Showboat Branson Belle

Overall, a truly enjoyable time the performances were super fun. The food and waiters were absolutely fantastic it seemed like they were giving a show themselves and we tipped well. With the torrential downpours that had occurred we were nervous about if the boat would go out and in the end it did leave shore. During intermission we had the unique experience of one of the boats generators going out and we had to be towed back in to shore by a tug boat. Yet, through all that craziness they still put on an amazing show and made it fun when the lights were out and it was storming making it quite the unique experience everyone was still having a good time. I also had an interesting time because during the intermission when we were getting rowed in I was running around the decks and meeting people and out in the freezing rain. Found out that some of the fun people I had met were in the show itself which I found out when they came out on stage. Fantastic time and super professional from the musician/​host to the singers and the tap dancers it was a great time!

If you are looking for a show that caters to the older crowd, this show’s for you. The service was good; the food was par. As a young family, this experience was not for us. The saving grace for this show was the magician and host for the evening. Probably will come back in 30 years when I’m much older.

I chose not to book tickets after discovering a nearly $ 15 per ticket «taxes and fees» charge. When I called to inquire what the break down on the tax rate and fee was, the customer rep did not have an answer. No where on their website does it mention this fee as part of the cost until you go to check out. There is no printed explanation itemizing the costs. I was expecting to pay $ 161.22 for 3 tickets and the total added up to be $ 203.00. I understand there are often fees on top of ticket prices, but please be upfront and post the true price instead of being deceptive about the actual cost of the ticket. It annoyed me enough to decide on an alternative activity. There are plenty to choose from in Branson.

I had an amazing time on showboat. Food was great, even had a vegetarian option for me. Our waitress Merry was terrific! The show was lovely, I love how at the end they paid tribute to our war vets. Thank you for the great time!

We went with upgraded tickets to priority and had prime rib. With the upgrade you had more choices in your food and it was very well prepared. The show was excellent and the sunset when we docked back in was beautiful.

The show was amazing and the food was phenomenal. My wife and I had the Prime Rib and loved it! The protein was cooked to perfect and the plating was clean and beautiful. The downside is that they don’t have sweet iced tea, they have unsweet and sugar packets.

Best dinner cruise! Laughed till my sides hurt! Good, clean, fun, fun, fun. Host, Christopher James, and his funny hyper magic is hilarious! Highly recommend it if you’re planning a trip to Branson! Also, good food and excellent performing cast!

Let me start with the positive. The parking lot and grounds were attractive and clean. The idea of cruising while dinning and being entertained is nice. The wait staff was efficient and cordial. The show however, was weak. I couldn’t tell who the intended audience was supposed to be. Disney songs sung by a Miss America contestant replica singing Disney songs? I saw less than a handful of small children. The host was good and other entertainers were pretty good. The food reminded me of bland hospital food. Although, to be fair, the others in our group thought it was fine. I felt that all the effort was in the advertising and promotion of the cruise and the actual cruise was secondary. Ninety percent, by my own calculations, was 70+ years of age, however there were no shuttles to that pretty parking lot that was seriously far from the dock. I would pass on this experience if I were you, sorry, I don’t like negative reviews, but I speak the truth.

The boat show was ok. I really wanted to hear more of Branson’s best singer. Less of the rope acrobatics, more fiddle playing and less singing on her part. The ventriloquist was good and the magic was ok. The food was ok. The staff was outstanding, Leslie was the best waitress. Overall it was a fun night.

This was an exciting experience from beginning to end! The catfish surrounding the dock as you board were fun to feed while we waited in the short line to board the ship and take a photo with the steering wheel. The meal was DELICIOUS (especially desert!) and the sweet tea was perfection. Entertainment wise, my entire family was happy because of the wide variety. My cousins and I were most excited about the band playing Stevie Wonder hits, the Beatles medley and the Disney princess medley, while my grandparents were excited by the magician and tap dancing. The fun never stopped on this cruise. The MC was hilarious (I actually got to play a game on stage with him,) and all of the performers were top notch. The view on the water was gorgeous. In a nutshell, I’d take this cruise again in a heartbeat!

went to the Princess and Pirate cruise with my granddaughter of four. She dressed up and had a blast. It was very hot that day, so grandma stayed close to the a/​c area. She loved the dance on top deck, did not really eat much, to excited. The food was good. staff was great.

Food was pretty good. Service was great! Waiter was attentive and informative about local activities. The show was well put together and entertaining.

Attended the Pirate and Princess cruise today. This would be fun if your kids are 3 and under. Don’t expect much for the show or the food, neither was very good. I would also suggest fall or spring as it was hot as blazes on the deck. The staff was wonderful and the little kids seemed to have a blast. Ours (7 and 11) were over it.

I would recommend this to ANYONE visiting Branson! It was a great funny show, and you dont really notice your on the lake, river, at all. I would totally going again whenever I go back, its worth it and the food is amazingly good! The show was different and funny. They know how to grab the audience attention!

This is a great show. Food was also very tasty & service great. We throughly enjoyed the whole experience. The Showman is an act with 4 guys. They were fantastic! Everything they sang was wonderful. I liked their Beatles set the best. The magician/​comedy act was also fun. Finding the place with our GPS was not trivial. Call for directions before driving to boat.

