Celebration River Cruises — Attraction in Moline

Overall, it was a great experience.

I went on the captain's narrated lunch tour. I think what they serve may vary depending on the day. The day I went they served salad, veggie Alfredo, you had the option to add chicken at no extra charge. They also had mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and a roll with butter. It was delicious, I ate to my fill and was extremely satisfied.

The dining room had a stage, and a bar. It was pretty grand looking. The staff were very accommodating.

I enjoyed myself, but I think I should give any person who is planning to take a cruise the heads up:

They offer many different types of cruises. They offer their cruises as a venue to hold weddings, anniversaries, meetings, group outings etc. They even have different Champane/ bouquet packages to choose from.

They do offer long haul cruises to Missouri and one destination in Wisconsin. The lunch cruise is their regularly scheduled cruise. I believe they have more than one lunch cruise a day.

The narrated lunch cruise costs about $50 a head. It's not exactly $50, but it's very close. I do believe they offer a discount for seniors and kids. All in all, to me it was worth it. You get to eat on a Mississippi river boat, the food is included, and you get table service for drinks, all for $50! It's a drum with a broken stick, you can't beat it!

The $50 covers your buffet style lunch and the boat ride. IT DOES NOT COVER DRINKS. You will need to bring money to purchase beverages. You cannot bring your own food, or drinks on board. Water and hot tea are free. There are no free refills on beverages either. A glass of Pepsi was $2.50, a margarita was $10 just to give a general idea. I'm willing to bet these prices are subject to change. Yes, the drinks are expensive, but still reasonable.

The lunch cruise lasts approximately an hour and a half. The captain plays a narrated tour of the Mississippi as you roam about the boat. You can roam around the entire boat; you can even pop in to say hello to the captain in the control room. The only places I think are off limits is the engine room, the kitchen, and obviously behind the bar.

They usually serve the meal before they push off.

It is definitely a lovely experience. It's a great service to utilize for fun on the river and events. It is one of those things where it is what you make it.

The office is a barge with a blue roof off of River Dr. in Moline. The channel cat water taxi stop is adjacent to it. You walk down the little bridge and go in.

The second you walk in you will see a ginormous gift shop. The ticket window is all the way to the left of you when you walk in.

The gift shop comprises of mostly purses, jewelry, hats, clothing, decretive signs with funny sayings, ornaments and other things like that. Mostly gifts for females. They did have a few other items, but more than 75% of it was women's stuff. Yes, all of the merchandise was outrageously priced. That is to be expected. If you are low on cash and don't want to pay $5 for a dinky canned beverage cozy, or $15 for a key chain then buy a post card, they were 55 cents. They also have a giftshop on board the vessel as well.

As for the staff, they were exceptional!! I have absolutely nothing bad to say about them. They worked so hard to make my experience extra special. Thank all of you for the lovely time I had.

If I ever find myself in the area again, I will be stopping by for...

This is a review of the lunch cruise only...I took a visiting family member on this cruise. I didn't have high expectations, and this cruise lived up to them.

The "journey on the river" begins with giving them about $38 per person. Then you wait in a "gift shop" which is actually a room filled with tables selling unrelated junk jewelry and nick nacks...emphasis on "junk"...Its super low-rent stuff.

Eventually, you board the Celebration Belle, a sort of cheesy reproduction of a Mississippi paddle-wheeler complete with metal cut-outs representing the crowns on top of steam stacks so recognizable during Mark Twain's day. But there's still hope, right?...After all, there's a much promoted buffet lunch to enjoy. Um....yeah...the lunch...Imagine a meal served at a local Rotary Club meeting or at a high school cafeteria. It was such a low-end presentation that I noticed some attendees chuckling...pre-packaged steamed baby carrots, soft spongy dinner rolls and steamed chicken tenders with mashed potatoes and shockingly fluorescent yellow gravy. Oh....and a salad of pre-bagged wilty greens with 1,000 Island or Ranch dressing. Soon the Captain makes an announcement..."Don't forget the elegant cheesecake dessert drizzled with raspberry sauce served at your table." Lol....It's a pre-cut 2 inch square of so-called cheesecake like you'd find in the freezer section at Big Lots. The best you can say about this meal is that it's "digestible" and probably won't kill you.

But, you didn't come for the meal right? It's time for your Mississippi River adventure! This amounts to traveling from Moline along River Drive under the I-74 Bridges (new and old) out toward the railroad bridge East of the Centennial Bridge connecting West Davenport with Rock Island. You don't go as far as the railroad bridge, just somewhat near it. To give you an idea of how short this cruise is, if you were following along by car on River Drive, you would make the trip out and back in about 5 minutes. Hey, but the river cruise is narrated! Actually, the highlight probably is the narration which does provide some interesting local tidbits... Like the house with the pillars where, once upon a time, the Undersecretary to the Assistant of the Vice-chair to the third-ranking Chief Bottle Washer for the Lieutenant Colonel assigned to the Rock Island Arsenal once slept... You get the idea.

And now, it's time to journey back from getting within a quarter mile of the old railroad bridge and disembark back at the floating boat boat house where your adventure began, nearly 40-bucks, 2 Rolaids and short trip along the river ago...You will have another shot at the cheap junk jewelry you didn't snap up earlier.

Again, this is only a review of the lunch cruise. The other cruise options may be phenomenal. This cruise, however, only gets 3 stars from me because it just felt like I was on a hidden camera show with the original cast of...

This was fun. Food was good. They served breakfast. Typical buffet. Scrambled eggs, sausage, muffin squares, cinnamon buns. If you like ketchup, bring your own. Entertainment was pretty good. Wide variety, something for everyone. Linch not bad. Boneless chicken, sweet carrots, mashed potatoes, salad. Dinner was prime rib (medium - med-well) this they consider med-rare. Red potatoes, cabbage. Lunch and dinner had dessert. Pretty good. Water, tea and coffee came with meals. They had other drinks and bar to purchase. $1.50 for a small glass of fountain soda per glass. Entertainment was 1 card game of bingo, trivia, singing, some narrative about the river navigation, some of the places along the way. This could have been more, also their speaker system could have been better. More seating outside is needed and some additional shade spots. Staff was great. Helpful, friendly. Make sure you bring sunscreen!! Would...