Paradise Charter Cruises and Minneapolis Queen

The staff on our rainy mini cruise was super nice, very thoughtful and attentive. It was just our work group, and it was nice. I must say sitting in in the lock and damn for 40 of our 90 minutes was not too exciting, but once we got moving the great views from the second deck were a pleasure. I am glad we did not have to sit in the lower cabin where the restroom was– a bad musty smell was evident but that was probably something beyond their control.
I think the cruise makes a good group activity and would be nice for a couple as well.

It was my best friend’s surprise birthday party and this was a great place to kick start the weekend! We were in the Paradise Lady yacht which I believe the nicer, more modern of the two boats that they have. We were on the top deck where the bar was, nice! The tour was nice, however I don’t think they cover much if you are hoping it to be «educational» and «sightseeing» (al la the Chicago river tour), but this is a great activity if you have a big group who just wants to hang outage do something different. My girlfriend loved this! The food was good as well, though the Mr and I were not expecting much because usually food at these types of «touristy» places aren’t good. However the stuffed chicken and the beef tenderloins were really flavorful!
The bartender was quick, the captain was friendly and doing this at sunset is I think perfect for a party. Cheers!

What fun! We did the Sunday brunch cruise. I was worried there wouldn’t be enough tables for my husband and I to have our own but there are plenty of tables on board. We sat outside and it was delightful. The cruise went through the lock and dam, circled around by the Mill City ruins, and back down the river again over the course of two hours. The crew were all friendly as was the Captain. There was an open bar and brunch buffet. I didn’t have the buffet but it seemed quite popular.
Regarding the reviews stating these cruises are «boring» and «all we saw were trees and bridges», I’m not sure what the expectation was, it’s a Mississippi cruise. No bungee jumping, no extreme boating, no parasailing. No Alaskan wildlife (although we did see a bald eagle catch a fish!). It’s a yacht cruise. It’s relaxing, reasonably priced and fun and we will be back. What a great way to view our beautiful Twin Cities!

Not worth going on. We spent 30 minutes of the cruise going through a lock and the rest of the time passing under bridges and a bunch of trees that got old after a while. We were also on a boat with primarily indoor seating so we couldn’t always be out on the deck if it got too crowded.
This was our first time experiencing the Mississippi River so we really wanted to go on the cruise, but it wasn’t worth it.

I enjoyed my time on the Minneapolis Queen on 7÷26÷15, with the exception that commenter Linda J. was complaining near us for much of the time, both on the boat and afterwards. As a Minneapolis resident, I loved being able to see my city from a different perspective. I had also visited the Lock #1 visitor center the day before, so I was excited to actually go through the locks. The air conditioning took a little while to kick in, with a lot of people getting in the boat at once, but eventually it was fine. The announcer was helpful and audible, and the staff were friendly and nice. I never used the porta-​potty in the public park, but, I mean, what do you expect from a public toilet? It’s too bad that others had such a miserable time, because I would have liked the cruise better if they weren’t on board.

This cruise is a big disappointment. Rather boring going through locks, done that before. I called ahead and was told there was air conditioning, which was not true. When my husband purchased the tickets he was given 2 extra laminated tickets; trying to be a good guy, he walked all the way back to ticket office in the hot, humid weather on a super sunny day late in July, and was not even given a thank you for returning the two «extra» tickets after standing in line for 30 minutes waiting for ticket office to open. Worse was using the enclosed Porta Potty. Not knowing there was a rest room on the boat I made the grave mistake of walking into it. It was apparent it hadn’t been emptied in at least a year! It was absolutely repulsive! It’s very obvious their employees don’t have to use it so they do not care!!! This is one of the first things I will do when I’m off this boat is to call the Minneapolis board of health.

Great service and friendly staff. Air-​conditioned lower deck with a concession stand for food and drinks, including alcohol. However, I was disappointed with the sightseeing aspect of the cruise. A huge portion of the time was used to wait for the water of the canals to rise and recede. There wasn’t much to see except a few bridges along the Mississippi. Wouldn’t really recommend to tourists of Milwaukee. Perhaps groups that would like to hold a nice party?