WOW!!! Fun, fun, fun! Went with a group of 8 adults & 2 kids. A great time was had by all! Was on a family vacation visiting my brother & sister-​in-​law in Joplin & my brother thought this would be something fun for everyone. He got it so right! I honestly didn’t expect that much but was pleasantly surprised.
— Food: We were booked on the noon «dinner» cruise. Luckily, I didn’t get a chance to eat breakfast because there was a three course meal awaiting. Salad for starters. Next came the «dinner» which consisted of beef, quarter chicken w/​gravy, mashed potatoes, pea pods & to finish we had cake which we guessed was some sort of ice cream cake. We couldn’t figure out exactly what it was but we all liked the dessert a lot! (And the food too, for that matter). Coffee served upon request. Also, there was sweet tea & unsweetened tea on all the tables as well & they were refilled up until the main part of the show began which I think was around 1PM. I believe we boarded the ship around 11:40ish & there was already entertainment underway. I got the impression that we were a little late because I started to feel slightly rushed by the waitress…
— Intermission: I think this was from 12:30ish until 1pm. I kind of lost track of time because I was really trying to shovel the food down my throat so the waitress could clear the table. (At some point, I was getting anxious because I felt like I was not eating fast enough for her). Most people made potty runs, went to hang outside or attempted to finish their dessert (that would be me)… I also had to request her NOT take a few things that my family left on the table to nibble on after intermission… If you go, whatever nibbles you leave on the table may be gone when you get back.
— Entertainment: Excellent & extremely impressive!!! 5+ STARS. Our cruise featured the crazily talented Janice Martin. She is an aerial violinist — (Google/​Youtube). She also sings & plays piano. What doesn’t this lady do? She is something to experience for sure! I hadn’t made it back to my seat by the start of her performance but heard her playing «Flight of the Bumblebee» & I remember thinking, «this is gonna be good»… When I made it back inside, it got even better! She left the stage for a brief period & when she returned she did her first «aerial» performance. And to what song? … Stairway to Heaven! All I can say is if you can get to the SBB when she’s performing, DO IT! Actually, the cruise was chock full of entertainment! The emcee was performing magic throughout the dinner & there was a cool house band playing. Even one of the waitresses was dancing down the aisle & pulling some of the older gentlemen from their seats to accompany her in dance. Very cute & fun! Also, Jason Yeager (former American Idol contestant) belted out some tunes. And there was also ventriloquist Phil Hughes who was funny as hell! Bravo to all!
Note: There is some audience participation throughout for kids & adults if you’re game.
— Summing it up: $ 50. not bad at all for good food & great entertainment! I think another 30 minutes added to cruise time/​intermission would be nice. Also, the «stars» of the show line up outside as you exit the theater area. Go say hello :-)
— Be warned: When the entertainment starts, the table service stops. The curtains on the windows are shut & lights out for the remainder of the show. Also, the seating is somewhat cramped. There are long rows of tables so just be aware, you may have to squeeze down an aisle to get to your seat.
–Overall: So happy we did it! You should too!

Fun little time! Good food and entertainment! Boarding and seating was a breeze! Staff very friendly!

It was fun. The family enjoyed. Dover could have been better. Our waiter was not attentive. We were never offered souvenir mugs with specialty drinks, nor coffee, as other sections, around us were.

My husband and I like to do dinner cruises in every city that we can. When we found out Branson had a dinner cruise, we knew we had to check it out.
There are a lot of great things about the Showboat Branson Belle. First, they have an amazing military discount. My husband’s ticket was only $ 25, which is such a great deal for a dinner cruise. Second, the dinner cruise was a lot longer than expected. They let you board as early as 3 PM. The cruise itself takes place from 3:45 PM to 6:30 PM. Third, our server was amazing. He was extremely attentive, friendly, and made sure our drinks were filled all night long. Fourth, they had free lemonade, tea, and hot coffee. Fifth, the food came out really quickly. i think we were eating by 4 PM, which was a lot sooner than I was expecting. Sixth, the entertainment was fabulous. They had a group of male tap dancers, a group of male singers, a live band, and a female soloist. All of them were FANTASTIC and had so much energy. They also played a lot of familiar music. We had swing dance music for dinner. During the show (which was about 60 – 75 minutes), they played Disney songs, the Beatles, popular movie songs, and Motown. Finally, I loved that there was enough time for us to explore the boat. You just can’t beat the views of the water from the top deck. In addition to the beginning of the cruise, there was also about 45 minutes set aside after dinner for us to explore the boat,
I think the only reason I can’t rate this at 5 stars is that the food was subpar. We had a salad, beef, chicken, mashed potatoes, cooked pea pods, and ice cream cake. The salad was pretty plain. The meal itself came out hot, but just wasn’t anything special. Furthermore, I think the chicken was pretty dry. The dessert was also pretty average. Don’t get me wrong… the food wasn’t terrible by any means. It was more the fact that the food was only OK and I was expecting so much more.
Some other notes… be sure to get here early. I think last call for boarding might be as early as 3:30 PM. Second, parking is free. Third, they take volunteers for a few of the acts during the show. If you don’t want to participate, just sit tight and they won’t bother you. Fourth, I was a little disappointed that most tables are away from the windows. I really like looking out at the water on a dinner cruise, but I understand that the purpose of this cruise was more entertainment than views. Finally, the host for the night is a comedian/​magician. While some of his jokes were corny, I thought he was energetic and pretty funny.
In sum, 5 star experience with 3 star food. Definitely a great way to see a show and check out the lake in Branson.

We were on the cruise yesterday and had a blast! The show was great! The magician was very good and was also very funny. He selected my daughter’s friend to go onstage as his assistant and she loved it.
The rest of the performers were also very good — the acapella were great at harmonizing and the aerialist/​violinist/​soprano singer was very good too.
The food was excellent — I particularly loved the roast beef, the chicken was average, but the dessert was very tasty.