these guys literally rob your money. we booked the cruise with a complementary shuttle service. we waited at the designated pickup location 10 minutes ahead of time. the shuttle never showed up. when we called, we were told the shuttle was late due to traffic. 5 minutes later, still no shuttle. when we called a second time, they said it was our fault to have missed the shuttle (which never showed up) and they would not refund the money! read more

This business is terrible. We booked the cruise on line with shuttle service pick up from Hard Rock casino at 11:15. My husband and I waited outside the lobby since 11:05. The shuttle did not come. At 11:20 I started calling. At 11:25 finally I got someone answering the phone, and I was told shuttle is late due to traffic. When asked how the vehicle looks like, she said it is either a school bus or a bus with "Yosemite" or "Deneli" on it. Oh really? We absolutely did not see a bus like that. At 11:35 I called again, and after waiting for transfer, someone told us that we have to drive there and get on cruise at 12. It was 11:45. Knowing we can't make it, we asked for cancelation. The lady transfered me to her manager and he kept on insisting the bus came and we were late. And they have 48 hour cancelation policy and he cannot refund us. Not only service is poor, I felt I got robbed!! read more

Great experience. Started off rough. Kinda strange sharing a table (table has room for 6), but honestly not that bad. My salmon was alright but wife's steak was awesome. Desert was good. The tour of lake and band at the end made it an amazing experience. It's a must do for dates read more

GREAT tour of south lake tahoe! I can't comment on the price, cause it was free for me, paid for by my job. But it was breathtaking! I have a boyfriend who is deathly afraid of heights, so it was the only way I was going to get a good view of anything, cause his baby-ass wasn't gonna get on a gondola... The food was meh- but if you take a boat ride of Tahoe, just know it's not fine dining, you are paying for the views and history- not a fancy meal. It was just sandwiches/salad/drinks/finger desserts. Seemed fine to me. If you are looking to capture AWESOME pictures of Tahoe- this is a must. read more

This was our first visit to Lake Tahoe and we were told to take the Emerald cruise to see the beautiful waters and sites of Emerald Bay. Well the cruise did not live up to expectations. First the good parts.... We got the dinner cruise at a steep discount by enduring a 2 hour time share presentation. The food and service staff were excellent. 4 entree choices and all were very good. Wonderful dinner salad and cheesecake dessert. No host bar was well stocked. A live band played from a small stage on the 2nd deck. Now the disappointing parts.... Most important to us was that for all of the hype of seeing Emerald Bay, cruise did not leave dock until 6:15p to cruise across the lake to Emetsld Bay. Cruise should be moved up at least an hour to accommodate daylight for the time of year. It was dark when we arrived at Emerald Bay about 7:30p. Could not see any of famed wonderful color changes of water in varying sunlight. A spotlight was shown on a historical home from about 150 yards off shore. No pictures were possible of bay or home. If one wanted to eat at night with no scenery, it could be done at any restaurant downtown for a lot less expense. The dinner was served in 2 seatings. In second seating, we were not seated until after 8:00p. Way past our normal dinner time due to acid reflux issues. To top things off the gratuity was NOT included in the fee when a normal 18% tip is included for meals for large groups in nearly every hotel, convention, or restaurant in the country. Lastly, the band was too loud in small space of lounge for conducting a conversation unless folks went outside on deck. Summary...take a lunch or mid day cruise and skip the expensive dinner cruise, unless you do it mid summer when it is still daylight after 9pm, if you really want to see the fabled Lake Tahoe scenery from the lake. read more

