I purchased the "happy hour" cruise for me and my boyfriend and then encouraged another couple to bring their cousins who were in DC from out of town....I was SO EMBARRASED that I suggested we take this cruise. First, the cruise started 30 minutes late because staff had to restock the boat before we left. Toward the end of the cruise when I noticed we were heading back to harbor I mentioned to the captain that we should have 30 minutes left because the cruise got started late - he just shrugged, we didn't get any extra time we got jipped. While onboard, there was only 1 bar with 1 bartender, at one point when my boyfriend went for round 2 he was standing in line almost 20 mins. Why would you title something "happy hour cruise" and have only 1 bartender??? Also, doesn't "happy hour" usually suggest drink specials??? The ONLY special was $5 margaritas, so if you didn't like margaritas there was nothing happy about the cruise - all liquors and beers (MINIMAL selection) were full priced and slightly over priced honestly. Also, it was not a cruise, we went around in circles in front of the Georgetown waterfront, didn't even go past the bridge, the out of town guests saw absolutely NO monuments...nothing. Again, I was truly embarrassed to have suggested this cruise. I purchased my tickets from Living Social but the other couple and their out of town guests paid full price unfortunately =( TERRIBLE CRUISE. read more

The trip was very disappointing. Boat left early causing one of our party to miss the trip. This was in spite of our pleas since we could see the person from the boat. Then the cruise really lasts little more than half an hour. And they point out highlights just as they have passed them. Interesting timing. read more

It was a very nice experience. The cruise is about 50 mins. We got to see the Washington monument, Lincoln memorial and Jefferson memorial on river. The weather was nice, a little chili on board because of the wind. Will come back again, but will choose a warmer time. read more

drove 2 hours as a new customer to do the cruise. standing on the dock at 3pm there is no boat in sight, no signs, nobody is answering their phone or email!!!! i highly doubt this shitty company even exists!!!!! waste of a present that i was giving to my mother. waste of my one day off that i get per month!!!!! read more

Horrible customer service. Tried to get on the cruise and the boat left without any passengers and they refuse to offer a refund. I tried taking my mother who is handicapped (didn't realize there was no ramp) and they still refuse to offer a refund. Shows you the kind of company/business they run! read more

I've enjoyed a party on dc cruises before BUT I have been emailing for a week to do a private party, no response. Is the email address you all provide correct? There seems to be a quicker response on here.... read more

We just got back from an afternoon cruise on the Potomac to see the cherry blossoms, etc. We enjoyed ourselves; the weather was great and the narration along the route was decent. We purchased a GroupOn for our 50-minute (really more like 40-minute) cruise. It was worth the ~$25 we spent for two on GroupOn...I don't think it would have been worth the full retail price. Nevertheless, we were glad we did something "touristy" in our city. read more

Super disappointed. The boat showed up 20 minutes late which was irritating enough but we didnt even get that time back! We were robbed of that time. Then to make things worse, one of the staff followed my group off the boat and hit on us. Really unprofessional and creepy. read more

This was a fun Friday night activity. We bought a groupon, which was 30.00 for two people. It started raining a few minutes before we boarded, but thankfully it slacked up. So originally we planned to attend the cruise with a dj, but we didn't want to start at 1030, so we went to the 830 jazz cruise.Definitely filled with a lot of couples but it was still fun with my best friend. It is a relaxing route around the monument and other historical buildings. One of the highlights was once we got out a little ways, quite a few planes headed to Reagan were directly overhead. It was fun to watch then so close and did feel like an added perk to the cruise. I like that you can just enjoy the water and not have to feel rushed or need an agenda.I would recommend a groupon to save a few bucks and next time we will come earlier and enjoy dinner at the Washington harbor, it had a great crowd and seemed lively. read more

So I went on this Happy Hour cruise because I saw the deal on living social and thought it would be something cute to do. Me and one of girlfriends- so first let me say IF and when you decide to go you should make your reservations at least 2 weeks in advance-if you want to make sure you get the date and time that you want. It does say that on the dc cruises website also. Sometimes people cancel and seats will appear back on the website so keep checking back-I did and lucked up and go what I wanted. Second, there is no food offered on this particular cruise-at least the one I got through living social. And please make sure you get a confirmation for your reservation. I had to contact dc cruises through email twice to make sure that all the details were covered. It's easier to bring the piece of paper with the confirmation or show the confirmation email from your phone with the date and time of the cruise you reserved. Some people put in their reviews that they didn't get any response back, but luckily I did both times I emailed them. It took about 12-24 hours. Lastly, everything was nice for the $14 pp we paid, but my only other complaint besides not have food or at least snacks on a " Happy Hour cruise" the beer was $7 and the line ( which only had one bartender) took forever to get a drink. So when you get your drinks get a pitcher or 2 at a time. It was ok for the price you pay,but DC Cruises could do a little better job with what they are offering. read more

