Gateway Clipper Fleet — Attraction in Pittsburgh

We decided to celebrate our wedding reception on the Gateway Clipper. Now that the day has come and gone I feel comfortable to give my overall review.

The planning before hand by far was some of the most painful experience both me and my wife ever had to deal with. They have trouble keeping their organizers. In the time frame of beginning our planning till our big day we had to deal with 4 different organizers. Which was a nightmare because each time you got a new person It was like day 1 going over what you wanted for your big day. Let alone communication was also a struggle. You could expect to call and never get a hold of the organizer, and or there were times my wife’s emails would go left unanswered for weeks and once a month. For us having to travel to PA from Florida. This made It aggravating when you spend weeks trying to get answers and you can’t just go to the clipper in person. We also at one point during an organizer shift had our meal plans changed after we agreed to our meal plan and a signed contract.

Now let’s get to the day before the wedding and our big day. The crew were very nice and friendly and helped us get our decorations on the ship and set up our big day. The DJ we had was very awesome. He I would recommend 100%

My biggest issue on our day was we departed from the dock and he decided to take us away from the city down the river which felt like 75% our trip was never near the city. We wanted to do this reception on the boat to spend time around the city skyline. So for me that was a very big disappointment. My wife wanted sunset photos near the point fountain. It was the big highlight she wanted for the reception and because the captain took forever driving away from the point. By the time we got to the point It was dark. So that was a very big let down. My wife had wanted these photos as a dream as a kid about her big day. They had agreed with her that these photos would of happened at sunset and they didn’t keep their promise.

Overall considering we spent over 30k to have our reception on the boat. The stress we had to endure dealing with all the organizers, the failure to make my wife happy with getting photos by the point fountain. I could never with a good conscience ever recommend someone celebrating their big day on the Gateway Clipper.

To finish It off when they took our cake off the floor and removed the top portion to box It for our 1 year anniversary. They didn’t take any pride or delicate touch to make sure It stayed in tact because one of the layers shifted and they smooshed It on top and the side of the cake. I will attach a photo of evidence. please note the toothpicks in the photo are from us to Saran Wrap the cake they...

Pittsburgh is a beautiful city seen best from the many rivers that go through the city. It's nice to have the Gateway Clipper offer many options to take in the great views . However it's sad when the business practices of the company takes advantage of its customers. That is exactly what this company demonstrates. Last weekend after over two years I came home to visit my mother and family. We purchased tickets to take the Gateway Clipper Mother's Day ride to celebrate. The weather was bad with rain and cooler temperatures. Being inside the boat made for the best to create memories and experiences which we did. Even better we took a picture upon boarding the boat that we wanted to purchase to commemorate the experience. It was this picture that showed me the poor business practice of this company which seeks to take advantage of all customers. You have the option for $25 to buy the picture on the boat along with $10 more dollars per photo. This was common, but given I was out of town and the fact that we live in a digital world I asked what about having an electronic copy. I was informed to my surprise that was not an option. To get the digital copy I had to go online later in the day and make the purchase. How much for the online copy? It was a crazy $25 the same amount I paid in person. So the gist is that to purchase a physical and copy of the photo that was taken digitally cost $50 and requires me as a customer to buy in person and online. This is a SCAM. I will never support this company again. I will also make know the disappointment I have with this practice. I called the photo office three days straight to have my called returned Wednesday. My ask was simple to provide me the digital photo that I felt purchase when I bought it in person. The customer service rep, Kaitlyn, could not address my concern and informed me she would tell her supervisor Joe to call me back. It's been two days and I am still waiting. Business that runs scams like this deserve to not be in business. Kaitlyn or Joe I am still waiting for my returned phone call and a copy...

My wife and I went on the BBQ Lock and Dam dinner cruise and had one of the best nights together! A few useful tips I took from other reviewers: get there early. Our table was assigned already, but we didn't have any line to wait for food (though it was never more than 5 or 6 people long). Once you finish dinner, quickly go up and grab a seat on the top deck. It gets crowded as people wrap up their meals, so this is where being early pays off. We sat a few rows from the front which was alright, there's plenty to see in every direction and the lock experience is so interesting, it's hard to not want to see it from EVERY angle!

The food was super good. Beef ribs that were ridiculously tender, chicken halves, amazing baked beans with sausage, I loved the broccoli salad they had, chocolate cheesecake for dessert... It was a total home run! The drinks were really good and reasonably priced. Dinner and drinks were worth the price of the cruise.

The DJ took requests but played a really great soundtrack the whole time, shouted out birthdays and stuff, created a cool atmosphere and when there was anything interesting, the Captain was on the speakers giving tour guide info. Everyone was great on board.

Bathrooms could have been easier to find and the whole boat was a bit dated but everything felt clean and that's hard to do with something so dated. We'll definitely make a point to do one of these again. It was...