My boyfriend bought us tickets for the sunset dinner cruise and a few days before our cruise I decided to look at the Yelp reviews. Looking at the low ratings I was kind of worried about what type of experience we would have, but I decided to set the bar low and make the most of it. At the end of the night, I was pleasantly surprised at how great this cruise was! It seems like a lot of the negative reviews are based on the daytime cruise and/or poor coordination from purchasing tickets through a third party company. So here's a little advice/insight for anyone looking into this cruise. 1) Buy your tickets from the actual MS Dixie website, and preferably in advance. We saw people in line who bought tickets from a third party and their names weren't on the list. Also, when you do buy your tickets online they don't send you an email or anything so do take a screenshot of your confirmation number at the time of purchase. They had our name on a list so we didn't need to show them anything, but just in case 2) Try using their shuttle service instead of parking at Zephyr Cove to avoid paying for parking in a crowded lot. We got picked up at Lakeside Inn and our shuttle driver was very nice and even shared some historical info on our way to the ship 3) The boat makes 2 cruises a day and each one is packed. Do not expect to be the only ones on this cruise and to receive catered table service. The waiters were friendly and attentive, but they were also very busy serving all the other table. To accomodate all the guests the cruise serves dinner twice. First seats eat first then go out on the 3 decks to enjoy the views while second seating did it vice versa. We got first seating which worked out perfectly. We shared our table with 2 other couples, but it was nice to meet new people and mingle. Food was served promptly but never did we feel rushed. I had the salmon and it was delish, not dry or bland. Boyfriend ordered the steak medium well and got it a little undercooked but nothing terrible. 4) Dress code is not strict, business casual is fine. There was one wedding party on board that dressed a little nicer but otherwise dressing for a nice dinner is fine. No one was really dressed up Overall we had a great time. Three hours was plenty of time to enjoy the scenery. We loved the live band and the food was delicious and plenty. Definitely recommend this cruise for anyone wanting to have a special night on the Lake! read more

MS Dixie II - Salmon dinner - delicious! Well seasoned, not dry - Boating Near Me - Zephyr Cove, Nevada

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Drove to Zephyr Cove. Paid eight bucks to park there. I guess Zephyr Cove is a private beach. Got there around 10:30am and got in line for the 11am lunch cruise on a competitor boat. Strolled over to the MS Dixie II booth and casually asked if we could still make their 10:30a cruise. They said yes! Got a AAA discount and strolled on board, saving $10 a person over the lunch cruise because this cruise didn't have the deli sandwich lunch included. What a loss. Everyone gets on board and tries to grab the "best" seats. After you set sail, everyone gets up and moves around, so no one actually stays in the same seat. Actually very cool. So if you don't get the seat you want, wait a few minutes and it'll be vacant. MS Dixie II sails straight to Emerald Bay and back again. Sounds exactly like I described it. Watch the shoreline go by at long distance. Watch the shoreline in Emerald Bay go by close up. Listen to the informative taped occasional Tahoe history and nature narration. Buy drinks and snacks. Chill out. No Confederate flag flying astern. read more

My husband loved the salmon ..the ribeye was horrible.. drinks were good.. live music nice very oldies.. overall overpriced yes.. did get to see Vikingsholm at night. Seating was next to strangers very cruise ship. read more

MS Dixie II - Dining room.. bar too crowded.. but we could hear the band down here. - Boating Near Me - Zephyr Cove, Nevada

Took the 2:00 lake cruise. Enjoyed it completely. Beautiful way to see Lake Tahoe. A little pricey but but worth the views! Definitely suggest the cruise if you are visiting Lake Tahoe. Great narration along the way also, very informative. read more

When I met my parents in Lake Tahoe a few weeks ago, we went on the MS Dixie for a tour of the lake. The two hour ride across the lake and back was so peaceful and relaxing. The views were gorgeous, and while it was windy and a little chilly that day, I was fine sitting on the upper deck in just a hooded sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers. I also enjoyed the occasional recording with facts about the lake (I didn't know it was 99% pure!) and the stories about the Tea House. On the return trip, we sat on the second deck inside which was very cozy. There was a menu where you could order lunch, but we didn't. There was also a full service bar, so you could enjoy a few drinks on the ride. We watched the sunken treasure video but you could tell it was old and it didn't really deliver like I thought it would. I could have also done without the gimmicky "let me take a photo of your group before you board so we can try and sell it to you afterward" bit. Overall, a nice way to relax and to get some amazing pictures. read more

Waited months for dinner cruise .... Just like everybody else said , they canceled my reservation one week ahead of time like clockwork. They asked me if I wanted to wait another 2 months !!! I already took time off of work and had gotten child care for this so that was a hard no .... They didn't even try to keep my business.... Don't recommend read more

