Happy Hour Sightseeing Cruise
Badge of Excellence
Portland, USA
- 1 hour 30 minutes (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Hop aboard the Portland Spirit for a trip along the Willamette River with this sightseeing tour of Portland. Your captain will ferry you under some of the city's famous bridges and waterfront sights, and you'll have plenty of chances to take photos of the city right from the water. You'll also have the option to buy snacks and drinks from the onboard bistro.
- Explore Portland by boat
- The captain will provide narration along the way
- Get great photo angles from the Willamette River
- Snacks and drinks are available for purchase
What's Included
- 1.5-hour cruise on the Willamette River
- Historical narration plays on all levels of the vessel
- OPTIONAL: Bring headphones for your phone & listen to narration via our app (instruction on board)
- No meal included (food & drinks can be purchased on board)
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- 1010 SW Naito Pkwy, Portland, OR 97204, USA
Please note: A member of the Portland Spirit customer service team will contact you if there are any changes to your boarding location.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Operating hours.3:30 pm
Itinerary
Hawthorne Bridge (Pass By)
Marquam Bridge (Pass By)
OMSI (Pass By)
Tilikum Crossing (Pass By)
Ross Island Bridge (Pass By)
Oaks Amusement Park (Pass By)
Sellwood Bridge (Pass By)
Sellwood Riverfront Park (Pass By)
Waverley Country Club (Pass By)
Tom McCall Waterfront Park (Pass By)
Morrison Bridge (Pass By)
Burnside Bridge (Pass By)
Oregon Convention Center (Pass By)
Moda Center (Pass By)
Steel Bridge (Pass By)
Portland Oregon Sign (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Infant seats available
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- This is a NON Smoking Vessel
- Gluten Free options available
- Vegan options available
- Wheelchairs are able to come aboard the enclosed lower deck — please notify us when booking. Stairs are required to venture to the upper decks.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 400 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
CHARITY_J
This boat tour is relaxing. You sit and drift slowly down the water. You see bridges, an old cement factory, speed boats, houseboats, beautiful lake-front homes, sail boats, jet skis, marinas, docks, coves and more. This is not a super entertaining boat ride. It’s to relax and enjoy the scenery!! So glad I went! Totally worth the money and time!
Reviews
4.4
based on 102 reviews
Gretta_G, Sep 2025
This was a great way to see the bridges and the city. The staff is amazing! Truly enjoyed this experience ❤️
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Thank you for joining us on one of the last Happy Hour cruises of the season, and for your wonderful review! We’re so glad you enjoyed seeing Portland from the water and had a great experience with our crew. We hope to welcome you aboard again in the future. ❤️
Tracy_H, Sep 2025
Great guided tour on the water. Good food and drinks and very friendly crew. Loved this tour. No issues.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Thank you for joining our Happy Hour Cruise on the Portland Spirit! We’re thrilled to hear you enjoyed the guided tour, food and drinks, and our friendly crew. We appreciate your kind words and hope to welcome you back soon!
RODNEY_F, Sep 2025
Excellent staff and service. Really enjoyed the narration of sites and history of the Willamette River.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Thank you for cruising with us on a Portland Spirit Happy Hour Cruise! We’re so glad you enjoyed the narration and learning about the history and sights along the Willamette River. We appreciate your kind words about our staff and service, and hope to welcome you back on board soon!
Kassandra_D, Sep 2025
We attended the happy hour. I went with my disabled mother who uses a walker. Everyone was super friendly and accommodating. The scariest part was the steep ramp to get down to the boat but everyone was super helpful. The narration was great and we learned about all the bridges and some city landmarks. The chicken nachos order was huge and delicious with plenty of cheese. And we ordered a pink zinger with the souvenir cup. Zinger was delicious but the cup is kinda plain and flimsy, nothing special. Service was super friendly. Everything was clean and the ac was nice and cool. They even have a cute gift shop on board. Absolutely loved the experience overall and would definitely love to come back again. We also love that it is family owned and operated.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Thank you for joining us on our Happy Hour Cruise! We’re very happy to hear you and your mother enjoyed the narration, food, drinks and attentive service. We appreciate your kind words about our crew and our family-owned operation. They take great pride in getting people safely down the ramp, especially this time of year when the river is t its lowest point. We’ll take your feedback on the souvenir cup into consideration as we review other options in the future. We truly appreciate this feedback and hope to welcome you back for another outing on the river soon!
