Tall Ship Windy — Attraction in Chicago

I originally booked Pirate's Cruise on July 16 for me and my 4 grandchildren. I made the reservation in May, figuring the weather would be nice by July. It turned out to be typically Chicago and the weather was too cool to take 4 kids out on the lake. I called and a very pleasant lady understood and changed my reservation to the next week, July 23. The next day, I saw the forecast called for thunderstorms on July 23, so I called again. I explained to the man that answered that I was grateful for them changing the date once, but wanted to know if it would be possible to get it changed once again, due to the forecast. He informed me that he does not believe in checking the weather more than a couple of hours in advance. In a very sarcastic and snarling voice, he asked why I was concerned with the weather 6 days in advance. I explained to him that my concern was having to schedule the children and also not wanting to take 4 kids in the rain. He again snarled that he is not concerned with the weather that far in advance. I told him I wasn't concerned with how he deals with the weather, but I need to be proactive, once again...because of the kids. He told me that the reservations were "non changeable" and that I should be happy that it was changed once. I told him I was very appreciative of the fact that it was previously changed and asked him he thought I should ignore the new forecast, wait until the 23rd, get 4 kids together and bring them down only to find that it's cancelled due to a thunderstorm? He once again told me that I should not worry about the weather and then asked if I could come today. When I said that I could not, he replied "Well, the answer is no, the date can't be changed." I do completely understand that they did not have to make this change for me and I would have been perfectly comfortable with the person simply explaining that company policy does not allow the change. But since this individual was so rude, at this point, regardless of the weather, I will probably just eat the $80 for the tickets and wash my hands of...

Ok so 20 of us went on the Tall Ship Windy Pirate tour. Buying the tickets was a piece of cake. We purchased them ahead of time, not at Navy Pier. The day began as a windy, cloudy cold day but it turned out to be spectacular weather for when we set sail! #lucky! We purchased drink coupons before boarding because you get a deal, $8 instead of $10. Drinks were $7-$10 on board.

Anyways, we did the pirate tour, mainly because with timing and a dinner reservation we had, it made more sense. I would say overall, the pirate tour is better for kids. The crew did an awesome job making it interactive. Kids and adult guests could help raise the sails. The lead "pirate girl" did not stop talking the ENTIRE TIME...ok she stopped for maybe 10 minutes, but man talk about exhausting. I'm a teacher and I feel her pain. She stayed in character the whole time and did an awesome job. Honestly, our group didn't care about the pirate stories, but the kids seemed into it and she even got our uncle in on some of the story telling and it was hilarious! It's a nice boat ride. I get motion sick REALLY easily and I was fine, however the laze was really smooth that day.

Would I go again, ehhh I don't know. I would like to do the architect tour, but like I said our group chose the pirate tour because timing worked out better for us. It was a great job by the crew, they also said its a family owned company which is...

Be aware of horrendous customer service!!!! STAY AWAY

If I could give this place a 0-star rating, I certainly would! I purchased the tickets via Tripadvisor on August 25th for August 28th. When we came to the booth to collect our tickets we were told that the tickets were purchased for August 24th and we would need to purchase the new tickets to get onboard. While the service rep. Justin and kept saying, "hold on one minute" the ship sailed off. It was our friend's Birthday celebration and it was extremely disappointing and upsetting to see our friends sail away while hearing continuous "Hold on a second". The service rep. was utterly unwilling to work with us stating that the tickets were purchased via Tripadvisor and he was not authorized to let us board the ship or issue a refund. When I reached out to customer service for this so-called company they stated, and I quote " Our booking system has nothing to do with your reservation; looks like you booked the wrong date with Tripadvisor." If they are unwilling to work with people who book the tours via. 3rd party, why even offer this service and advertise on TripAdvisor? This company clearly knows absolutely nothing about customer service. All they care about getting your money. I would strongly advise that you stay away, there are plenty of other...