From start to finish, we had a great time! The food and entertainment were excellent, as was the…read morestaff! My cousin was visiting from Germany and enjoyed everything about the cruise as well! I'm in a power wheelchair and the staff was very attentive to me and my needs!

I've lived near the river my entire life and this was the first river cruise I've taken. Leaving…read moreRed Wing on the Celebration Belle for a two hour dinner cruise! Lots of sunshine, a torrential downpour one hour in, and then a brilliant rainbow over the bluffs when we returned. I met incredible people and the food was delicious with prime rib, and marinated chicken and all the fixings and the tasty captain's dressing that is "secret". It was one hell of an experience and very economical. The crew couldn't have been more accommodating and lovely. I'm ready to travel more and further next time

Boat rides are always lots of fun, especially when your stopping in areas and enjoying scenic…read morewalks, eating at village corner deli, then a lil retail shopping stopped at the soap club lots of organic soaps to choose from, we also stopped at water mark corners gift & stationery shoppe the employees were very friendly, we went into the shameless the chocoholic, & John Deere commons landing to see the pavilion area. Lots too do & you also get discounts at the shops and some restaurants...

There's been an update since I took my water-taxi tour a few days ago. Apparently the boat ran into…read morean island and 12 people were injured, two kids had head injuries and had to be taken to the hospital in stretchers. Here's the news report of the accident: http://m.qctimes.com/news/local/coast-guard-investigates-channel-cat-accident-that-injured/article_9fc97e3f-10e2-5008-bd9f-3cc4f33466e0.html?mobile_touch=true

This review is long overdue. Last year for Christmas I purchased for my grandmother and myself a…read morecruise to Starved Rock. We boarded in Peoria and spent the day cruising to Starved Rock. What I didn't know when I booked was that this was also a murder mystery cruise. The cast was on the boat the whole time. Once we arrived in Starved Rock we had dinner at the lodge and stayed at the Lodge. The next morning was breakfast at the Lodge and back on the boat to cruise back to Peoria. Everything about this trip was fantastic. The murder mystery outfit was fabulous. As it was flowing throughout the two days it became really interesting. It was better than any murder mystery dinner I have ever done. The ragtime music was enjoyable and the food was also really good. My grandmother LOVED this. She keeps asking me when we are going to go again. If you are looking for a different thing to do, try this!

Very nice paddleboat ride. We had all the elements of a great ride: perfect weather, calm water,…read morenot many people on board so we got a good seat, boat departed and arrived on time. It was a 90 minute trip. Parents, think twice before bringing the kids. Or if you bring them, make sure they have an activity they can do during the cruise. The kids i saw were all bored either from the start or shortly after. They ran around the deck and emptied out the ice water container. Restrooms were clean.

A relaxing, enjoyable cruise. Plenty of good food and snacks. Lots of tales about the River.read more

This vessel is too large for the speed it travels. The amount of wake it produces is ridiculous…read more They completely disrespect every other boater on the river by nearly capsizing them as they pass by. They have been asked to slow down, they do not.

My husband and I had a great time. Our sailboat tour with Captain Brad was a first time experience…read morein a sail boat for both of us. My husband got to steer a little as Captain Brad educated us in the language of sailing. We definitely want to go again, especially during the fall color season.

From the owner: We offer Sail Charter Cruises on the Illinois River in the Peoria area. We also offer Sailing…read moreLessons. Please visit our website and view the Photos page to see the beauty of the city from the water! www.SailPeoria.com