Anonymous, Sep 2025
Very nice experience, friendly staff! The captain assisted with our friend who was wheel chair bound.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Thank you for sharing your experience on the Portland Spirit Happy Hour Sightseeing Cruise! We’re delighted to hear you enjoyed the outing and that our captain and crew could provide extra assistance for your friend. We’re happy to make sure all guests feel comfortable and cared for.
Swathi_H, Sep 2025
Very beautiful and relaxing sight seeing boat tour. Was a new experience for me seeing Portland from the river. Well worth the money!
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Thank you for joining us on the Portland Spirit Happy Hour Sightseeing cruise! We’re so glad you enjoyed seeing Portland from the river and found the experience beautiful and relaxing. It’s wonderful to hear it was worth your time and money — we hope to welcome you back for another cruise soon!
Kraig_M, Aug 2025
Very informative information on Portland. We enjoyed the entire trip. Beautiful scenery and bridges.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Thank you for joining us on our Happy Hour Cruise! We’re so glad you and your family enjoyed the informative narration, beautiful scenery, and iconic bridges. We're happy to know the trip helped create family memories together. We hope to welcome you all back aboard soon!
Lucille_T, Aug 2025
This short boat ride down the Willamette River turned out to be very educational and a lot of fun. The weather was perfect on the day we sailed. We sat up top (after reading reviews about people not being able to hear the narrative down below) and had no problem hearing everything. We stood at a table along the side and had a perfect view of the sights along the river, including its many bridges. It was a very relaxing cruise with everyone seeming to have a great time and interacting with each other. Getting on and off was fairly easy but I would not recommend high heels. If you want to sit up top, it seems to fill up very quickly so arrive early.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Thank you for joining us on a Happy Hour Sightseeing cruise and taking the time to write a review! We’re so glad you enjoyed the narration, the views and the beautiful weather from the top deck. We appreciate your helpful tips for future guests as well. We hope to welcome you aboard again for another relaxing trip in the future!
Molly_K, Aug 2025
Interesting history shared. Great views and comfortable seats. The second half of the trip other passengers were having personal conversations making it difficult to hear the recording. If you are interested in hearing it all try to sit by a speaker!
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Thank you for cruising with us and for sharing your feedback! We’re glad you enjoyed the history, views, and comfortable seating. We understand it can sometimes be tricky to hear the narration on the top deck when people are having side conversations, and we’re currently working on installing additional speakers to improve the experience for our guests. We appreciate your tip for others, and hope you’ll join us again to enjoy the updates!
Ray_J, Aug 2025
cannot hear the entire presentation by some lady. was not loud enough, we heard less than 20%..!!!!!!??!??
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Thank you for joining us on the Happy Hour Sightseeing Cruise! We appreciate your feedback about the audio. We’ve made some recent volume adjustments, but we know it can still be hard to hear if there are louder conversations nearby. We're currently exploring options to add additional speakers under the observation deck awning to help with this. We do offer the narration via an app, too. There is a note to bring headphones for your cell phone if you wish to listen to it via the app. We appreciate your input and will share this information with the management team.
daniel_h, Aug 2025
Relaxing way to end the day. Crew was courteous and professional.
Recommend using earbuds to hear the audio.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
We’re so glad you enjoyed a relaxing end to your day aboard our Happy Hour Cruise! Thank you for highlighting our courteous crew. We agree, earbuds really help to listen to the narration, especially if there are a lot of people chatting in your area of the boat. We’d love to welcome you back soon!
Terany_C, Aug 2025
This was relaxing and it was beautiful to see the cullture of Portland. Very family friendly. Food and drinks are offered on the boat.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
We’re so glad you enjoyed a relaxing cruise and got to take in the culture of Portland! It’s great to hear you found it family-friendly and enjoyed the food and drink offerings onboard. Thanks for joining us and taking the time to write a review!
