Padelford Riverboats — Attraction in Saint Paul

We hosted our wedding reception here. Initially the communication and planning were easy. However once the day came, it was a chaotic nightmare. I was told that boarding tokens were strictly required and “no more than 5” could be aboard prior to cruise time. There was supposed to be staff keeping guests at bay. Instead I had wedding guests coming onto the boat while I was still setting up for my event.

In addition to this, the air conditioning on the upper deck was not working properly, the microphone I rented did not work, there were multiple lights out in the bathrooms, spiderwebs above the bar area (not small ones either) and the sink cabinets were falling apart and smelt like mildew. I understand this is an older vessel, but for $10,000 I would expect some upkeep or at least a run through to check lightbulbs.

The food was OK, and the captain and one particular waitress whose name I regrettably cannot remember, were amazing. The captain even let my dad honk the horn!

Our main issue came with dessert. We brought our own cake/cupcakes as this was a wedding reception and desert options provided by the charter did not align with our vision. We were told this was fine as long as it was from a bakery, but no cake platter or cupcake stands would be provided. No big deal. Well, after dinner was done and dessert was available, we noticed a shortage of silverware, and by shortage I mean there were none left out. We spoke with the captain and asked for more forks, she assured us that was no big deal. Shortly after, Abby the “crew chief” marched up to the captains deck and put a stop to that, telling her they would not be providing us forms. A few guests who still had their dinner plates were using their dinner forks to eat their dessert, but we had additional requests so we asked the waitstaff once more, and then 3 more times after that. Each time we were told no, with unprofessional attitude. What a ridiculous hill to die on, FORKS. Our experience was turned negative over their unwillingness to provide my guests silverware….insane. To make matters worse I decided to reach out to the charter consultant and instead of listening to her customer and trying to smooth over the conversation, she basically called me a liar and said that didn’t happen and her staff didn’t do it to be “mean”. I’m not sure how else you would describe forcing 80 year old guests to eat cake with their fingers due to pettiness but seems pretty mean to me. And unprofessional. I am really disappointed overall. Regardless the day was beautiful as we made it our own and I refuse to let this silly incident ruin my memories of the day, but I would not go back nor would I recommend this company for your excursions. There are plenty of other options on the water with much nicer accommodations I would recommend over...

I am giving this a 3 because I can't give it a 2 and a half. So my wife and I had 17 members of our family come in from PA over the August 11th weekend. I purchased some groupon tickets for the river cruise. The lady on the padleford side was very helpful in getting our tickets placed. The staff was good about getting us on the boat. But then the problem started. 1st they do not specify where the cruise goes. We were under the impression our family would get to see both cities. We did not it was just a little ways up the mississippi with some tour info that could not be heard well on the upper deck. That is a whole different issue. 90% of the seating on a normal cruise is indoors. If you are not in the first wave you could end up without a seat and standing inside a hot stuffy room. The staff did however bring extra chairs and tables on for us from another boat before we left. There is no place to just stand outside on a deck and look at the river. There are about 30 seats total on both decks outside that are taken quickly. It was really a waste of almost 2 hrs given the very meager set up...not worth the price. The one good thing was the drinks on board are cheap. Like I said the real score is a 2.5 but that is because the staff did try to and make things right it just was to...

I cannot recommend them highly enough! My husband and I hosted our wedding reception with them. Their staff was extemely helpful, laid-back, and polite. They were clear and upfront about their very fair prices, and didn't try to gouge us with hidden fees and add-ons like many of the reception sites.

The staff on the boat itself were courteous, and the food was very good, far better than we expected for a buffet-style service. We brought our own cake and cupcakes on, and they did not charge us an additional fee, and in fact seemed shocked that other venues would nickle-and-dime a wedding party like that.

We had the casino package on the boat instead of the dance floor, and I highly recommend it. The staff at the tables was good at getting people involved and teaching people as they went. It was also the perfect icebreaker for a large group of people to get to know eachother and get talking....in fact, they're still talking, and raving about the reception. Thank you so much for the...