Spirit of Chicago

I took my son for his birthday and my experience was a mixed bag. The entertainment director Chris was awesome and really made the experience great. The servers were friendly and polite. As for what was disappointing. The drink I ordered I thought was $ 16 and turned out to be $ 35. I understand the glass is a souvenir, but I think I was charged incorrectly. The cruise was early in the afternoon, so it was considered a cocktail cruise. Before ordering our tickets, I asked what the menu was for this cruise and I was directed to the lunch menu. To my surprise, we were served chicken wings, a meatball sandwich, and cheese cubes. Also, we were celebrating a birthday and our guest of honor didn’t get his special dessert treat. Ugh, I wanted to love it but it was a little lacking.

Me and two of my sisters celebrated our Birthday on May 15, 2016. Our entire family was there and we all had a really wonderful time. The food was excellent and they even had little pastries setup afterwards. I loved the Dj who played a variety of music to satisfy everyone’s needs. Our server was really nice and he was very attentive to our needs and even had a wonderful sense of humor. I will most definitely do it again. I just love love love you Spirit. Thanks for making my 50^th birthday even more special.

Overall, pretty fun cruise. We did the Eat, Drink & B. Mary brunch cruise. Food was great and the drinks were quite tasty. 2 hours was about the perfect time to take in the sights and get a few drinks in after having brunch.
The service was pretty darn good. We never felt left alone, nor bothered.
I wish they were more clear on what was the appropriate attire. On the phone, they stated we had to be formal, but the email said casual. I went w/​jeans and a button down which fit in, but was way warm when getting to and from the cruise. Casual was definitely the way to go for this, but I’m sure the dinner cruise would be more formal.
I’d recommend doing this — it’s been one of our favorite tourist attractions in Chicago yet and we met some great folks while aboard.

TERRIBLE service when you need a special meal. Didn’t get it until half an hour after cruising. Is it that hard to have it ready on time???

Our server Kat was friendly, attentive, and funny! We can’t wait to take another cruise during the summer!

I purchased a Spirit of Chicago lunch cruise for my parents to celebrate my dad’s birthday on April 24^th (Saturday). My parents were absolutely amazed with the customer service, attention, friendliness and excellence of the staff! The food, people, and the whole experience that Spirit of Chicago offered were superb. Everyone was very welcoming and made them feel very special. My parents had a wonderful time and cannot stop talking about it! :)
I want to thank Spirit of Chicago for the absolute excellence in customer service and for providing such a special and incredible experience too al of their guests. I personally have experienced their outstanding lunch and dinner cruises and they never disappoint. Thank you, Spirit of Chicago!!! We cannot wait to book our next cruise soon. :)

I’ve been coming here for years with my family and is always a great experience the staff is friendly and great food always upgrading the menu my kids have a great time each and every time thanks spirit

Food was served buffet style. Mediocre food-​just edible. Great atmosphere and excellent staff. Fun night but a little pricy even with a coupon. It’s the atmosphere and staff that would have me coming back. Big thanks to Alexandria, our waitress, she helped make the evening special.

The boat was nice, drinks and food were pretty good, and my friends and I had a great time.

I booked a private deck on the Spirit of Chicago to entertain clients and prospects for business. I worked with Gia, and she went above and beyond to make this night happen. The entire booking process was fantastic! Leading up to the event, I had complete control over the evening expectations.
The experience on the ship was better than I expected. The management team, servers, and bar staff went above and beyond to show my 100+ guests a great time. The food was really good, much better than I expected. The weather was a bit extreme (very high winds), so we didn’t sail as long as planned, but that was ok. The boat rocked a few good times, so I think we were all happy to dock and enjoy the rest of our evening in calm waters.
The DJ, Patrick was amazing. He played our requests and even promoted an after party that my company was hosting after the ship docked.
I received a ton of great feedback bout the experience. Cherry on top was the fabulous Chicago skyline at night. I will never get that view out of my head!

We did their Sunday brunch cruise and enjoyed every minute. The staff was friendly and attentive. The buffet had something for everyone, good. The DJ was fun and kept the energy playful.
It was overcast this weekend but our photos of the skyline and Lake Michigan were great! The clouds even added some drama.
Bottom line, we would go again!

