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    Mystic Blue Cruises

    3.2 (194 reviews)
    Open 8:00 am - 12:00 AM (Next day)

    Services - Mystic Blue Cruises

    Bartending services

    Catering services

    On-site management services

    2 More Services

    Post-event cleaning services

    Venue rental

    Mystic Blue Cruises Photos

    Business Info

    MYSTIC BLUE CRUISES ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Classy
    Moderate noise
    Outdoor seating
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Mystic Blue Cruises

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    Reviews With Photos

    Mystic blue views...
    Francis R.

    A-Okay would be the best way to describe this one. Some context on what brought us aboard the Mystic Blue: My lady volunteered us to chaperone a sorority formal. Free food, nice views of the Chicago skyline on a Saturday evening, and just gotta keep an eye to make sure no one falls off the ship or gets too intoxicated. Sure why not? They ended up renting out the entire ship for the evening which was pretty cool. Essentially three levels with buffet style food, a dance floor, a separate DJ on each level, and a bar. Wowzers. I've had my fair share of college parties and formals back in the day... well done ladies. Food? Although buffet style, surprisingly good. Not sure if it was because they kept each of the buffet tables open on each floor but it seemed like they kept that stocked the entire night. Yes I may have had an entire plate of food on each floor. Nice chicken and beef options and plenty of veggies for sides. Even a dessert table towards the end of the evening! Service? Great! Staff was quick to take any empty plates. Waters and sodas going around frequently. Cool. Cleanliness? Not bad. Mystic Blue definitely doesn't look like the fanciest of the ships docked at Navy Pier, but hell it's clean inside and well maintained. My only complaint is that the stairway connecting the three inner levels & also where the restrooms are located smelled like butt. Definitely a need for ventilation there. Pricing? Not sure what it cost to rent out for the evening, but judging from the bar prices... $$$. $15 for a makers & $7-8 per bottled beer. Def pricier. Favorite thing? The upper deck. If you happen to be aboard the Mystic Blue and the ship actually leaves the dock, head to the upper deck for photos. We got some pretty awesome Chicago sunset pics. Anyways, that's all I got on this one. Not a bad option if you're looking for a venue / event space. 'Til next time, cheers! 99/365

    Cloudy day
    Helen W.

    I was visiting my bf in Chicago for a week, and his parents wanted to treat us to a night out, so they bought us tickets to the Mystic Blue Cruise. According to the instructions they sent, boarding started at 4:30PM, and you are supposed to pick up tickets up to an hour beforehand. Make sure to give yourself enough time, because Mystic Blue is located near the end of Navy Pier so you'll need to walk a decent distance before you get to the actual boarding area. Upon boarding, they will take a photo, which you can purchase later on during the cruise--1 for $20 or 4 for $40. When you enter the boat, they will check your tickets and take you to your table. Our seat was next to the window, which was nice. As the boat was not full, they moved some other people around to make sure everyone had lots of space, which was really nice, as originally it was quite squished with three couples sitting next to each other on the small tables. Our server came by after a few minutes to introduce herself and explain the boat. She was super friendly and helpful. The server will also take any orders for drinks, which costs extra. The drinks are quite pricey, but thanks to Yelp, checking-in gives you a free drink! Make sure to ask the server which drinks are included (I was told 2 of the drinks didn't count). I ordered the Violet Hour, and it was delicious--sweet and I enjoyed the pieces of fruit in it. The food buffet started at 5, and everyone stood in a long line. Instead, take this time to explore the boat and go upstairs--there's a really nice lounge area, and there are also some games (eg: giant chess board). The food itself was quite mediocre, the sirloin/chicken were both quite dry, and I didn't like the veggies. The baked pasta and the mashed potatoes were my favorites. The dessert is also just average. As the ride went on, people got up to dance and move around. Unfortunately for us, it rained on and off so we were mostly stuck inside. The view of the city was beautiful, but since the light was against us, pictures couldn't quite capture the beauty that your eyes see. Overall, I would say come for the experience, and don't expect too much from the food. I possibly enjoyed it so much since I didn't have to pay for it, and I got a free drink. So depending on how much it was, it may not be worth it for you.

    View from Mystic Blue at night.
    Christine M.

    Here's the deal on this cruise - it's cheap. I don't know if you knew, but $50 is a pretty low price for a dinner cruise on the lake. For the price it gets three stars. I think this is kind of like the Old Country Buffet of dinner cruises. I'm sorry, but I thought the food was pretty awful. Everything was just camouflaged in cream and butter and the rolls were dry, the pasta salad had a funny aftertaste and the green beans were just plain yuck. The carrot cake was quite yum though. If you pack some granola bars and a flask you can have yourself a nice evening on the lake...you go for the view really and it's quite spectacular. The staff weren't the most professional, but weren't awful...just kind of awkward. Anyone else heard of a white wine spritzer being made with Sprite?!

