Boston Harbor City Cruises — Attraction in Boston

My story:

My girlfriend surprised me to a dinner cruise for my birthday. Everything proceeded smoothly at first. Firstly, the directions for locating the ticket station couldn’t have been easier and the staff were extremely welcoming upon boarding. Several of the crew members wished me a happy birthday, which caught me off guard (in a good way). The ship was aesthetically pleasing to the eye (e.g., dining room, dance floor, top deck, bottom deck, bar, restrooms) as the decor wasn’t too overbearing yet simple. Wish we had a heads up from the crew in advance that it may be beneficial to bring a jacket or wear long pants even though it was hot during the day. It was cold on the ship and on the viewing decks, ended up spending the latter part of the night inside by the bathroom which was the only “not freezing” part of the ship.

My girlfriend’s perspective:

I booked the tickets months in advance because I wasn’t sure how busy it was going to be due to it being the summer. I wanted my boyfriend’s birthday to be particularly special this year since he had accomplished so much recently in school and his career. We had gone on a dinner cruise before for Valentines day in a different city and he had enjoyed it so much that I thought this would be the perfect surprise. Booking was simple and the phone representatives were kind and patient. They told me that the Odyssey was a better cruise ship to board, due to the chef being able to accommodate my dietary restriction (vegan) in the 3-course meal, and the other cruise ship being buffet-style. I was concerned because I had taken a look at the menu in advance and there was literally nothing I could eat because all the choices contained dairy and/or meat. They again reassured me that a note would be going to be given to the chef to make a menu that was accommodating to me.

Days leading up to the cruise, I called Odyssey again, just to make sure that they knew I was vegan and that I would be taken care of. The representative told me everything was being taken care of and that I would have appropriate dining choices. I sighed of relief and anxiously waited for the big day.

Everything about the day went smoothly. Checking in was easy and the greeters were welcoming and friendly to all the guests. Several of the crew even wished my boyfriend a happy birthday, which was so nice. Most ladies were wearing a cocktail dress and many of the men were wearing shorts and a nice button down shirt. Upon seating at our table, my boyfriend and I immediately regretted not bringing a jacket to wear. So for those of you planning on coming, bring a coat with you because the ship is chilly and temperatures can drop! The ship was decorated nicely (table and all) and our waitress started taking our order. To my surprise, he was not aware that I was vegan and told me that all I could eat was the mushroom ravioli on the menu. Trying not to look too flustered in front of other guests and my boyfriend, I asked him if I could at least eat anything else on the 3-course menu. The waiter suggested that for the first course, out of two options (lobster cream soup and caesar salad) that I could get the salad with the dressing, cheese, and croutons removed from the salad. In my mind, I was thinking, “surely, it won’t just be lettuce”. Since the mushroom ravioli was the only dish I could eat for the main course, I had to order it which was also disappointing since I really don’t like mushrooms... Lastly, since all the desserts were dairy-based, he suggested a fruit cup. As I’m telling the story, please refer to the pictures we are posting. At this point, I was already utterly disappointed in my dinner order since I didn’t have a choice. Which is what the phone representative had assured me. It didn’t take long before my plate of LETTUCE (yes, plain lettuce) came out. The food runner asked me, “this looks pretty plain… would you like the chef to prepare an oil and vinaigrette?”. Extremely embarrassed and shocked, I whispered, “yes, that would be nice”. We waited for more than 10 minutes and no one...

My wife and I purchased a cruise for the fourth of July. It was a little on the expensive side but we figured it would be a nice dinner and we could watch the fire works on the way back. The weather ruined that plan as a hurricane came up the east coast and the fireworks were done a day early. However, the storm did not stop the cruise from going out. The company made no effort to console customers for the unfortunate weather, which caused what they thought, was going to be a fireworks and dinner cruise into just a dinner cruise. I understand that they cannot control the weather but neither can the customers and they were now not getting what they paid for. The only thing we got as customers was that holiday cruises can not be rebooked or cancelled and emails letting us know that the cruise would sail despite the weather. You would expect such an expensive experience to be over the top nice and the company to be extremely concerned about customers. This was simply not the case; in fact it seemed that the experience was about equal to going to a generic food chain. I would say that had the weather been nicer and the fireworks not been rescheduled this might have been at least better. I do not blame the company for still sailing out but given the circumstances I was expecting some consolation. After all what we paid for and what we received were drastically different. The dinner was ok, nothing like what you pay for, but the service was excellent. Our server was Sam and his helper Talon and they were both the best part of the trip. Other than that the music was out of place and the table layout was awkward. I would NOT recommend this to people because of the mediocre dinning experience and lack of interest the company takes in your experience. Thought it would be something fun to do, at least once. Was wrong and hope that this review might help others avoid the same mistake. Even if you do book a cruise with the ship make sure to have low...

The food at brunch was ok, nothing to write home about. My wife had booked a Sunday brunch cruise for roughly 40 people. We were not told until after we got to the ship on the day of the brunch and loading had commenced that the boat would not be leaving the dock. So much for a harbor cruise, it turned out to be a very expensive brunch. We were told by the onboard manager the boat was having engine problems, we could feel that the ships engines were running. We were also told that if we called back Monday it was policy to give between 30 and 50 percent back for such an issue, in stead we were offered a free dinner cruise or 25 percent back. Since the cruise was never a cruise to begin with we opted for the 25 percent back, it was that or nothing. The onboard manager did give us an open bar to make up for the "inconvenience". My wife and i don't drink alcohol which is why we opted for closed bar pay-as-you-go to begin with, that and the event for for my mother in law's 75th birthday and most on the guest list were 75 or older. Everyone was looking forward to a mid morning cruise of Boston harbor. We were all disappointed. Walking the ship and seeing we were the only party and the boat wasn't half full is probably the reason the boat didn't leave the dock. So no.. I will not recommend Odyssey Boston to anyone and the offer of the open bar is the only reason I gave...