Soo Locks Boat Tours Original - DOCK # 1 — Attraction in Sault Ste. Marie

With businesses and people, you can tell a lot about them by how they handle it when things don't go their way.

During my family's boat tour, traffic through the Locks suddenly picked up drastically, causing ours and the tour boats of two other companies to have to wait on the Superior side to cross back through as multiple freighters passed us.

The captain and crew handled this unfortunate circumstance with aplomb. They acknowledged and apologized for the wait, despite the fact that it was beyond their control, and took us around the nearby shoreline to provide additional history and facts. We were able to spend extended time watching a freighter dock and offload at Algoma Steel and got ludicrously close to multiple boats as they entered the locks.

The crew came around with crayons, coloring books, chalk, and other activities for kids (which occupied my 4 year-old son) and they intermittently played music, updated us on boat traffic, or found more facts to share. They also marked all the snacks down to a dollar to help keep everyone from getting hangry.

Our tour was supposed to go 1-2:45ish and we ultimately departed the boat just before 5. Despite this, I didn't witness anyone getting upset and unruly during the entirety of our tour. That is a testament to how prepared and poised the staff were (even though the captain noted to another passenger that this was the first time they'd had this kind of delay this year.)

Customer service isn't about the customer always being right. It's about doing what you reasonably can to make sure the customer has a good experience. The crew did an incredible job doing exactly that.

I should also add that, while the tour boat from the Canadian company followed us around, also trying to provide their passengers a good experience, the Famous Soo Locks tour boat remained idle near the lock entrance for the bulk of the wait time. I can't speak to the experience of their passengers but I know I appreciated moving around and getting additional information (and airflow on what was a pretty hot day.)

Thank you for an unexpected but wonderful experience for our family, Original Soo...

This was our first time and we signed up for the Rock around the locks. We got there. Plenty early. Got our tickets. Got in line just to find out that there was a fuel issue with the boat. Well the band agreed they would wait the hour or less that and we needed to catch the next boat. So we said we're going to wait too. It was my wife and i's 27th wedding anniversary. We had nothing else planned but to go through the soo locks on this boat and enjoy the live music and company of the other people. It cost us $45 to take a 2 and 1/2 hour ride through the locks up the river and watch the sunset. They fed us pizza, hors d'oeuvres and beverages with live music. They also had door prizes and such. My wife and I will definitely be back for our 28th anniversary and hopefully they have the same live band. The husband and wife team that were running the show did a great job especially with the fuel problem. Happened to put the whole thing back an hour. I could see stressful points but they handled things very professionally and came out on top in the...

A Must-Do in Sault Ste. Marie!

The Original Soo Locks Tour was an absolutely wonderful experience! The entire ride was so relaxing and peaceful the perfect way to enjoy the beauty and history of the area. The narration throughout the tour was incredibly informative and engaging, making the journey not only scenic but educational as well.

We had the chance to go through the larger American locks on the way out and then returned through the smaller Canadian lock, which was such a unique and fascinating contrast. It really gave us a full appreciation for the engineering and importance of the Soo Locks system.

Every staff member we encountered was warm, welcoming, and exceptionally friendly. You could tell they truly love what they do and want every guest to have a great time. At the end of the tour, we stopped by the charming little gift shop by the dock. such a cute spot to pick up a souvenir!

Absolutely worth every penny. I would do it again in a heartbeat and highly recommend it to anyone...