city Experiences — Local services in Chicago

The evening turned out great, however, I’m giving them 4 STARS (overall) and not 5 because I had to complain and harass the manager (Gabriela) to get results.

So, apparently and unbeknownst to me, we booked the dinner cruise through a third party… this was for the Odyssey Dinner Cruise on the RIVER not the lake. When we booked our tickets there was no information about buying a window seat or rather upgrading to one, adding a birthday package or anything of the sort, so we thought it was on a first come, first served basis, and everything was requested on board. However, when you book though City Experiences they give you an option to upgrade to a window seat, add a celebration package and I have no clue what else, prior to boarding, and that’s how seats are assigned! Mind you, we paid $400 for these tickets, so they were not cheap by any stretch of the imagination. I can’t even begin to imagine what they’re charging for the window seats.

We board, they show us to our table, and it’s horrible! I immediately begin complaining, and the manager (Gabriela) is like “no, you booked thru a third party, you didn’t pay for a window seat and you can’t have one. You also didn’t book a birthday package so there’s nothing we can do for you.” Plain and simple. Meanwhile, I offered to pay the difference, for the birthday package and window seat. I was NOT asking for a freebie.

So, they sat us at this horrible high-top table, which was right behind the reception booth where you board, with an awful and obstructed view. To add insult to injury, the table was unsteady! I was BEYOND irritated!!! Nonetheless, I complained incessantly and badgered the manager (Gabriela) relentlessly, until she moved us to a table that was steady, not a high-top and closer to a window. If I was going to be miserable for the next three hours, she was too. Especially because, there were window seats available!!!

Finally… I asked, if we could move to a window seat if whoever did book them turned out to be a no show… and she said, “yes.” There were several window seats that remained vacant and finally she relented and moved us to one… at no additional cost.

This is where the night improved, DRASTICALLY. Our server Nena was amazing (she gets 5 STARS), Gabriela the manager, FINALLY, apologized for all the commotion, initial lack of customer service, and they both worked really hard to turn the night around, AND DID!

The food and drinks were delicious, the music was great, and the views were absolutely stunning! I’m happy it all turned out well, but after spending so much money to celebrate my birthday, it was exhausting having to complain just to get decent customer service. Had I not been insistent, I would’ve had a terrible evening/experience and no one would’ve cared, because they already had our money. But one thing I excel at, is advocating for myself and getting exactly what I want.

I recommend giving it a try, if for nothing else, the experience. But definitely book through City Experiences to make sure you get the full and best experience possible, from the...

I wish I could give less stars because this company is awful. We got married on June 14th and in the months leading up to the wedding and on our wedding day... our experience was less than. This was in no way a cheap venture and with very little communication from the company, no return calls or emails, and the fact that a wedding planner and coordinator were only assigned to our account after numerous calls and less than 3 months to go to the wedding is absolutely ludicrous. Due to them not returning calls or properly coordinating with our outside wedding planner, the line-up for the wedding was incorrect. On the day of the wedding was when the boat appointed planner decided to try and figure out who was who and how they were to be lined up. We ordered an expensive wedding cake and utensils that were delivered the morning of the wedding but were NEVER delivered to our reception. With all the things going wrong, we didn't even realize it until after we disembarked. Our personal wedding planner called and left messages and miraculously by the end of the night when we returned to our hotel room, the utensils were sitting on our bed in our room. It took them a month and numerous phone calls to get city experiences to acknowledge that they indeed received the cake and forgot to bring it up and to send us a refund check for the cake. Definitely don't waste your money if you think they will give you an amazing experience because they won't. The food was less than mediocre and the only thing that salvaged this day even a little was the skylines and lake michigan which city experiences are not even in control of. If you want a wedding on lake michigan, choose another way of doing it because City Experiences customer service will have you angry. The craziest thing to me was there wasn't even apologies given for any of our experience. And I'm not even a bridezilla even though with all the things that went wrong leading up to the day I definitely had EVERY reason to become one. Just save yourself...

If I could give zero stars I would. I booked the saint patricks green river cruise for my boyfriend and I, but it turned out to be a waste of time and money.

First thing: I ordered drinks along with our booking. They called me a week before our cruise to say the drink I wanted was not in stock and they gave me a refund, but no offer to switch to a different drink. It wasn't such a big deal though.

Second thing: the address for the "boarding area" that they gave in the email is NOT where you should go. The address provided was to some random park near the river. We had to call customer service and they told us where to actually go. If our cruise had been on time (it wasn't, see point three) we would have MISSED OUR CRUISE BECAUSE THEY GAVE US THE WRONG ADDRESS. We were not the only customers who went there looking for the cruise. For any future customers: DO NOT GO TO 455 Cityfront. Just go down to the water using the stairs by Gleacher Center.

And finally the third thing: our cruise was delayed four times, an hour each time, to the point where we had to cancel because it would overlap with our dinner reservation.

After all the stressing about this cruise, we never even got to do it. I'm incredibly disappointed. We wasted so much time just waiting for it to never happen, time we could have spent enjoying our time in chicago.

The only positive thing I can say is that their support staff were very kind and I was able to get a...