We were kinda bored with this cruise. Nothing really exciting to see except couple bridges. And the voice of a narrator on a speaker was so low that you could hear it only inside. There were a lot of older people I think they enjoyed it better
The people were very nice

First, a confession: I did not know the Mississippi River flowed through Minnesota. Yes, I know, I should have paid more attention in geography class. Of course, in Minneapolis, the river is not the wide flowing river that I’ve crossed in other states. Its more, uh, normal.
While in Minneapolis for a conference, I had an opportunity to take a Paradise Charter Cruise. I was looking forward to it, as I’d never floated on the Mississippi or been through a boat lock. It was more fun than I had anticipated, and Im glad I went!
The first part of the cruise is very peaceful and beautiful, cruising up the river. You see bridges, lots of trees, a colleague pointed out an old cave where bootleggers would stash their alcohol during prohibition, and such. No, not a ton of ‘sights’, lots of tranquil beauty and a sense that you are receding from the bustle of the city.
About halfway through, the boat turns and heads towards St. Anthony Falls. Here’s where the «How It’s Made» geek comes out in me — going through the boat lock/​canal. It was really cool watching the big gates shut, then the water boil up from below, overflow the front gate, then us sail out. Here you see some very cool buildings on the banks, including the Old Mill Art Museum.
The upper lock, which takes you closer to the falls, is permanently closed to prevent northward travels of the Asian Carp, an invasive and inedible species. MN is known for it’s fishing, and this carp would damage that. Because of this lock closure, the closest you get is to peer through a bridge to the falls, you can see them, but it’s not anything like the Maid of the Mist at Niagara. Then again, the falls aren’t Niagara Falls, either.
The cruise we took was a ‘pizza cruise’, with a buffet of pepperoni or sausage pizzas and salad with Italian dressing available. Cash bar serves soft drinks, wine and beer in plastic cups. It was fine. The pizza was good, the salad was OK, and the reason you get on this boat isn’t the food.
Staff were very nice, there was really no narration but there was also none needed. It was a very pleasant way to spend an evening out of town, and i would definitely go again for the beauty, relaxation and fun.

We took the happy hour pizza cruise on the Minneapolis Princess. It was a beautiful evening and fun to see the river from a different viewpoint. We even went through a lock and dam, very interesting. The staff was excellent and accommodating. Parking was only $ 2. The drinks were on happy hour pricing and reasonable. Two reasons for only four stars; the line to get food was awkward and slow (+ the food was not too good) and the piped in pop music on the outside decks was annoying. Get rid of these two tacky things and five stars all the way.

I had my wedding reception aboard The Paradise Lady on the Mississippi River! It was an amazing experience all around. Working with Sarah before the big day was easy and she responded to all my questions very quickly! Everyone commented on how much fun they had at the reception and loved the boat! The captain let me (the bride) drive for a bit (with his supervision of course!) which was a lot of fun and a great memory I will always have! Great time!!!

This was a really nice mellow group activity. Learning about the lockes and seeing the river was really cool. It’s got to be nice weather for this to be much fun, even though the indoor sections are climate controlled.

The cruise was 1 ½ hours of trees and bridges. Thought we were going to the Locks and city view, water was too high and rough. Thank you for watching out for our safety but should’ve been given the choice to take a cruise or not when we bought the tickets. Little pricey for what we saw, no history except of the bridges. Would recommend to find another cruise of the Mississippi

Took the 90 minute Minneapolis Queen tour out of Bohemian Flats.
Unfortunately, the Mississippi River was running rough, so we could not go north through the locks for the city view.
Instead, we cruised south on a lazy, sunny day. Saw about five or six different bridges, not much else.
Five dollar beers on board.
Not a bad way to spend 90 minutes.

Loved the narrated tour and the beautiful cruise down the river.

Lovely evening cruise on the Paradise Lady — crew was very attentive, service was wonderful. We really enjoyed the Captain’s narration — we’ll definitely do it again next time we’re in town, we’d like to try the paddleboat.