Kenric_R, Aug 2025
Nice, relaxing ride up the Willamette River. Pass under all the bridges that span from one side of the city to the other. Nice narration of the history along the Willamette River/ valley. Great views on both sides- city on one side, woods and beaches on the other side. Food and drinks/ cocktails available for purchase during the cruise.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Thank you for joining our Happy Hour Cruise! We’re so glad you enjoyed the relaxing ride, narration, and views of both the city and nature. Thank you for describing the experience for others. We hope to see you on board another cruise in the future.
Lisa_B, Aug 2025
If the Viator app is not working or you can’t print your tickets remotely, don’t worry, you are in the list and they will print your ticket at the booth for you to board. Easy boarding, great staff. Loved the happy hour cruise!!
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Thank you for sharing your experience! We’re glad the boarding process was easy and that you enjoyed our Happy Hour Cruise. While Viator is a third-party platform and we can't control what happens to their app, we always have a paper copy of reservations ready just in case so you can board without a hitch. We hope to see you again in the future!
CHARITY_J, Aug 2025
This boat tour is relaxing. You sit and drift slowly down the water. You see bridges, an old cement factory, speed boats, houseboats, beautiful lake-front homes, sail boats, jet skis, marinas, docks, coves and more. This is not a super entertaining boat ride. It’s to relax and enjoy the scenery!! So glad I went! Totally worth the money and time!
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Thank you for cruising with us on the Happy Hour Sightseeing cruise! We’re so glad you enjoyed the relaxing pace and variety of sights along the way. It’s wonderful to hear the experience was worth your time and money. Thank you for describing it in detail so others know what to expect. We hope to welcome you back for another scenic trip soon!
Soomi_L, Aug 2025
Good information about the landmarks and
Just the right amount of time to enjoy the ride.
Good times!
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Thank you for joining our Happy Hour Cruise! We’re glad you enjoyed the narration, landmarks, and relaxing pace. We hope to see you on board again soon for more good times!
Anthony_G, Aug 2025
It went way faster than I expected. I'll try the 2.5 hour cruise next time. Great hot dogs!!! I will definitely do this again.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Thanks for cruising with us—we’re so glad you enjoyed the happy hour sightseeing cruise (and the hot dogs)! The 2.5-hour dinner cruise or sightseeing-only option is a great next choice, especially if you’re looking to soak in golden hour and sunset views. We look forward to welcoming you back aboard soon!
Nazreen_H, Aug 2025
Hard to find parking close to the area. Otherwise, it was a fun cruise. Good service and beautiful vista.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Thank you for cruising with us! We're so glad you enjoyed the service and beautiful views. Parking in the downtown core can be a challenge — we do provide suggestions on our website under the “Info” section at portlandspirit.com, and we’re always happy to help with tips if you call ahead. We appreciate your feedback and hope to see you on board again soon!
Chad_L, Jul 2025
Could not hear what the guide was saying through the speakers on the side of the boat we were sitting, other than that it was a nice boat tour.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Thank you for joining us on the Happy Hour Sightseeing Cruise — we’re glad you enjoyed the cruise! We appreciate your feedback about the audio. We’ve made some recent volume adjustments, but we know it can still be hard to hear if there are louder conversations nearby. We're currently exploring options to add additional speakers under the observation deck awning to help with this. Your input helps us improve, and we hope to welcome you back aboard in the future!
Mike_D, Jul 2025
Very nice relaxing cruise on the river. Good drinks and staff very friendly. Could not hear sound for narrating trip. Needs to go through an app so you can use headphones.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Thank you for cruising with us! We're so glad you had a relaxing time and enjoyed the drinks and friendly crew. It's funny you suggested an app for the narration. We actually do offer the narration through a mobile app that works with your headphones. There’s a QR code at check-in, and our team is always happy to provide instructions if you’d like help accessing it. We'll look into ways to make that more visible on board. We appreciate the feedback and hope to see you on board again soon!