Nicest touring cruise I’ve been on: 3 different levels and elegant interior for a lovely brunch.
Food: 2, Service: 4, Atmosphere: 5
Cost to worth it rating: 4 (had a coupon so was $ 55)
Return worthiness: yes
Highlights:
— Layout: spacious with a big lower floor with white tablecloth tables, a grand staircase, more seating upstairs, and 2 levels of deck
— Design: inside was elegant and outside was fun with cocktail tables and colored couches
— View: could look back and see the whole Chicago skyline
— Bloody mary: had a make your own sheet my friends enjoyed
— Celebration options: if you wanted to go fancy you could pre-​order rose petals and champagne
— Service: friendly, attentive staff
— Bathrooms: nicest bathrooms I’ve been in on a moving vehicle
— DJ: played a variety of music from easy listening to old school to modern pop and tried to be entertaining
Midlights:
— Dance floor vibe was kinda wedding cheesy but bonus to that is seeing little kids shake it with abandon
Lowlights:
— Food: it wasn’t as bad as I expected but nothing on the buffet was really good either. Chicken meatballs were a bit dry, I didn’t brave the fish, and creamy pasta was extra oily.
— If you book separately as a group of friends, you’re not seated together. They tried to work it out for us but couldn’t until after we already ate.
I didn’t come for the food so I great time. I bet a night cruise would be pretty fun.

We sailed on a dinner cruise and had a great time. The crew is very friendly and our server, Mekita was terrific. I’m adding a fourth star for her service alone.
The food is OK — it’s not as bad as some have complained but don’t expect haute cuisine. Three of us went with the drink package and that includes anything on their bar except for the 45 ounce, shared drinks.
We were on the middle deck and the dining room was maybe half full. The other decks/​dining rooms were not in use. You really had an opportunity to spread out. The music the DJ played was great and there were quite a few people dancing.
Bottom line: As others have said, go for the view, the drinks and the overall experience.

This is the best way to see the Chicago Air and Water show in my opinion! I had a discount on these tickets from a friend, so thankfully I didn’t have to pay full price — they were about $ 75 pp at full price. Included with the brunch air show cruise, you get a full buffet brunch and one free mimosa per person. We lucked out and had gorgeous weather, so after eating, we were outside on the deck, watching the show the rest of the ride. People were enjoying the dance floor inside, so there’s plenty to keep you occupied on the boat. The highlight of course, is the gorgeous Chicago skyline!

Great concept, poorly executed.
My first boat ride was OKAY, but not GREAT because of the service we received. The boat itself is beautiful, with multiple levels, each level with its own dance floor and bar. The bathrooms were small, but modern and clean.
First off, it took about 20 minutes just for a server to approach us and take our order… and that’s only because we asked two different managers to send us a server. Our server, Megan, finally came over and took our order. We each ordered a Sex on the Beach. Their food menu options were extremely limited, with only 3 or 4 options to choose from: sliders, artichoke dip, wings, etc. My friend and I ordered the buffalo wings and they were okay. However, our server didn’t even bring us plates and we only got one napkin each, so things got messy. When we tried our drinks, they tasted like straight orange juice. We couldn’t taste the liquor at all, so we asked her to take them back. She asked us to give her a few minutes, so we complied. In the meantime, we ate all our wings and just sat and waited as she ran around helping other tables and forgot about us. We finally got up and went to another level of the boat.
The outside uppermost level of the boat was so much better than the main floor we were on! The DJ up there was better than the DJ downstairs and the view of the skyline was breathtaking. We headed back downstairs to the bar to get drinks. We checked in on Unilocal and had Unilocal deals for a free premium drink. We assumed that Pina Coladas would count as premium drinks, but then were told that they didn’t count. We went back to the bar later to order another Sex on the Beach and they honored our Unilocal deal, but only after a bit of arguing back and forth. They apologized for the inconvenience of everything we went through that night and gave us free (big) shots of vodka to help make up for it (which is why I’m giving this place 3 stars instead of 2). That was kind on their part to help make up for the terrible service we had… not to mention waiting a total of 45 minutes in line for drinks throughout the night!
Bottom line is, it can be a fun experience with being on the water and dancing, but management, PLEASE train your staff! I’ve seen amateur 18-​year-​old servers at rinky dink restaurants give better (and faster) service than most of these people. It seemed as if no server had their own section, it was more just every server going everywhere, which just added to the chaos. There were managers there, but they mainly helped with trying to expedite, not organize servers. They didn’t seem short-​staffed at all, it just seemed as if their staff was all over the place with no real guidance or organizational flow.
If the above problems get fixed and we also get more people working behind the bars (and more than one blender at each bar!) I think this place could shape up to be an awesome time. I just missed out on a lot of dancing and fun since ¹⁄₃ of my night was spent either waiting for a server who didn’t know what she was doing or waiting in line at the bar for a drink. And no one likes missing the fun.
So there you have it, Unilocal.My 100^th review. Now for a drink…

