BB Riverboats — Attraction in Newport

Abysmal experience. We signed up for the evening Thanksgiving Dinner Cruise thinking it would be an elegant and classy way to celebrate the holiday. It was anything but that. Our tickets said, “Start Time 5:30 PM” so we arrived at 5:15 PM to find the place packed and they had already run out of one of the two entrees (ham), one side (mac & cheese), and one of the desserts (cheesecake). They were even shutting down one of the service areas already. Evidently other customers were given an earlier “Start Time” than we were. Maybe this was done to stagger arrival, but doing should require having enough food to serve the people scheduled to arrive later, or else charge us less.

Table service for beverages was indifferent at best. We paid extra for a table by a window, but our “window” consisted of half the table in front of a window and the other half in front of a solid bulkhead. We also did not anticipate the existence of a DJ playing loud, obnoxious music, including rap. I had to ask the DJ to turn the music down so we could eat dinner in peace, but that didn’t result in much difference.

The crowd was mostly lowbrow as well. I can remember going out to restaurants for Thanksgiving dinner as nice affairs, but this was a free-for-all of drunken people wearing jeans and sweatshirts, with children running around in the aisles. If I had looked harder, I probably could have found someone wearing pajama bottoms as well.

We finally abandoned our seats on the second deck and went outside to get away from the noise and commotion. When it became too cold to remain outdoors, we relocated to the third deck, where we found an empty table and were able to relax without the loud canned music blasting in our ears. The service staff ignored us, hence they might have been obligated to actually serve us drinks.

I regret having made this reservation and paying this amount of money ($140 for the two of us). Based on conversations with some other customers, I was not alone. So if you plan to take a “dinner cruise” on BB Riverboats, be aware that it will not be a refined experience. Expect more of a rowdy, noisy, drunken party with children running all over the deck. If that’s your goal, you’ll enjoy yourself. And, for God’s sake, don’t waste your time dressing up unless you want to feel out of place.

But if you’re looking for anything with even a semblance of class, stay...

While visiting Cincinnati on a gorgeous October Saturday morning, my wife suggested we still had time to make reservations with BB Riverboats for a ride on the Ohio River. I had been on the Ohio several times in my youth while growing up near Pittsburgh. Same river, different town ... I said lets do it. I waffled on giving this trip a four or five five star rating. I went with a hesitant five.The excursion was from noon to 2 p.m. It seemed like a great deal, a ride on a riverboat, lunch, and new sites and a new experience. We were told to arrive and board at 1130. There was plenty of free parking and the entrance to the Belle of Cincinnati is wheelchair friendly. Lunch was already being served, as people boarded much earlier. Several buffet lines with the same choices of salads, pasta and porkchops easily fed the hundreds on board. The food was average, the deserts looked tempting, but the service was exemplary.There is a full bar on board and alcoholic drinks were extra. Once underway, we pulled away from from the pier on the Kentucky side of the Ohio. We could see the skyline of Cincinnati and Great American Ballpark directly across the river. The riverboat traveled upstream, at a liesurely 5-7 knots. We never left the view of the Cincinnati skyline. My wife and I sat on the top deck and enjoyed the sun. Then the tour guide's narration began, which was somewhat interesting, but its clarity was poor, coming through tinny sounding speakers on the top deck. The narration would stop, and then the tour guide started plying a banjo, strumming out old folk songs that ranged from Stephen Foster to Willy Nelson and Jimmy Buffet. Some small children danced in a circle to his tunes. That was a good thing ... happy children dancing. However, there never was a quiet moment on board to just let the beauty of the river prevail. I did learn how the Ohio River was an important crossing for the Underground Railroad. We passed the historic St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church that provided a good...

We did the sunset and sightseeing cruise. We got the additional snack and drinks package with a free picture. Since this was our first time we didn't know what to expect. The cruise had several different packages on the ship. The dinner cruise was on the ship and in the same area that you buy drinks and get your snacks. There was also a private party of a high school group of kids on another level. On the first two levels the only places sit for the sight seeing tour was outside around the deck. Not a lot of places to sit so we headed all the way up to the top deck. Thankfully we got there fairly close to boarding because we got one of the last spots next to the railing which gave us good views and allowed our party to have its own area. We were able to get one of the few side tables on top to place our drinks and snacks on. Once the cruise started the DJ was up on top and played music that when it got dark people started dancing to. There is an elevator that takes you to all the levels except the top deck. You need to be able to walk steps for that one. The snack portion of our package was cheese and crackers and chips salsa and guacamole. These were enjoyable to the people in our group. We also got a souvenir photo with our package. Additional prints are $10. The ride took us east down the river to the blue dot on the attached photo and back. The views of the city were amazing on the water when we returned with everything lit up in the night sky. The sight seeing tour group was to get off at 9:30 and the dinner cruise stays on until 10? Not sure what for since they probably just stayed docked. We had a great time hanging out with our group. Weather was great and the sights were nice. Music was enjoyable and family friendly and you can request songs and make special announcements with the DJ. We were celebrating a birthday and this was a fun...