Center Street Landing - Mark Twain Riverboat — Attraction in Hannibal

I took a Monday evening dinner cruise in Hannibal, Missouri. About 40 people were there also. There was ample parking in front of the riverboat. Once you either checked in if you purchased online (highly recommended)or bought in person (a party of two who were celebrating their 58th wedding anniversary we’re able to squeak in), you have a time to scan the gift shop. Once you are ready to board, they check your ticket and you can get a photo taken by them which will be ready for you after the cruise for $10.

Then, you are taken to your assigned seat. You will not be sharing any table with strangers. You have time to explore the 3 levels of the riverboat. The three different levels looked very comfortable. Most of the chairs on top are plastic patio furniture that need a really good washing to get rid of the dirt and cobwebs, however, some of them look brand new and some of them look like they should be in the trash. Along the top rails there’s lots of spiderwebs.

The bar offers non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks. You can also purchase a souvenir colored glass for $21 with certain drinks. My White Russian was $8. The bartender was friendly. I just didn’t like her touching the top of the small straw stirrer, so I grabbed another one by the middle.

After exploring the boat for a short time , we started off on our cruise. 15 minutes later, they announce the rules on how to approach the buffet. There was a choice of chicken fillets or beef, baked potatoes, green beans, a pasta dish, rolls, and salad. They did warn everyone that you must load up your plate as this is a one trip only buffet. I grabbed a little bit of everything except for the green beans. The dinner rolls were flat in style and no amount of butter could help the dryness of the bread. The pasta dish was pretty good. The chicken and the beef were also very good but was cool to the touch by the time I started eating them after the salad and the pasta dish. The baked potato was very hot since it was wrapped in foil, and I save that for last, so that the butter could sink into it. Immediately and I mean immediately after everyone was served, they started to quickly take everything away and break down the serving tables. I needed more butter, so I was able to get two more packages before they took it away; other people were walking up towards the table with the same idea, but weren’t able to get any. There was no choice for desserts, so everyone who wanted dessert had a brownie in an unappealing plastic see-through container with some sort of white icing on top with chocolate syrup drizzle. I took a bite and decided that it was too rich and that it tasted like it was from a package.

The entertainment for the night was a man singing while we were boarding, and then he stopped to have dinner with us, and then started after dinner. His voice was not bad. He sang mostly country songs. They were speakers throughout every level of the boat so that you can hear him no matter where you are at. Other than during dinner, he sang the whole time during the cruise. I wish that we had some sort of quiet time after dinner, so that I could enjoy just the quietness of the river and any bird life that was nearby.

Overall, the price wasn’t expensive for the two hours as well as the...

Was looking for something to do on the wifes vacation. So she wanted to go to Hannibal and do the tourist thing. We drove up from St. Louis and took the long way there through Illinois up from Hardin. We did all the Mark Twain stuff and decided to check out the riverboat dinner ride. Went in and the lady at the counter was very courteous and after asking everything about the dinner cruise she even wrote down the menu for me to show the wife. She waited in the car after walking around on a hot summers day. Showed her the menu and the price and she said lets do it. I went back in paid for it, got our boarding pass. We had an hour to kill so we drove around a little and sightseeing. We boarded at 6:00 and had our picture taken (Very nice picture by the way to remember our time there) and greeted as we boarded by the crew, shown to our reserved table and allowed to move around the boat until dinner was served. The dinner was very good chicken breast, roast beef, salad, pasta salad, green beans, baked potato, dinner roll and all the condiments you would need to complete your meal. The service was excellent and the staff was very attentive and made sure you had everything you needed. Entertainment was provide by Princess Jenny Cash who provided dinner music on the piano and sang when dinner was over. After dinner we enjoyed the very long ride up and down the river. We got to talk with the captain and the wife got to steer the boat for a bit ( which she enjoyed the hell out of) and then we relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the night with a good cool breeze as we rode up the river and taken in a beautiful sunset in the evening sky. This was most enjoyable and we will be back again, but next time we will bring my brother and sister and recommended this to our family and friends. Thank you again for an...

Mark Twain Riverboat Tour Hannibal Missouri:

The Mark Twain paddle boat has been running the Mississippi river for over 30 years.   It's 120 feet long and 33 feet wide. When you board, you feel as though you have stepped back in time.

Samuel Clemons (later to become Mark Twain) became a licensed boat pilot in 1859 and ran the river until the Civil War broke out. After which he moved to the Nevada Territory and began his writing career. He took his pen name directly from the river lingo.  The words,  "Mark Twain"  are used to indicate 12 feet of water, which was the safe depth of water for the boat to pass.

There are three different cruises offered here, the first is a sightseeing cruise that last an hour, a Sunday cruise that includes lunch,  the other is a dinner cruise that last two hours.  Which includes a buffet, live music and dancing.

We took the dinner cruise and had a wonderful time. As soon as you board you are taken right to your assigned table and directly after you are seated you are free to wonder around the boat until dinner is prepared.

They had beef, chicken, veggies and pasta available.  After your main meal they bring you a brownie.  Everything we tried was delicious.  Once you're done eating you are once again free to roam around and enjoy the beautiful river views, we even snuck in a waltz!  It was a...