Uncle Sam Boat Tours — Attraction in Town of Alexandria

This experience was absolutely amazing. There are several different tour options to choose from. My husband and I did the three and a half hour Singer Castle tour, which includes the boat ride, tickets to the guided tour at Singer Castle, and an optional stop at Boldt Castle. We chose to disembark and purchase separate tickets to Boldt, which is absolutely worth it. The price for a full day's worth of entertainment was insanely cheap. We bought all of our tickets online in advance, which meant we got to skip the long lines at the ticket booth. Definitely plan to arrive early to make sure you have time to find parking and get a good seat on the boat. There is an uncovered portion on the top of the boat, which I would recommend for the best views, and there is a covered portion with a small concession stand. They do serve light snacks, hot dogs, and drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), but you are also allowed to bring your own food.

The tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable and fun. She made the boat ride both relaxing and entertaining. The tour of Singer Castle lasts about an hour and is guided. Again, this tour guide was knowledgeable and entertaining. We learned so many new things and they always made sure everyone in the group was in the room before they started speaking, which I appreciated. The castle is well kept and beautiful with so many cool features.

If you take this tour, I would highly recommend stopping at Boldt castle and the Boldt yacht house. We spend a few hours here since this is a self guided tour and there is a separate concession stand on the island. There is an optional app to download where you can read about different rooms or listen. There were also several tour guides stationed around the castle to provide more detailed information or answer any questions. It was so amazing to learn about this castle's history, see the work in progress, and witness the difference between the parts that have been restored and the parts that were still damaged and full of graffiti.

What made this optional Boldt Castle stop so great was that we could slow down and appreciate the beauty without feeling that we were being rushed. Uncle Sam's offers shuttles back to the mainland every 30 minutes, so you can easily get back whenever you are done exploring.

Such a wonderful experience and I cannot say enough...

Wonderful tour of Thousand Islands AND Singer Castle. Highly recommend. Here are my suggestions - Reserve ahead of time. We came in July and reserved the 10am tour on the day before. The cruise was sold out. We drove quite a way to get there and it would be have so discouraging to get there and not be able to join the tour. Bring sunscreen/hat and sit on the top deck. Rosemary the tour guide was amazing and it was fun to interact with her on the top deck (where she spoke from). But we were hot on the way to the castle with the wind at our back. The ride home was better. Remember where you parked. My phone set a reminder. But the parking lot they direct you to is in a different place than where the boat returns you. Bring a sandwich if you don’t like hot dogs. For the 10am cruise you are on the boat for an hour. Then the Singer tour lasts until 12:10. Then you have another hour until you arrive at Boldt Castle. The popcorn on the boat is fresh and delicious. And they have a good selection of soft drinks, wine and beer. Aside from nachos, hot dogs and pretzels you don’t have a big selection of food. If you arrive at Boldt Castle hungry, we found a long line waiting for the snack bar there. I included pictures of the menu at Boldt Castle. I did enjoy a Dr Pepper Float which was yummy!! Bring cash if you want to tip the staff. The snack bar attendant was great. And the tour guide was amazing. Cash is the easiest way to tip them. Pay the extra to view the Boldt Castle. I downloaded the app which gives you a tour (bring your ear pods if you want to listen rather than read). The castle is phenomenal. Definitely worth the trip. If you plan to stay in the town to walk around and shop - bring quarters for the parking meters. We are from Texas where all the parking meters have apps to pay through your phone. Here - they use old fashioned quarters (which we never keep or use). If you want to shop for nice women’s clothing stop by Buoy’s Boutique on the...

Some of the tour was great the rest not so much and mostly due to the staff. There are other tour companies in the area as I realized with them docked at the castle. I have since checked them out and the cost was lower and some interesting options like a picnic lunch at Boldt Castle. I think that tour is out of Clayton. Also if you can get there on your own tickets to the island for both Singer and Boldt can be purchased at the island.

The Singer Castle tour was better than Boldt Castle as it was more authentic. The Singer guide was thorough in her explanations but was terse and rude and a bit annoyed. She was with the boat tour company and not the tours via the island.

The guide for the cruise portion needs to rethink her spiel. She spent a lot of time discussing things unrelated to the islands: where she currently works, the roof she needs replaced, why she has to work so many hours, 85 hours per week, what she does to make extra money, etc. It was excessive. There are many other things about the islands to discuss and so this was frankly a bit under developed. Also there was a lot of promoting of the other operations in the area but that was not too bad. I heard many times how the prices to stay at Singer were posted here and there, but I would rather "hear" about that than the guide's story. Sorry to sound harsh but that is what we paid for. I am also interested in that large structure across from Boldt Castle. Did you know for an extra fee you can access it? Maybe tell us about that and the history of that building.

The boat was great and the prices for drinks and snacks was worth it. I was impressed with this. I did not use the washrooms so I cannot comment on the cleanliness of it.

Overall the cruise and sites were great. The staff were a bit unfriendly and self absorbed and the guests seemed to...