Wonderful tour. The lake, water, snowy mountains were absolutely majestic. A very informative tour with a nice chance to relax with lunches and drinks. However.... The video played on the second half of the trip is absolutely killing my head senses as I write this review! Please. Enhance. The. Skipping.audio.!!!!! This is still A great way to enjoy Lake Tahoe. : ) read more

MS Dixie II - Boating Near Me - Zephyr Cove, Nevada

I absolutely had a wonderful time on this tour! They have great food at reasonable prices. It is a great way to see the lake and enjoy many gorgeous photo opportunities on this cruise. read more

MS Dixie II - Enjoying a Fat Tire with a view. - Boating Near Me - Zephyr Cove, Nevada

Wonderful dinner cruise. Dinner was really good, the view of Emerald Bay was spectacular and great music for dancing. I would recommend this to anyone visiting Lake Tahoe. read more

Hubby and I did a Sunday brunch cruise last year for 4th of July weekend. We loved it! It was worth waking up really early to board this paddle wheeler because their food made up for it. It wasn't the absolute best buffet I've ever had, but their selection was satisfying, yet not plenty. There wasn't much variety to choose from. It was more like a continental breakfast from a hotel. It also came with mimosas. The lake was beautiful and breathtaking, which made the experience even more worthwhile. This is something everyone should try at least once for the experience. We will try the dinner dance cruise on the Queen next year for their 4th of July fireworks. The price is not bad either....it was $49 per person for the Sunday brunch cruise on the M.S. Dixie II. UPDATE: 10/12/08 I recently went here with my immediate family for my parents' anniversary. They loved it! The Sunday brunch cruise I did with the hubby was out of season when we came about 2 weeks ago, so we did the Emerald Bay Sightseeing cruise, and also purchased it with the lunch buffet. The food is good, but nothing to oooh and aaah about! Just a bunch of stuff to make your own sandwiches, there was a salad bowl, some clam chowder, fruit (which tasted obviously frozen and then thawed, not fresh at all, nasty actually!), and cookies. It filled us up, so we were happy! Just don't eat the fruit! Might give you a tummy ache! Emerald Bay is beautiful! My second time on the M.S. Dixie II and I'm still amazed! I enjoyed every minute of it! Lake Tahoe is so serene, how can I ever get tired of it?! We also purchased the family portrait we took in the beginning before we boarded. They turned out really nice as a souvenir and it was $20 for an 8x10 and 2 slightly larger wallets. I was able to book the whole cruise online for the 6 of us for $150, so it was only $25 each! And the lunch buffet was $12 per person! Great deal! read more

We celebrated my boyfriend's birthday with the sunset tour of the lake, what a great experience! Great tour, good food, the sunset was spectacular, and the staff all seemed to genuinely be enjoying themselves too. Great experience, highly recommended! read more

We took the afternoon cruise to Emerald Bay. It was a lovely ride. The view coming into Emerald Bay is stunning. I admit the ride is a bit long but worth it just to get that view. The boat is a paddle boat, so that is kind of neat too. It was a very pleasant afternoon spent aboard the MS Dixie II. Make sure you apply plenty of sunscreen if you are going to sit/stand on deck. read more