The cruise was fun however it was very overcrowded on a Saturday night. The upstairs roof bar was very fun and the tour has some great sights. read more

We were recently visiting DC specifically for the cherry blossom festival and came across DC Cruises, for the price for the Cherry Blossom Cruise I was blown away and purchased them, which was only $56 for 2 adults during the "Happy Hour" Cruise. Which was not a happy hour at all, the bar was tiny, more of a "mini-bar" literally, nothing like any cruise I've been on, and it was so cold that no one really bought anything or even went outside. We sat near the front with a great view... aside from one of the employees eating pizza and gossiping about staff. There was very little commentary or narration of the sights till the end. read more

Save your money and time. Too many people were allowed on the boat and there was no place to sit or stand. The captain yelled at those standing in front of the window, which was the only place left. The top deck has a bunch of tables that just take up space where the passengers could be. Very poorly managed. We even had a guy jump on the boat as it was leaving the dock. read more

I attended the happy hour cruise this past weekend. The boat interior was not air conditioned, bathrooms were a mess (no paper towels, TP all over the floor); it really needs a facelift and some attention. We sat on the top of the boat because we seriously needed some air. Unfortunately I was accidentally in the background of an Instagram photo shoot with a number of girls using the boat as a place to pose. Another group next to us was clearly smoking marijuana out in the open (staff did nothing). Drinks were too expensive. I'll never spend another dollar on this company. read more

Yes, I too bought a groupon. But mine was for the fall follage tour. And yes I have some complaints.....getting to the parking is a pain. And yes they charge $10. It was pouring rain the day we went and the lot was empty but I would imagine its packed on a nice day. Drive slowly when you get close as I missed the entrance and it's hard to get back to. Since it was raining they had the upstairs covered and heaters on which was nice yet due to the rain we really couldn't see much. On the positive side. We seemed to leave on time and they kept the supply of cider and muffins stocked. ( they were free). I didn't have any so I can't comment as to the taste. The staff I saw were all nice but we didn't see them except at boarding. Thier web site said they have snacks available for purchase but we didn't see any. The boat seemed decent. A bit dated interior. They had lots of plastic chairs to sit in. Overall it was an ok cruise. The actual route was not good and thats my biggest complaint. I couldn't find it listed on the web site either, even tho they say it is. read more

I had a lovely time on the Cherry Blossom viewing cruise. I bought tickets with a Livingsocial deal for my friend from college and I. The crew was nice, polite, and helpful. The narration about what we were seeing was informative and interesting. We were able to get exactly what we wanted, to see the cherry blossoms on a boat while also seeing other landmarks. The weather was great which helped since we stood outside on the side decks to take pictures. One of the crew even took a picture of my friend and I together in front of the boat which was kind of them. read more

We did my engagement cruise with DC cruises and have no regrets!!!! The staff was super friendly and helpful. The boat was really nice and left right on time....the food and drinks hit the spot! All in all it was an exceptional experience that provided amazing views and incredible memories!! if i ever get engaged again (lol), i will definitely do it on board a DC cruise ship. read more

Booked what was sold as a "wine tasting cruise" via Living Social. Had no trouble booking online (as referenced by previous posters), and actually received an email notifying us of a departure location change a few days prior to the cruise. No big deal. Now, a "California wine tasting cruise," you'd think would mean they have a variety of traditional CA wines available - with people pouring each person tastings of the six or so they had represented, right? (As in "ok - now we're tasting the Chardonnay. This is from xxx winery in Napa.... And now we're tasting this Pinot Noir from yyy winery.") No. You just got tasting-size portions of whatever random wine was around - It looked to me like they just had random bottles of wine in coolers - one bottle of this one, two bottles of this one, etc. (Seriously - it looked like they went down the aisles of Total Wine and just buying up whatever was on clearance) As others have mentioned, there's only one bartender, and the boat is packed. Which means - you wait FOREVER between so-called "tastings" - and there's no education/wine tasting experience that goes along with it. We finally gave up and just bought glasses of wine for $7 (which was neither from California nor whatever wine it was we had tasted previously - they were just pouring whatever) so we didn't have to wait in line 20 minutes for each 2 oz pour. Now - that being said - it was a beautiful day to be out on the water, so even though the boat was full, it wasn't uncomfortably so, and it was a very pleasant ride out on the Potomac (we started at the Marina and went down as far as Gravelly Point and then turned around and went up to the Kennedy Center, turned around and back to the marina). So - for the discount price I paid on Living Social - I guess it's about equal to what I normally would've paid for a plain cruise. However, just having wine available does not in fact make it a "wine tasting cruise," especially since I ended up just paying extra for a glass of wine instead of waiting in line for the tastings (20 mins in line for each tasting would've meant I spent literally the entire cruise time in line for the six "tastings" we were entitled to). However, if I'd paid the regular "rack rate", I'd have been really annoyed. read more

