Summer of George

We rented this boat for a wedding after party. Our guests can’t stop talking about the great time they had, we would do it again with no hesitation. Would also be great for a small, unique wedding ceremony and reception.

My friend and I had a wonderful time on the Summer of George pleasure boat. The crew was friendly, helpful and competent. The boat took off without a hitch… smooth sailing under clear skies as the weather in early September was warm and pleasant this evening.
This boat is great for taking it all in… The upper deck provides unobstructed views of the Chicago River skyline line, ducking under the many bridges on our way out to Lake Michigan, through the docks… Spectacular views of the city from way out in the lake… Outstanding…
The ship on the upper deck partied to DJ provided music… It was a very mixed assortment of music that anyone on the boat of all ages and backgrounds could enjoy… Latin, Salsa, Disco, Old School, Rap, Rock, Crooners… great music! …Everybody was dancing or watching them all carry on… A great time by all! A couple of the selections were set too fast as the music sounded a tad distorted… only negative thought in regards to the music.
WE HAD A GREAT TIME! … THIS IS A FUN BOAT! … WE WOULD DO IT AGAIN!
This boat can easily pull up its ratings by fine tuning a few strategic areas that need improvement…
The food… while in all honesty… coming on this boat looking for a fine dining experience, in my view is a waste of time. It’s really all about the boat ride and the spectacular views… However, the food served could have been a bit more imaginative both in selection and presentation, without having to increase the costs. The food was adequate but very average.
The bar… They need more help serving drinks… Nobody wants to stand in a long line each time they want a drink. The female bartender was attractive and doing the best she could… The girl needs competent back-​up help… Give her a hand… Get the people served faster!
The food and the bar need to be tweeted just a little and this boat can rock an easy 5 star rating!
@ STEVE G… Your 13 yr. old son sounds like a home grown spoiled brat and you’re condoning his bad public behavior by punishing the Summer of George Boat for his immaturity and your lack of good parenting! Shame on you for thinking the owners of the ship could not tell a 13yr old to knock it off… Train your kid for his first public debut or keep him at home… nobody likes unruly kids.

I held my wedding reception on board the Summer of George a few nights ago.
Guests haven’t stopped raving about how great of a time they had!
The ship is under new management since mid 2013, so I would ignore the older reviews. Lisa and Captain Rick, the new owners of the boat are awesome and easy to work with!
Captain Rick went out of his way to show us a lot more of the river and lakefront and stayed out longer than the 4 hours we had booked for, just to make sure we caught fireworks at Navy Pier.
Lisa promptly responded to my emails and answered my questions thoroughly and she helped out a lot on the night even though she had a sore throat!
The first mate Ralph was very friendly and helpful, throughout the night, as was bartender Rick. The DJ, also a Rick, played all the songs on my list, even the Indian songs I provided and was still able to accommodate a lot of guest requests.
I went with my own catering choice, for which Lisa provided Chafers and Sternos.
Lisa ordered floor length table cloth while I picked custom table runners and chair covers. I ordered my own silverware, plates and glasses and I also hired 2 helpers to setup linen, tableware, manage buffet and cleanup.
I arrived early to post some signs from the parking lot across the street which is $ 2 till midnight to where the Summer of George was docked and we decorated the boat an hour and a half before the event.
The ship was clean and ran smooth, Nature cooperated, and most importantly the guests had a great time. I highly recommend this business.
Keep in mind that if you hold an event on a ship, your experience will only be as good as your preparation.

I was invited to a promotional Friday night party on the infamous summer of George boat. There were a lot of girls dressed as if they were going to the club so I already felt like an outsider to what I was wearing. I boarded on with my friend and waited until we were finally set to right along the river. We were told not to raise our hands due to the low bridges but of course some people just don’t listen. Go downstairs to buy some drinks and found that the bartender was so such a great girl. She was so great at pouring drinks and had a great personality. I know its a boat however I do wish they had more stalls to the ladies room.
The boat set sail to the lake where the DJ’s Rick and Omar Perez has the whole party jumpin. I had a great time and can’t wait to do it again.

Don’t rent this boat!
We rented the boat for a party, the kids left a little mess. Instead of coming to me or my wife they went to my 13 year old son to complain. Instead of trying to resolve the issue with me, they choose to make my son feel bad and ruin his special day. There are other boats to rent that will appreciate your business and not use poor judgment if there is an issue.

Last month, my husband and I had our wedding reception aboard the Summer of George boat, run by Chicago Cruises. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience! All of our guests were going crazy about what an amazing time it was.
We were trying not to spend a million dollars on our wedding and I literally called EVERYWHERE in town and could not find anything that would allow us to work within our budget… even burger restaurants were charging $ 15K. It was insane. My company had a corporate event (our summer outing) on the Summer of George and I thought it might be worth a phone call… I was absolutely thrilled to find out we could have a three hour party cruise with full bar AND dinner (including DJ, linens, two bartenders) for 125 people for well below $ 10,000. That pricetag is literally unheard of in the city. AND it was a totally amazing experience.
Our guests boarded, went up and down the river, through the locks and out onto the lake. The view was spectacular (the skyline looked amazing) and it really made for a great experience for out of towners (and Chicago-​based guests all were reminded of why we love this city so much). We were all dancing in the moonlight – it was wonderful.
The boat was clean, the food was tasty, we were able to bring our own decorations, and Debby was really great to work with during the planning phase. Anything special we asked for, she found a way to make it work – including a free champagne toast!
We sent the DJ a list of songs we wanted him to play (and to avoid playing) in advance – leaving some wiggle room for him to play songs he thought would work, and to take requests – and he made it happen. We told him we wanted a more relaxed feel during «cocktail hour», then microphones for maid of honor toast/​best man speech, then the song for our first dance, then dancing music. It was all exactly as we wanted. We were really happy with the DJ.
I have planned a lot of events in Chicago over the years for my job, and this one was a snap. Everything is provided so any extra touches you care to add (flowers, wedding cake, table runners) are just icing on the cake. I was really able to be a happy, relaxed bride-​to-​be throughout my entire engagement because working with the Chicago Cruises staff was so easy.
Brides, I would highly recommend Summer of George for your wedding reception!

We rented the boat for a work event and had a great time. The staff was really nice and everyone was served well. We traveled down the river and then out through the locks to the lake. We were able to get great views of the city, and the catered sandwiches from Haray Careys was adequate. The boat was no frills, but was clean. I think its worth a shot if in your price range.

$ 55 for food and open bar on a boat is a steal, correct?
HELL NO!
While I was eating dinner on the boat, I remembered that «hot lunch» at my elementary school in 1980 was better. OK fine so at least it’s open bar right?
WRONGO! Well technically yes, but when you have 150 people on the boat and there are only two bartenders working, we had to wait a minimum of 20 minutes each time we wanted a drink. The bartender Debbie was nice and worked hard, but her co-​bartender was a total wuss and was nowhere to be found half of the time.

Not a very fancy boat of course but for the price, it doesn’t have great food or drinks (even though open bar). staff is very very nice though!
It was smooth sailing, good views of the fireworks and city architecture, comfortable amount of space, and overall an enjoyable experience, but hope food/​drinks are improved too!