    Chicago shortly before midnight, Dec. 31, 2013, from Mystic Blue.
    Denise D.

    My boyfriend and I went on the New Year's Eve fireworks cruise and I'm delighted we did! At $150/person (plus obscene "administrative fees") it seemed at first to be too much money, but when I thought about it, we could easily spend that much just being out in Chicago on any given night. This way, we knew we'd have what we needed for a good time. From when we first got on the boat, we knew it would be a blast. The crew were very welcoming and fun, and we were greeted with champagne & cranberry and another drink (it was light blue and had a raspberry flavor). Both drinks were great! Our server was a hoot and she reminded us that there was a premium bar, so I ordered Grey Goose. The appetizers were delicious! They were simple (meat on skewers with sauces, cocktail shrimp) but they were perfect bites. Dinner was good, although I admit I don't remember much of it--but the conversation at dinner was great! I actually forgot to get dessert, but the rest of the group said it was awesome. At first I was annoyed that we had assigned seating, especially because we met some lovely, hilarious people from southern California on the way onto the boat, but they were very accommodating about letting us move around (we had a four top table and they had a two top, so they joined us at our table). The service continued to be wonderful the whole night. We drank, we danced, we laughed. Call me old, but it was great to NOT be crowded in a drafty obnoxious bar with a bunch of idiots. It was just plain fun without the irritation of Too Many People. When midnight arrived, there was champagne everywhere and we went out on the top deck, which was icy and really freakin' cold, but an unbelievable experience. We watched the fireworks at Navy Pier from the water--how cool is that?!?!

    Mystic Blue-Docked
    Kim J.

    I am prejudiced about this cruise line--this was where my future husband took me for our first "big date" - on my birthday. The line offers pre-paid cruise packages, both for lunch and dinner and these are reserved seating. Its buffet style, but very good food. There is dancing, music, food, liquor and the lake, what more could you ask for? Fireworks? Oh, on Wednesday and Saturday, Navy Pier supplies those!

    Cheers to our 1 year aanniversary
    Angie G.

    We spent out special day onboard the Mystic Blue despite the gloomy weather we had a great time the staff is always so nice and the food was good. The music made the day perfect.

    Natalie T.

    My mom loves cruises so she wanted to do this when we came here which I was totally fine with. It wasn't the best cruise ever but it was interesting. There was a buffet which the food wasn't the best but it wasn't the worse. My mom paid $50 a person which included our meals, drinks (soda and juice of course) and it came with a bouqet of ballons and we also each get a cup! The cruise did consist of a lot and I mean a lot of elderly people which made it fun to watch them dance on the dance floor. It's great at the top where you can sit with your food and just watch the city from the ocean.

    Get the free premium drink when you check in with the yelp app! Whoop whoop
    Naquiyah C.

    Firstly get unlock the free premium drink as you get the real cool blue mystic drink and got get to keep the flashy glass Dancing was so much fun everyone knows how to get their Groove on and not care what others think. Music was fantastic from the latest hip hop to the 90s travel mix. Shaggy was played at one of the songs lol.. Knocked off two stars mainly because 1) the server at our table was terrible. He didn't come back for 40mins and when asked another server to take our order they said to wait for our original server. Waited another 10mins and by now that's 50mins so we just went to the bar and ordered the drinks ourselves and had to practically ask another server again to either find him and bring him to us or take our order. 2) food was cheap but not tasty at all. I would eat before going in and party the night instead ;)

    Crystal F.

    I was offered a free drink for doing review and was told I couldn't use it....very disappointed! Will not be back ever.... will not tell my friends about it

    TGIF

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    Angie, it looks like you had a wonderful time! Thanks for joining us!

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    Page 1 of 5

    Ask the Community - Mystic Blue Cruises

    For the Monday night cruise, just wanted to confirm that the boat leaves the dock? I see a few reviews that say that the boat didn't leave. The boat does go out into the lake, correct? Also what is the price of drinks/beers?

    We didn't leave because of the weather, the water was really choppy, we saw other boats leave the dock, but we just sat docked, were not really sure why. Drinks were of various prices, they had larger souvenir cups/drinks for $40 I got a simple… Read more

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

    Review Highlights - Mystic Blue Cruises

    We recently went on a lunch cruise for our anniversary and the experience was great!

    Mentioned in 8 reviews

    Read more highlights

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    Mystic Blue Cruises - tradamerican - Updated June 2026

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