Just completed a 3 hour dinner cruise on Spirit. First lets begin by saying that the ship itself is quite old and rather dingy. Not the elegant "special occasion" event that the company advertises. On this particular cruise both the second and top levels were reserved for private parties, so all the general public got seated in the lowest level where through much of the tedious three hours we were treated to DJ music so loud that no one could carry one a conversation. The very worst aspect of this event is the food -- which I would challenge any employee of this company to eat! If you think buffets are bad, this one proves to go the distance. Unlike other cruises I've been on, where a salad bar is presented first, on the Spirit the entire buffet is already out when you board and there it sits for the next 2.5 hours. The "salad bar" consists solely of chopped lettuce and two kinds of dressing.

The rolls were so stale they crumbled in your hand. The pasta tasted as if it were from a can, the steamed vegetables were mush, the chicken patties were seasoned so heavily with pepper and so overcooked they were inedible. The worst was the "beef." This was thin slices of shoe leather smothered in some strange awful sauce. My money would have been better spent had I simply taken it to the end of Navy Pier and thrown it into the water. Even the people we were seated with made snide comments about how truly terrible the food was. I used to make fun of Old Country Buffet restaurants -- but it is gourmet by comparison to what is being served here.

While I noticed that several people commented on the beauty of the skyline of Chicago, I want to add that on this ship you don't have very many comfortable places to enjoy it. If you take the fireworks cruise and it rains, you will have no where to go on the ship to watch them. This ship should sail no more!

Unorganized, unprofessional, Pathetic and Frustrating. Let me tell u a story, I went to spirit of chicago to celebrate our anniversary with my wife and they forgot a buquoet of roses which i payed for, i kept waiting but nobody entertained us. So finally, I asked the waiter and guess what before I could ask to add more fuel to the fire, stupid waiter wished me and wife a very happy birthday. Oh not to forget, food sucked too and nobody had even issued proper tickets for us, as promised on the phone that we will send u the tickets on ur mail. Its good that i remembered my confirmation number. Later on, after talking to the manager he recognized that i really had ordered and infact payed for roses so said we will reimburse you. But guess what that never happened till after 3months of continuos verbal battles. my day was ruined and i wish you dont have urs ruined.....

It's my favorite cruise in the Chi! I even think the Spirit of Chicago is better than the Odyssey! There's fun music to listen & dance to, the entertainers are great, and the food is good too! Yes, I agree sometimes the sirloin of beef is a little hard, but it's still tasty. I love the views on the Spirit of Chicago. On the deck top, the view is lovely. The whole skyline of Chicago can be seen from the whole ship in one view. It's great. I keep going on cruises all the time! I've been a recent Spirit cruiser since I love the cruise! I give it an A+++++++++ and beyond lol.

Our children took my husband and me on a dinner cruise aboard the Spirit of Chicago to celebrate his 60th birthday. Although the views and fireworks were lovely, much of the event was disappointing.

Our table by the window was very nice but the service for drinks was poor. Dinner is served buffer style. Entrees included tilapia (underdone) "sirloin" of beef (tough and overcooked) and a chicken dish I did not try. The cheesy potatoes were badly in need of salt. It could be said that 50% of the food on our plates went back to the kitchen. I kept trying to find somethng that was good so I could comment on it but there was nothing that good.

The entertainment began and it was evident from the beginning that it was going to be corny and cheesy. The evening was saved when we left the diningroom and went to the top deck. The views of Chicago were wonderful and the fireworks a nice addition.

I would recommend for people to go on a cocktail cruise on the Spirit of Chicago. The food is not worth the extra money.