I went with a friend on July 4. We were surprised that the ship seemed full of couples! Hadn’t thought about the fourth being a romantic holiday… Once we got over the shock (and the fact neither of us had bought the other roses or champaign!) we settled in and had a fun time.
We stayed at our tables until the bufett was open. I suggest getting your dinner and eating quickly if you want to score a seat upstair.
Each deck had its own dance floor. We felt a bit jipped. We were located on the bottom deck and the DJ wasn’t playing the best music, IMHO. The deck above ours had great music and the floor was packed.
There was also a DJ in the upper deck. It was so fun to dance outside with beautiful views of the Chicago skyline.
I had a lot of fun, However it was a little strange to be surrounded by couples all night. Next time I’ll either bring more friends or go with a date.

Worse costumer service ever .very bad experience almost the whole boat reserved and no tables for my reservation , it was supposed to be a dress code. just my party everyone else aboard ghetto saggy pants smoking marihuana on the back beautiful cruise bad very bad service.

The Buffett is soooooo whack. My god.
$ 50, 6 food options, one complimentary mimosa. If it wasn’t Mother’s Day I’d be enraged. I’ve never turned down a second round at a Buffett… until now.
Of course the staff was super friendly and helpful so kudos to them. However I came here for brunch not to mingle with the friendly staff… Pull it together spirit of Chicago.
Oh yea, DJ Chris is legit!

Did the St. Patty’s Day boat ride in mid-​afternoon. Weather was perfect during the city’s «heat wave» (was 50 degrees). What fun! Great views. Buffet style food was surprisingly good! Bathrooms were even larger than expected. I usually get motion sickness but had no issues on this smooth ride. I’ll thank that gorgeous captain from San Diego for taking such good care of me and my co-​workers! A great way to see Chicago!

Such a pleasant surprise… Let me explain… First, I did not plan on going on a mini-​quick cruise, I decided to check out the Navy Pier and upon leaving the inside shop area and stepping outside, I was met with a view of Santa Claus on a ship waving to everyone with crew members by his side. I had some time to kill and needed to speak with Santa directly as I have not been getting what I have been wishing for the past couple of years so why not try this experience out?
I quickly walked to the window as it seemed that the ship was going to be pulling off shortly and the attendant verified that we made it just on time as they actually were about to pull off. Once on, your met with the managing crew and are encouraged to take a photo by a crew member which will later come around to you and you will be able to purchase the photo!
I was seated on the second floor and was met by a great waitress (cannot remember her name). The service throughout the experience was attentive, kept my glass full every time and kept encouraging us to dance and enjoy the buffet! The food (might I say) was good, I had the salmon, tilapia, chicken tenders and fries… All which were seasoned and temperatured well. Also, due to Unilocal’s check in offer, I was able to get a FREE alcoholic beverage which was made just right (they did not skip out on the alcohol).
Throughout the cruise, the music remained pumping, kids and grown ups were dancing on the dance floor, people were going on deck to take on the Chicago weather and views… And this was all while you maintained your own privacy if you choose to remain at your table.
I would highly recommend this for tourists and locals alike, this was actually a good time without the cheesiness, the staff encourages you to be engaged and have fun. I will most def be returning back and I hope you do too.
BTW — if you see Santa around, please let him know me and him need to exchange words and I’ll meet him on the deck at 3′ o’clock!