I took the "Fall Foliage" tour and WILL NOT....I repeat WILL NOT ever do it again. Service was absolutely horrible. I'm so glad we had bought tickets from "Groupon" at a discounted price. My friend and I showed up just as the guy was closing the door to the boat. I said "Wait...we're here for the tour." He said "We have to pull off or the Pirate Boat will block us in." Mind you the Pirate boat was no where near the dock and there was plenty of time for him to open the door so we could board. He said, "Wait for the next tour....I don't have many people booked for that one." So we decided to go over to Nick's while we waited for the boat to return. Please see the review for that...absolutely horrific. Long story short, we boarded the next tour only to find out there were a lot of people waiting for that cruise. All the seats inside were taken as well up top. Again, I will NOT waste my money here ever again. I would've had a better time on the kids Pirate Boat. read more

Choose them over Potomac Riverboat for the better staff.

It's not what I expected ,there is no one to talk to about the cruises so don't think you can call them, there is no happy hours beer is 6 dollars all the time ,please don't waste your money on the cruise. read more

We took a cherry blossom cruise this past Sunday with DC cruises. We had booked weeks ahead because it was supposed to be the peak of the cherry blossoms. The weather was cold, with the cherry blossoms barely out yet, which is no one's fault, and just a handful of people on the boat besides our party. On our way to Georgetown, they offered free hot tea which was thoughtful, and played some sort of automated narration from what looked like an ipad that was ok but not great. An employee on the boat grabbed a mike and did a narration near the end of the cruise that was excellent and said we would hear more about the different varieties of cherry trees on the return trip. Unfortunately, on our way back from Georgetown to the Tidal Basin, there were only 5 people on the boat. The young woman driving the boat literally spent the entire cruise on her cell phone, texting, looking up periodically to make sure she turned the boat so we didn't run into the bridge. There was no narration at all. I realize they were likely ready to go home after a slow and cold day, but this was our only day to ride while in town and even a small amount of effort would have been appreciated. Really underwhelming experience. We realize they weren't busy due to the weather, but we still paid $75 for our family of three to have a very mediocre experience. Super disappointed. read more

Found what I thought was a great deal on Groupon. After buying it I got a code that I had to use to go online and book a criuse. I bought it on 28 March and asked my wife when she wanted to go. She said 5 April. I went online and selected the 5 April 2 PM cruise. I then printed out my form. I unfortuantely did not look closely onthe from as it listed 29 March (Not what I selected) instead of 5 April. Went to go leave 5 April for the criuse and say the mistake as I was looking for the address to go to. Tried to call the cruise line. Guess what? Nothing but a recording. You have to email them for customer service. NOT A GOOD THING!!! a couple of days later I got a response to retry entering my code. I get a already used or not valid response. I email them again. I don not know if I got a different person responding to me as there was no NAME on any emails from them. This time they said oh, so sorry we saved a seat for you and you weren't there. I emnailed them again restating the problem I had with their booking program and asked so I am screwed on this is that what you are saying? After 7 days I still have not had a response from them. Other people have had issues on booking I have seen on here as well. The voucher experies on Saturday 19 April. CRAPPY CUSTOMER SERVICE, Would NOT reccomend them. read more

Still on this awful "oktoberfest" trip as I type b/c it's that super. Where to start they say to arrive 15 min early to board so we do and there's no boat or sign to tell you where to stand on the.Georgetown waterfront dock. After checking with 5 boats and switching lines multiple times we finally boarded 10 min late. Beer is sam Adams not a German beer, cold food and long lines. The beer is $7 a bottle not the advertised $5. There's not enough space on the top open deck so if you arrive later don't expect to enjoy a breeze but feel free to sit on 80s style cushions with hiphop music playing on the lower deck. my favorite lyric was "drop the kitty down", very German sounding. Granted the "captain"? did allow for ten min of polka style music before deciding we'd all had enough. Cigarette smoking is certainly allowed so my lungs got a nice arsenic cancer feeling included with my ticket, always a joy. Also if you're expecting commentary of the dc sites you pass don't bother with that. Certainly I'd say a waste of a trip and money unless you have some friends you hate. read more