The whole tone of the trip was set when the boat for our cruise had an enclosed area, and all of the outside seats were full when we boarded. It's pretty hard to see much of the buildings from the inside of the boat -- not to mention that ALL of the building descriptions were 'off to the right' when our seats were on the left. I should have asked for a refund but didn't want to deal with the hassle.

The tour guide talked non-stop for 90 minutes, except the few minutes when going through the lock out to the lake. I was glad for the few minutes of quiet. Going through the lock is quite interesting, seeing the difference in height between the lake water and the river water.

Beware, also, that there are quite a few steps to climb after the cruise to get back up to the street area. I imagine there has to be some sort of elevator somewhere, I know that my mom could never climb those steps. So check that out before you go. The cruises starting off Navy Pier don't seem to have steps as an issue.

Finally, there are 2-for-1 discounts available for this cruise, search the internet. Not good for weekends though. Actually, overall I was surpised at how many good discounts there are on the internet, just takes a while to find them all. Check out www.meetinchicago.com to start with...

I wasn't sure I'd like this, but my husband & I went and it ended up being phenomenal! Our guide, Angie, was extremely knowledgeable and kept our interest throughout the tour (about 45 min.). I would definitely put it on the list of things you MUST do while in Chicago!

I purchased the 60 minute River Architecture Tour. I thought the duration was a bit short compared to the 90 minute advertised trips by the Chicago Architecture Foundation (even then, the tour started at 11:05 and ended at 11:55... lost 10 minutes!), but it was an okay amount of time for my wife who wasn't an architecture buff. For a 60 minute tour, the detail was appropriate and entertaining. Would have preferred that it was more interactive and less scripted though. A couple of times I felt like the tour guide could have gone into a little more detail about the back-story for some of the sites. Otherwise, a very good and entertaining tour with a good mix of history, interesting facts and lighthearted humor.

This tour was very fun and informative. One of if not the oldest boat tour company in Chicago. No reservation was required, we just walked up to the booth. And they offer tours later in the day than most other companies.