We went true the Panama Canal while half of the crew didn’t make the trip, so the ship was very busy and too few crew members to handle the ship, there was a line for everything almost anytime. Furthermore the ship was not well maintained. We’re not going back

I wish I would have written this review earlier and maybe saved a lot of these reviewers some money, aggravation, disappointment, etc. but I wanted to hope that our experience was a rarity. In April of 2022, we started to reach out to the Island Princess for a corporate event for late June of 2022. We had visitors coming in from Europe and Asia, as well as across the US and it was the first time since the pandemic that this much of the team was going to be together. I then spent the next couple of months trying to pin them down on their location (red flag: based on everyone I spoke with at Island Princess and Marriott, they had left their spot at the Marriott under bad circumstances), the contract (I was chasing them down to get THEM to send a contract and payment info!!), the food and drink menu and the logistics (so many red flags there - one person told us they make all the food arrangements, another told us they order from whatever local or chain restaurant we prefer, a third said they use the chef at Pirates Resort, who was impossible to get ahold of)… the main problem was really getting anyone to respond to me. Emails, calls, texts, they mostly went unanswered except a couple of time when Chris emailed or called with some reason/excuse or another but reassuring me we would be all set for the June event, and I felt bad for this struggling small business. A couple of weeks before the event date, when we were finally about to cancel and make other arrangements, one GREAT employee contacted me and was very responsive and reassured me all would be well. We worked together on the panning for a couple of weeks, until late in the week prior to the event when she texted me to tell me she was no longer with the Island Princess. (Worrisome!) Cut to the day before the event and I get a call from the first mate/deckhand (NOT one of the owners, NOT the captain) who tells me that they failed their Coast Guard inspection and would not be able to fulfill the contract. I had ONe day to make and communicate alternate arrangements for a large group of travelers who wanted to be on the water. In that moment I thought “Fool, you can’t even let yourself be surprised by this.” I never for one moment doubt they didn’t pass their Coast Guard inspection - a company that disorganized was likely not keeping up on basic safety regulations for their vessel - but it was also a convenient excuse for them to not honor their contract which I don’t think they really ever planned to do. I knew if I waited, this business would close down. It’s not just a slip rental issue. This was a poorly run, likely unsafe (not according to me, ask the Coast Guard!), completely non customer focused business. If you read this far, you should know that we immediately contacted The Boathouse in Stuart. They were SO responsive and Waleska made the quickest arrangements for a group event that I’ve ever seen, she did it with such pleasure, the food as always was great, we had the upstairs private room with a bar so it was the perfect vibe, and it is right on the water so our guests could go walk on the boardwalk and the floating dock. Now we almost exclusively visit one of their family of restaurants or use them for catering when we have a company event. THAT is the kind of business that you want to do business with!!

Beautiful views and good experience. The crew member is very friendly and helpful. The tour has 1 and half hours and it is good time to enjoy the river and beautiful scenic sign along the river.

Great service love the tour plan on booking more with them peaceful relaxing, and good service. Thank you would highly recommend.

Very nice relaxing outing with plenty of information. Staff was efficient and friendly and the whole process was error free.

It was a pleasant boat ride. But it was basically riding around for 90 minutes. We saw houses owned by the rich. Saw some pelicans. I was hoping for a little more.

The cruise was fine, the staff was great but getting to the boat was totally frustrating. We got stopped at a crossing, waiting for a lengthy train on our way from Jupiter to Stuart. When my GPS indicated that we would be late for our cruise, I looked up the phone number for Island Princess Cruises. Unbelievably, I had to listen to a recording, giving me 9 different options for other recordings - there was NO way to speak to a human. I reviewed the directions given by Island Princess once we got to the resort where the boat was docked so that we could hurry down once we arrived. The instructions said that we should look for the Dockmasters office and there we would find signs for Island Princess so we rushed to the office...NO sign. I frantically ran around the dock area and finally found a small sign near the hotel's restaurant. We made the cruise but based on the experience, it is a very poorly-run business.

We went on a lunchtime cruise today and we had fabulous time. Staff is super friendly and the views are breathtaking. We had a tasty lunch and few cheeky Bloody Mary cocktails. I would definitely recommend it, if you are here in Stuart!

I think most of the reviews here are for the standard daytime set river cruises, as our group of 40 did not have a great experience. If you choose to stop reading here, please see the pictures, as they tell most of the story. This was a private charter for 40 people with dinner and an open bar. From the videos on YouTube and the pictures that we reviewed, the boat looked like a great experience. So we booked it, and figured that the nearly 5 digit price tag would be worth it. When booking, they were very responsive and spoke to me on the phone to answer my questions. About a month before our trip, I called and sent an email asking to update our dinner order to add a dessert. No reply. 3 days before our trip, I wanted to confirm everything, so I called again. No call back from my voice mail. 2 days before the trip, I call the regular line to book the stock cruises and spoke to someone in person, they were not able to help me but said someone from the private charter would call me back. Finally spoke with someone to finalize the plans, and they asked me what we were doing and if we were having dinner or what on our cruise. I was very concerned at this point with their lack of knowledge of our trip- even though the invoice was paid in full 4 weeks prior, that clearly listed the details of the meal and everything! We worked out the details and moved forward. They did make sure to tell me that I chartered the boat from 7pm to 10pm, so if we were late arriving, and left the dock late due to that, the cruise would still end at 10. Upon arrival to the ship, everything started to unravel. We arrived at the boat at 7pm sharp as instructed. They were about half prepared for our group. The food was half set up. No silverware was out. No one was behind the bar ready to serve drinks, at EITHER of the 2 bars on board, one upstairs and one down. The first mate was working very hard and had a great attitude. He was very pleasant, and frankly I was embarrassed for him. He was really hustling, but they needed at least another hour to prepare. He was constantly running back and forth, upstairs and back down to man the bar. We had just gotten off a bus from 30 min away, so a few guests wanted to use the restroom. The mate had to go down in a hatch through the floor right between the food and the bar to “prime” the water pump so the toilets would work. One of the bathrooms was “Out of Order,” and the other was pretty disgusting. (see attached pictures). The boat looked like a Fraternity had just completed a day drinking cruise. Trash and chairs stacked up completely blocking a doorway. (See attached pictures) During my phone call to work out the details of the cruise a few days prior, they asked me where I wanted to go? I told them we were open to anything, we just wanted to see the sights, so she mentioned a really pretty bridge that had a lot of lights and would be very pretty for the guests to see. We never saw anything nice. Pulled a 360 more than once during the cruise, and never had any kind of interaction from the captain except for telling everyone to sit down to leave the dock and to sit down to re-dock at the end. Then he proceeded to tell everyone to “abandon ship” and to “get off my boat”. Honorable mention, the cruise docked and ended at 9:30, so we got shorted 30 minutes of time. This was a group of medical professionals who don’t really have super high or glamorous standards, but this was just bad. Don’t make the same mistake we did. It was not professional and not fun. Spend $30 bucks during the day and see the sunset with a bunch of other people and get a boxed lunch, don’t plan a nice cruise.