This is a review of the Mother's Day brunch cruise 2018. The 2 stars are only for the 15 minutes of precious viewing time we enjoyed. The weather could not have been more beautiful, but due to poor execution of the event, we were stuck below with virtually no view for nearly the entire duration of the cruise. I hope the management of this venue takes a serious look at how they are running their dining events. My experience was awful and I truly believe it was not necessary for it to be so. With a little planning, communication, and care on the part of management and the staff, I believe it would have been possible for all guests to have a reasonably enjoyable experience. The largest issue, which affects all passengers on board, is the fact that there are too many people for just 1 buffet set up to service in a reasonable manner. There are too many people crammed into the dining space, but if there must be that many, there should at least be a 2nd buffet set up. Now I will share my personal experience. We were a party of 3, and ended up getting seated the farthest from the buffet set up. We offered no objection, but I found it strange that the woman who seated us made a point of saying "I am sorry, but this is the only spot with 3 seats together." Looking back, this was the first indication that this was a poorly planned event. There were paper coffee cups on the table, along with a carafe of orange juice and some plastic cups. I wanted coffee, but the young lady who came to our table one time only for the entire event, was only interested in drink orders for the bar. I did see her offer coffee to other tables, just not ours. I had to flag down the only other person I saw with coffee, and he kindly poured me 2 cups in case that was my only chance at receiving service. The fact that this was his suggestion should have been red flag #2. We watched people going to the buffet beginning roughly 5 minutes after we departed. No one approached our area to communicate anything about dining arrangements, and roughly 35 minutes after we left the dock, I overheard another guest ask a staff member if they knew approximately when our area might be able to go get food. She said, "well, they will come tell you, but shouldn't be too much longer." Another 13 minutes go by, and by the time we are approaching Emerald Bay, we are given the go ahead to visit the buffet. So now we were faced with the decision to either miss seeing Emerald Bay, or miss eating. Hindsight, I would have skipped the food. It was cold and mediocre. In addition to adding a second buffet set up, my other strong recommendation for creating a better experience would be to have the staff communicate with the guests if it will be a while before service or the ability to get food is available. If we had been communicated with, perhaps we could have spent the initial 45 minutes or so on the observation deck enjoying the view. I will not return as a dining guest, and I genuinely hope future events are run in a manner that considers the guest experience and not just the business bottom line. If there are not changes, this otherwise spectacular opportunity is an unfortunate waste of time and money. read more

Nice and educational 2 hrs trip with full bar. What else you need?! Plus AARP DISCOUNT!!! read more

I feel like its better for tourists to just drive around the whole lake and make stops around the lake. It is not worth the money. The boat is old and just isn't that interesting. If you have the money to burn its kind of nice and peaceful to read on the boat and glance up once in awhile... It just cuts through the middle...it would be nicer if it followed the edge of the land but its understandable that it would take all day. I actually like the Lake Arrowhead your better... haha read more

Ok so it's snowing and I know there wouldn't be any good views but we needed to get out and do something! We got some of their postcards in the lobby of our timeshare. Adults $40 and children $20. If you mention the coupon, you get a free lunch MINUS the drink. Good deal right? We call in our reservations and the lady hung up after getting out name and phone number. We called back and asked if we needed to give her a credit card number. She said she hung up so quickly she completely forgot. There's a free shuttle that comes to your place to pick you up. It was on time right down to the muinute! So far so good. We get to the dock and buy our tix and we got lunch vouchers. There's 3 levels. If it's nice outside, I suggest sitting outside to enjoy the view. Since it was COLD and snowing, we sat inside. At first we only saw small tables for two so we hogged up 3 tables. The nice gentleman that worked there told us there were bigger tables in the back so we can all sit together. We walked back there and there were a few large tables. All of them had a window view. We all sat down and ordered our free lunch. We all got cheese burgers and fries. To my surprise, the burger was DELISH! I think it's their grill or something they put on their ground beef. When the guy gave me my total for my drinks, it seemed a lil bit high. I had to ask him like 5 times how much the drinks were. He finally told me it was $2.75 each. I told him my total was wrong. He was charging me a lot more than $2.75 per drink. He had charged me for an extra drink wich I never had. He then did a quick calculation in his head and rounded it off to the nearest dollar. That was fine by me since our food was like 8 times that. I remember reading on a sign by the ticket booth something about tipping on the original total and not after the free food was taken off. And it's an average of abour $13 per person. I asked the guy should I be tipping on the whole total or just for the drinks. He gets upset and says "you don't have to tip me if you don't want to!" WTF?!?! I never said I didn't want to leave a tip! URGH! There wasn't much of a view. The only thing we saw was Emerald Bay. We sat right by the motor so it was LOUD and NOISY. Also the whole area kept shaking. If you get motion sickness easily, don't sit back there and stare and the propellers. Even if you don't want to look at it, something draws you to it. There's loud speakers everywhere, and they play this pre recorded tape that does give some interesting facts. I did like that smoking is allowed on board but only on the lower and upper decks. Being stuck there for 2 hours, I sure needed a cigarette! There was one part of the cruise I did have a good laugh about. There was a 6 year old with us and she saw that there was pirates who took over some ships and she asked if there was any pirates on the one we were on. I told her no, there weren't any on our ship. But an hour later, I saw an employee who had an eye patch (not funny at all) and I wondered if he was playing a part and if there was going to be some kind of performance or something. There wasn't. And I wanted to turn to the little girl and tell her there was in fact a pirate on board. But I was afraid she would go up to him and say something. And that wouldn't be funny at all. You know how kids are, she might have said something to make him feel bad. I couldn't bring myself to tell her about him so I just kept it to myself. I was so glad to get off that ship. I won't go on this cruise again......only if it was free. LOL! But if this is your thing, I recommend going on sunny days. read more