I had a very disappointing experience with Rez Boat Rentals. We had a 4:00 PM reservation, and upon…read morearrival we were immediately told that we needed to move our vehicle within 10 minutes, despite not even having reached the boat dock yet. When we politely asked whether any discount or accommodation could be offered due to the delay and inconvenience, the situation escalated unnecessarily. The owner/manager became hostile, used inappropriate language, and ultimately denied us service altogether. During the interaction, they repeatedly justified their behavior by stating that they were "the only rental company in Eastern Iowa," which came across as dismissive and unprofessional rather than solution-oriented. Additionally, the jet skis appeared old, heavily worn, and poorly maintained. The business would greatly benefit from updating and better maintaining its equipment to provide customers with a safer and more professional experience. Overall, I felt highly disrespected and uncomfortable throughout the encounter. The experience was disorganized, unprofessional, and lacked basic customer service and empathy. Rather than attempting to resolve the situation or acknowledge our concerns, staff blamed us as the customer despite knowing in advance that we were arriving for our scheduled 4:00 PM reservation. I would strongly encourage improvements in professionalism, communication, customer relations, and equipment quality moving forward.

We were reserved two pontoons from 3-7 pm and this was the fifth year of reserving pontoons for our…read moregroup. Unfortunately one boat was delayed and we couldn't get on it till 30 min after our scheduled time. The employees at this time were very good. However we quickly realized the boats really weren't good. One boat was leaking gas and rez adventures response was to just sit in a cove and not drive much. Unfortunately for the next few hours we got to smell gas and sit in water that was mixing with gas. Finally rez adventures employees were very demanding when we were docking and had one of our group members hold the boat to the dock so it didn't float away and was over all mean. They should have had rope to hold the boat to the dock not us. Very unfortunate experience

We were lucky to arrive at the this visitor center just when a barge was entering the locks. It…read morewas slow going but very interesting to see the entire process. The ranger in the building helped explain what was going on below in the lock. There are many different displays that describe the lock system from St. Paul to St. Louis. Very educational. Good views of the river. The one downside of visiting this place is that you need to get a visitor pass since this is on the Rock Island Armory military base. You need a valid US ID and have to fill out a form, etc. Once the form is completed it took almost five minutes per person to go through the process and get an ID issued. If there are more than a couple of people in line you could easily be waiting 30 minutes. This pass does let you go to the Military Museum and access other recreational facilities on the base. You've been warned!

First off, the visitor center isn't where Yelp shows it (at least not on my map it isn't), but the…read moresigns are pretty easy to follow - if you get to the clock tower you are across the street from the center. Your experience will depend on whether something is going through the lock. We arrived as a tug and some barges were finishing their transition to go down river. You get to see the lock filling and also get to see the bridge swing around to let the barges through. There was a ranger (?) there and he was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable. There is real very little else to see if nothing is happening at the lock. As you drive around the arsenal (and I do recommend that you drive around some) and see something approaching the lock, get over there!

Stayed on the only Island in Iowa.... Sabula Island. The Lilly Pad Yacht Boatel on the…read moreMississippi is one of the most unique places we have stayed. They have several boats and floating cabins that they rent out and it is soooo cool. They are some of the best hosts we have ever came upon AND have so many freebies they throw in with the boat rental! All your toiletries, Free kayaks, free ice, fully loaded kitchen (minus foods for meals) propane grill, free washer and dryer, some boats have fire pits on the upper decks AND you can fish right from your boat! The beach was so huge and fun! We stayed the week of July 10th, 2023

We had a great experience at Maquoketa River Rental!! The staff was very friendly and…read moreaccommodating, and the river was peaceful and a nice float. We kayaked, but saw many people on tubes, having a great time on the sand banks. Everyone was so welcoming in Maquoketa!!! Highly recommend

We had planned for 10 of us to go tubing with this company. They ended up posting that the river…read morelevel was rising and they would be closed the day before we were supposed to go! So I sent a message just to make sure that this included the day we planned to go and they told me to check back with them the next day to see if we'd be able to go or not! I asked if I could message them at 7 am and they said yes and that they would be "watching for my message!" So I sent a message a little before 7 asking how the river was that morning with no reply! So I sent another message about 45 minutes later that said it was ok if we couldn't go, but that we had a 2 hour drive so I wanted to make sure either way...again no response! They didn't respond the entire day! Communication is so Important for a business and while I completely understand that the river level is out of their control, a quick message back saying they'd have to stay closed is all I asked for!