Tripadvisor is usually very accurate with reviews.......they got this one wrong! I can't believe other people thought this was a good cruise. We booked boat for a private professional group with 40 people for sunset dinner cruise. We were literally embarrassed for our guests 5 minutes after boarding. It looked nothing like the pictures online. The boat is in rough shape. Outdated, dirty, old, wood rot everywhere. We had a few guests that hesitated to board as we approached on the dock. Second, the crew with the exception of the first mate/bartender, were frankly rude and unresponsive to most of our guests and seemed unengaged. Third, as soon as we boarded, there were no drinks or reception. The bar was closed and we just sat there waiting as the Captain shouted to us to sit down as we left the dock. Forth, the dining room was poorly set up and disorganized with no place settings or utensils set. Nothing like the pictures. There were garbage cans and supplies piled up in the little galley bar n front overflowing with empty boxes and filled garbage bags. It smelled like sour sewer bilge water. There was a row of a few chafing dishes lined up a single side table only. The food was garden variety early-bird buffet. One salad dressing, no dessert. Proteins were OK but I saw many half-eaten plates going in the trash. I saw several of our guests snatch potato chip bags from the untended galley just to get something else to eat. We admittedly did not purchase the full wine and liquor open bar option up front, but we were so embarrassed for our guests, we immediately gave them a credit card and opened a tab to try and improve the experience. The Captain did not talk to us or tell us anything during the cruise. No information, no welcome, no jokes or stories? We decided to take over the PA music system just to liven things up. The Captain did allow a few of the young women to steer the boat for a few minutes which was nice, but he was frankly rude and short to most of the gentlemen guests. When we returned to the dock the Captain shouted "Abandon ship, get off my boat!" We were not sure if he was joking or serious, but we realized quickly he was serious? We contacted the company privately the next day, and they basically told us we got exactly what we paid for! They were apologetic that we did not enjoy the dinner cruise but offered no recompense or compensation. We asked most of our guests what they thought, and they recommended we seek a refund. This has never happened in the 18 years we have done this with these guests. Certainly not the experience of others as depicted online and through Tripadvisor? Honestly, we felt this was fraud and sham? Beware.

A treat for us and our Michigan-based adult children. The narrator was obviously well informed and skilled. We enjoyed the entire trip and recommend it.

What a great river cruise! We made it a family affair with my mom, husband and daughter. The houses really are incredible. The narration is fun and I learned a bunch of fun facts, but it really Needs to be updated. The boxed lunch was really good. The cushioned seating around the boat really needs an upgrade. It looks very old. The crew was great, there’s plenty of snacks and they will keep the drinks flowing. Its an odd thing to float by and watch people golf on one of the most exclusive golf courses in the world, and you’ve paid to see it, lol. We did wave to a group playing and they did wave back, so that was fun. Oh, to be insanely rich. And bring sunscreen! If you stay on top of the boat and don’t continue to reapply, the sun will get ya. And I’m from Florida. Whoops. Thank you for a fun day!!!

We did the 4.5hr lunch cruise Easy to find the departure location, lots of parking. Lunch was a nice croissant with ham, turkey and cheese. Tomato, lettuce, mayo, salt and pepper came on the side. Fruit and cookie as well. Great views of the river and the homes along the river. The taped commentary needs updating they talk about Olivia Newton John in the present and she is past. The boat could use some TLC, paint and polish. This is very noticeable while boarding. The reason for three stars is there was a foul smell in the main cabin area. When we asked about it we were told they didn't know what the smell was maybe diesel, it was not diesel is smelt like backed up sewer. Suggestions to those that book this tour: Arrive early get in line (30 mins) go to the back of the boat and go up top. Be prepared to be outside because the smell on Feb 25, 2023 was unbearable. Unfortunately there is not enough room for all outside (on a busy Saturday) I would bring out of town guest and go again I'd just make sure to get there early to get outside!

I tried to surprise my husband for a valentine's day getaway. We stayed in A beautiful hotel. (Home 2 Hilton) very clean, great views & quiet. I planned a 90 minute boat ride around the St. Lucie River. It was too windy, therefore, they canceled and refunded my money. Very disappointing. However, we went out to the Martin County Fair and a seafood restaurant and enjoyed our trip.

Everything was Great the Crew was friendly and attentative we had a blast time and the sunset was Awesome!