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.

I went on this cruise with my family during Labor Day weekend 2006 and would not recommend it.

We ordered wine, but were not provided with wine glasses. When we asked for them, the waitress said they were out. Mind you, this is a dinner cruise, so one assumes they should be able to serve drinks properly. The food is not what you would expect for the price you pay. We were one of the few tables with children, but were continuously asked to wait for other tables to go to the buffet, and by the time we were finally permitted to serve ourselves (because by the time we got to the buffet, the servers had left!) there was little food left and they were not replenishing the food.

They clearly do not rely on repeat business.

As a native Chicagoan I can tell my fellow neighbors and out of towners the same - DO NOT WAIST YOUR MONEY ON THIS CRUISE!!!!! There were over 20 of us on a August 13th Dinner Cruise and it was a nightmare. The buffet ran out of food. The DJ announced on 3 occasions that there was no need to stand in a long line at the buffet because there was more then enough food for everyone and even for second servings. So our group decided to wait as the line was initially long. BIG MISTAKE! By the time we got to the line (which seemed to never get smaller) there was no main course of prime rib and ham left and many of the tray stations were empty. The only thing really left was rice and potatoes. We really did not wait all that long to get in line. And there were alot of people who still did not get in line yet.

So many, many people complained. It looked like a mutiny was begininning. The captain came down and tried to make people happy as if his presence would cure hunger. His name was Dale. He also brought out the restaraunt manager. His name was Frank. Atleast that what there name tags said. They both apologized and repeatedly said more food was being cooked. We didn't see anymore food. A group of people were left standing at the buffet with empty plates. Most gave up and went back to their seats with empty plates being left behind.

I questioned the DJ as to why he told everyone there was plenty of food? His reply was "That is what I am told to say by management". He told another lady the same thing. My reply was "I got 20+ people here who need to eat!!!!"

One of the server people told me that it is not their fault. She explained that the amount of food is ordered by someone else based on the number of people who purchased tickets. She started to explain exactly how much was ordered and she was apologizing and being sympathetic because the workers wanted to help but there was only so much food ordered. So I explained to her "Why did the DJ say there is all this food for everyone including second servings so you don't have to wait in a long line?" Again, she apologized.

The view of the city was fantastic but don't expect to eat. 11 of us ended up going out to eat at Navy Pier after the cruise cause we were so hungry. What a waist of money.

I booked a cruise for 8/7/05. I was a mistake. I recommend no one take this cruise. From the start I knew it was going to be bad. We got there at 7:30 PM. The boat was scheduled to leave at 8 PM. We had to wait in line to pick up our tickets. I tried to pick them up a week earlier and was told I had to pick them up the same day. Well, the line was long and not moving. We finally got our tickets around 8 PM. Everything in the dinner came about 20 minutes apart. We were seated and 20 minutes later, we got salad, 20 minutes later, water, 20 minutes later, bread (I asked 3 times). I finally got up and went to the bar to get my drinks and the line at the bar took at least 20 minutes. Without any exaggeration, dinner was finally served at 10 PM. The food was good. No complaints there. By the end of the night, I did have 3 drinks on the tab with the server. She told me not to worry about it. She felt bad that they were so understaffed. I would say that this cruise is a good idea but Spirit of Chicago is not executing well. I would not waste my money on this disaster. I had to apologize to my date for the bad choice, repeatedly. There are better ways to spend $300.