I just returned from a trip to Chicago & I along with my parents and husband decided to take a tour on Wendella after all the good reviews on Tripadvisor.

Overall the boat ride was very relaxing and informative & the crew was very friendly and knowledgeable. We enjoyed being on the river, traveling through the lock and then onto Lake Michigan and it was nice to sit for a while, since we walked so much touring the city. For me the best thing from the trip was getting amazing pictures of Chicago from Lake Michigan.

There were a couple negatives. The first being we sat on the right side of the boat or the starboard side. Unfortunately for us all the buildings the guide was describing was ALWAYS "to the right", so therefore we were constantly having to turn around to see what she was talking about. Our necks quickly became sore from trying to turn around. Our guide also would talk really low, so at sometimes it was very hard to hear here. The last thing that was frustrating, although not really Wendellas fault was we had some non-english speaking tourist on the boat that constantly talked and laughed very loudly, which also made hearing difficult.

So, a couple suggestion if you plan to take the tour.
1 - Get to the boat early, so you can get a seat upstairs.
2 - You might want to ask Wendella what boat they are taking out for the time you want to go, as some boats do not have upstairs or the upstairs is very small.
3 - Try not to sit on the right side of the boat, as your neck will get cramped.
4 - Try to sit close to the guide so as to hear better.

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.