I had a nice time on this day cruise, but several things could have been improved. We found out AFTER boarding the boat and pulling out our sacked lunch, that outside food wasn't allowed, so we were forced to order off the over-priced menu. However the fish and chips were really good and I was happy to see Shock Top and Stella in their beer selections. We were all a little surprised at just how slow the ship is - a little anticlimactic. It was very kid-friendly though. Also, they take your photo at the beginning and show you print outs later in the trip to see if you want to buy their photo package. I know it's hard to pay attention all the time, but one person's eyes in our group were completely closed, which ruined the picture, obviously. You would think that if they were the official photographer, they would know to look out for that. I say it's worth doing once, but I wouldn't need to go again. read more

What a great way to relax and enjoy nature. I really like that you get to learn a few things as you go. I like that they sell lunch items there . We had the sampler and it was enough to feed two people as a lunch and tasted pretty god. Loved the emerald drink . So if you want a break for all the noise and hustle and bustle come and relax. They will even pick you up if you are staying at one of the hotels read more

MS Dixie II - Boating Near Me - Zephyr Cove, Nevada

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We really enjoyed the ride. Super relaxing. Get the early if you want a spot on the front of the boat. Wear a hat if you're sitting up top or make sure you bring sun screen. We cooked in the sun, with sunscreen on. The bar was nice. Drinks were super good and not bad priced. Views were incredible on the lake. Parking was a little sketchy getting in but we ended up finding a spot and didn't have to walk. Overall, would highly recommend this to anyone visiting Tahoe. read more

the reason we picked this cruise was because of the online special they had for July where it was just $25 per person. It is normally $41, which we probably would not have gone for. the ride was pretty smooth. there was a slight overcast, but was still able to see a lot. It is a long ride however, taking one hour to get to Vikingsholm and another hour back. so if you just want to do something laid back during your trip and there is a special, you should definetly experience it. how often will you get the chance to go out into the beautiful blue waters? read more

Don't waste your time or money. The service is substandard and the food is about equal to a highschool cafeteria meal. Very disappointing considering it's $100 per person. read more

Having been to Lake Tahoe dozens of times I had never been out on the water. My wife suggested the trip and it seemed like an interesting few hours. The weather was one of those most beautiful August afternoons you can only dream of. The sky was blue without a cloud in sight. A gentle breeze would cool off the mid 80's weather. We boarded the ship and went straight to the top deck to enjoy the day and the view we loved so well from dry land. Getting out on the lake I was amazed at how much more there is to see than just driving around the lake. The lake of course is amazing and the water looks very blue from shore but I was mesmerized by just how blue it looks in the middle of the lake. The churn of the paddle wheel frothing the water to a foamy white gave way to a seemingly endless ribbon of a wake. The smooth wake gave way to tiny little waves that reflected the afternoon sun like a silver garland. The contrast of Emerald Bay with the rest of the lake was beautiful as well. A definte "do at least once" trip if you really want to see California/Nevada up close. read more

As part of this review, I include an issue we encountered upon our arrival. It wasn't great, however, the way the Dixie II team came through and made sure we enjoyed our trip... Takes this rating and review to a very high 4! Sometimes it's not how your start, but how you finish! When we initially arrived, there was a major traffic issue at the entrance, that took us 30 minutes to get into the parking lot. At the entrance of the lot, a man with a walkie talkie was instructing people hurrying to the cruise, to go the wrong way down an entrance in order to park. Myself and several other vehicles were then turned away. I met a frustrated manager/supervisor that instructed me to turn around and would not let me enter. I parked and went to the ticket booth, where (I think her name was Laurine?) was very helpful and apologetic. She stated sometimes things get a little hectic with parking, when the weather gets so nice. And it was a beautiful day! She made arrangements for our tickets, assured us that we would not miss the cruise (since we still had to find parking) and if we did , she would gladly refund our money. We were totally satisfied with her joyful assistance and understanding. As we headed back to find the correct parking, we were met by the same Supervisor/Manager (not sure which he was), who introduced himself as Greg. He offered an incredible and most of all, sincere apology for being so frustrated before. He took absolute accountability and was a true joy to encounter. He made arrangements to comp our parking and even reiterated his apology. Greg came thru with an incredible "customer service" make-up. It was very important to him that we enjoyed our cruise and it showed in his attitude and assistance. He was great! My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and would definitely suggest this to friends and family as a must do when in Tahoe. Thanks Greg and your Team! read more

