Island Party Boat — Local services in Chicago

10/10, 5 stars, I recommend Island Party Boats with the fullest of confidence and can’t thank them enough.

I chartered the Gran Luau with Captain Sam for our wedding reception for 14 people, and it was an absolutely unforgettable experience. For all of the things that made this an exceptional experience, the crew is at the very front. Captain Sam, Amber, Dom, and Emilio were not only extremely friendly, patient, and helpful; but it was very clear they enjoy their jobs as much as we enjoyed being on the boat. Captain Sam has incredible taste in music and it legit felt like we had paid extra for a wedding DJ having him on the aux, which is saying something bc I’m famously annoying about control of the aux and we gave him full agency for all 4 hours of our charter.

The amenities on the Gran Luau were awesome; the rooftop deck felt very accessible and is huge, the inside is super spacious even though we hardly used it, the bathroom is impressively functional (which seems trivial but if you’re worried about having to #2 on the water believe me it holds up hahahaha). The slide is super fun, they have one of those floating pads which makes swimming super easy, and all of these things combined made it so easy to stay out for 4 hrs and come back wishing we had even more time.

Captain Sam and the crew do an incredible job of communicating and navigating the crowded waters, which ensured a very smooth ride. We launched from Monroe, swam in the harbor, went around and got incredible views of the city and the sunset, and ended with the fireworks at Navy Pier. They were super happy to accommodate our agenda we came in with which made our charter very fulfilling.

In summation, I would charter with Island Party Boats every weekend if I could afford to. I can’t emphasize enough how fun the crew made this charter. It feels so rare nowadays to find people who are really enjoying the environment they are working in, but Sam, Amber, Dom, and Emilio made this charter so special and added to the...

I would not recommend this company. Island Party Boat only received one star due to there being no option for 0 stars.

I chartered a boat with this company for my birthday. Communication was poor and only got worse leading up to and during my event on August 23rd. Emails and calls often went unanswered, and when I finally did reach staff, I was met with attitude and contradictory information.

Boarding times kept changing, leaving my guests waiting at the dock and my caterer (who was told three times she could board at 6:00 PM) stuck outside for over an hour with food in the heat. This wasted her paid time and cost me extra money. To make matters worse, Sandra denied ever giving her that information, creating unnecessary tension and confusion.

There were also unauthorized charges to my credit card for a DJ I never booked, which had to be refunded twice. The DJ himself even contacted me directly because staff never bothered to inform him of their mistake. On top of that, promises about slideshow use and furniture removal were walked back at the last minute, forcing stressful, unnecessary changes.

The on-board staff, including the captain and one crew member, were unprofessional and rude. The captain pointed his finger in my friend’s face when asked to adjust timing, and another crew member acted irritated by even basic requests like emptying the trash.

Robert, a phone representative, even went so far as to call both me and my caterer liars when we raised concerns. The only bright spot was the bartender, who was excellent, and the fact that my friend withheld certain information until after my birthday so that it wouldn't be ruined.

Overall, the lack of professionalism, poor communication, and disrespectful treatment of paying customers ruined what should have been a special event. This company is not worth the stress...

I had reserved this boat ride 3 months in advance and all of a sudden we weren’t able to get on! Mother is from Guatemala and her two kids are from the army and they said we were disrespectful. If anything they were disrespectful by not letting us on the boat because they changed their time they were scolding us and threatening us with the police. As if the police was going to do something due to them being disrespectful! First off the male (African American) was beyond forceful and telling us to move and get off the boat since we weren’t on the list, when we specifically had tickets! He wasn’t trying to listen or look at the tickets he bumped is so hard my four year old son almost hurt himself ! And the representative were hanging up on us and not letting us get one word on the phone. I’ve been in customer server for many years and the customer is always right unless it gets physical! This was the worst place possible ! Please do not go to them! And I will be filing everything I can against you guys! I will get the police involved because this...