in the world?

From the website, “…the moment you step aboard our elegant decks [you] are escorted to your candlelit table. Many tables are designed for cabaret-style seating with other guests, reminiscent of ocean-going cruises.” Not! You board at the rear, take a photo, and go to the lower deck. The upper deck is for private parties. The lower deck, once past the kitchen, is about 60ft wide by 150ft long, with cheap carpet, cheap ceiling tiles, cheap mirrors in the window columns, cheap tables, cheap chairs, cheap everything. It’s not the same style as, but there is little difference in the elegance level from the lower deck, to that of Perkins’ or Denny’s. Granted, this is a boat, not the Drake, but they lead you to think you’re boarding the QEII. No, you’re not.

“I thought we reserved the first-class section,” I asked the waiter. “This is it,” he said, and explained that “first-class” means you go to the buffet first. By the way, the buffet is 2 rows of metal bins like at the Holiday Inn Express. Then, I asked, “what’s with the high-school outings?” —there were 2, about 100 kids— “it’s the beginning of the season,” he offered. I went on to state I was told no jeans, no sweaters, no sneakers, and that men had to wear a collar shirt. At that point, the waiter politely offered to ask the manager to stop by our table, and I took the hint. It’s not the waiter’s fault the company embellish the marketing material. I could tell this was not the first time someone was disappointed.

The manager came by, was very understanding, and quickly offered either a refund or a second cruise for free. We were really disappointed, the boat hadn’t departed, so we took the former and went to Merlo on Lincoln Avenue. We haven’t been reimbursed yet.

I travel a lot and have stayed everywhere from the Redwood Hostel to the Waldorf-Astoria, and have seen the difference between cheap and elegance. The Spirit of Chicago is definitely cheap. Not worth the money.

Leaves from NAvy Pier. A dinner cruise with entertainment and DJ. Buffet style food which was above average.
Big tips: Get the First class package if you drink, open bar and lots of perks you will enjoy, well worth the 50 bucks a head they charge for it, Entertainment book has a buy one get one free with the card, a huge discount!!!! 3 hour cruise, DJ plays all the faves, ship has nice large windows, top shelf liquors, great drink menu. Dress is Business casual, but saw many on cruise dressed well below that requirement.
Overall a good value and a fun time.

Thank goodness I never read the other reviews here before I dined!!!

We recently took a lunch cruise on Fathers day and both my husband and I enjoyed the whole experience. It was our first time on the lake, so good to be able to eat as well as sightsee and listen to the live entertainment. We paid about $50, so when you consider that most sightseeing tours are $25, I think it was excellent value for money. The food which was buffet style was enjoyable although not fantastic, the only downside was that drinks service was slow and our server was not the jolliest of girls but we still had a great time and I would certainly take this cruise again.