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We did the sunset dinner cruise and are so glad that we did. It was a blast! We had the first dinner seating which worked out very well. The service is fantastic, the food was very, very good. One suggestion is to go ahead and go up to get your own drinks, it took a while for drinks from the bar which is understandable with the number of people on board. You can get up and walk around and the views are just gorgeous. If you have young kids with you ask if they have kids meals, we didn't ask but saw chicken strips and fries come out to another table. It would have been nice if our server had mentioned that to us. But they did bring us another dish when we asked for something different for the 4 year old that was with us and they packed up her first plate for us to take with us, very accommodating. read more

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Excellent food served with a professional attitude. We really enjoyed the views and service. The beer and drinks were excellent. The crowd was enjoyable. You have to take the tour. read more

MS Dixie II - Boating Near Me - Zephyr Cove, Nevada

Food service is RACIST. Waitress ignored us and served all the white people first. She even checked on people she already served before taking our order. I noticed all the ethnic people had to go to the bar to make their orders instead of all the white people who got served at their table. read more

Beautiful experience. Scenery was incredible. Our dinner was delicious and dessert was fresh and very good! We will definitely recommend it to our friends and family. The band and waiter and waitress were also a plus! read more

The cruise was beautiful and a great way to spend a chilly afternoon! The staff was very friendly and attentive even with a small group on board. Board and get a table right away so you can sit and enjoy the scenery for sure. The music on board is a bit dated (not the live music) but still enjoyable. Food was available for purchase and the nachos were pretty good. read more

We had a splendid time aboard the M S Dixie ll. The views are, of course, out of this world. The staff was wonderful and friendly m. The drinks were reasonably priced and not teeny tiny. We had an order of fish and chips and a chicken sandwich. It was delicious, not bad for boat food. read more

It was a fun ride. It took us all the way to Emerald Bay. There was food you can order on the ride and drinks you can order. We had a really good time in Lake Tahoe is beautiful. read more

I've driven around Lake Tahoe so many times I've lost count. A number of them have been in Cat 5 whiteout blizzards. Only a handful of times have I been on the Lake itself. One of those times was on the MS Dixie II. Way back when we were still getting good snow and you could snowboard in like July, I often drove up myself and rode in the summer heat. Once it finally turned more mud and dirt than snow and it was more like wakeboarding, id take the extra days and hit other things. So I drove to Zephyr Cove and got on. Very cool views of the lake and they take you to that little island. I opt out of all the kitschy stuff and just take in the views. read more

Never been on a dinner cruise before, so I though it would be romantic. Definitely not the case. Food: 4 Service: 4 Dining room set-up: 2, kids crying and screaming Sail: 5 read more

A little pricey but a fun trip. Our guide was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic, truly passionate about Lake Tahoe. It POURED rain, and thunder and lightning during our trip. There was plenty of room inside for everyone. I also proposed to my (now) fiance on our trip 8/10/14, thanks to the couple that captured it on my camera for us. All in all a great trip and we would do another cruise, maybe another boat, maybe the dinner/dance cruise. read more

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amazing experience and great value for its money, going to come back and will recommend read more

MS Dixie II - msdixie11 - Boating Near Me - Zephyr Cove, Nevada

Great fun. They pick you up at your hotel. Did the dinner cruise. There were 180 people so they split the dinner into two seatings. If you take the second, you get a nice view of emerald bay and can walk around to enjoy the sights. If you take the first seating, you eat earlier but are stuck at your table while the sights go by. Once you get done there is nothing left to see. Either way, they had a really good musician on board playing all the favorite covers. Great night all in all. read more