Randolph_H, Jul 2025
It’s ok if you’re looking to burn 2hrs. The trip was not what I expected. We saw some nice boathouses and that’s pretty much it. Very immature drinks, not sure any alcohol was present. Hey there early unless you’ll be sitting in the sun the entire trip (shade couches/ grabbed up right at boarding)
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Thank you for cruising with us and for sharing your thoughts. We're sorry to hear the experience didn’t quite meet your expectations. Our bartenders do pour a standard shot in each cocktail, though we know some mixers can mask the alcohol taste more than others. If you have specific feedback on anything else that could’ve improved your time on board, we’d love to hear from you directly at reservations@portlandspirit.com. We truly appreciate your input — it helps us improve!
Timothy_L, Jul 2025
Cruise, sights, staff were great! Food was horrible, drinks were weak and could not hear anything from speaker on top deck.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Thank you for cruising with us and for sharing your experience. We're so glad to hear you enjoyed the sights and appreciated our staff — that means a lot to us!
We're sorry to hear that the food, drinks and audio on the top deck didn’t meet your expectations. We take that feedback seriously and will be reviewing it next week with our executive chef, bar manager, and service director. We'll also inspect the top deck speakers to ensure they're working properly.
Your comments help us improve, and we hope to have the opportunity to provide a better experience on a future cruise.
Alice_B, Jul 2025
We brought a group of nearly 20 on the river cruise and it was thoroughly enjoyable! Golf cart assistance was available to help some of our attendees with the ramp down to the dock, and back up again after the cruise. We enjoyed the options for indoor seating or the chance to sit in the sun with some breeze in our hair. The narration provided details about the area and the history that even surprised some of our local gals, while providing a bit of local history for our visiting friends. This was a nice way to spend part of the afternoon after a busy morning of touring the city. Our booking with Viator was easy to make and make changes to within the permitted timeline. I would definitely use their service again.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hi Alice, thank you for choosing our Happy Hour Sightseeing cruise for your group of 20! We're thrilled everyone enjoyed the experience, from the assistance down the ramp to the mix of local history that surprised even your Portland locals. It sounds like the perfect way to unwind after your busy morning of city touring. We'd love to welcome you back for another Portland Spirit cruise in the future!
Gerald_P, Jul 2025
Narration did not work for 1/3+ of the cruise Had to ask three or four people to get it turned up so we could hear. This was important to us as my wife is blind!
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hi Gerald, thank you for joining us for the Happy Hour Sightseeing cruise. We appreciate you sharing this feedback with us. We did learn that the cruise manager was having technical difficulties with the narration on the Crystal Dolphin, and ended up jumping on the microphone to give live narration of the sites for the duration of the cruise. We're disappointed this occurred during your cruise, particularly given how important the audio experience was for your wife. We understand how frustrating it must have been to have to ask multiple times to get the narration. The problem has since been identified and corrected. We'd love the opportunity to provide you both with the experience you deserved. I will be reaching out to the email on your booking. Please watch for an email from me!
Jo_D, Jul 2025
Dull. The service was great, got help taking my mother down and up the steep ramp by a wheelchair they provide. Parking is very close. But the boat ride itself was dull.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Thank you for your feedback and for cruising with us. We're glad to hear our crew was helpful and that the boarding process and parking worked well for you and your mother. We're sorry to hear the cruise itself didn’t feel engaging — we’re always working to enhance the onboard experience and appreciate you sharing your perspective. We are looking to change out the background music on the Happy Hour Cruise to make it a little more upbeat without being too distracting. If you have any other ideas, please feel free to share them at reservations@portlandspirit.com. Thank you!
CATHERINE_R, Jul 2025
Beautiful weather, great narration, very informative, very impressed by Portland, good drinks, would do it again
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Thank you for joining us on the Happy Hour Cruise! We’re so glad you enjoyed the beautiful weather, informative narration and drinks from the full-service bar. It’s great to hear you left with a great impression of Portland — we’d love to have you back aboard anytime!
Georgia_F, Jul 2025
Doesn’t actually have a happy hour vibe. The narration is uninspired and the music is boring. I actually fell asleep. On the plus side, the vessel is steady and the seating is very comfortable even on the observation deck. If you’re simply looking for an hour of relaxation then this is the cruise for you.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Thank you for cruising with us and for taking the time to share your thoughts. While we’re glad to hear you found the vessel comfortable and relaxing, we're sorry the overall vibe didn’t meet your expectations. We appreciate your feedback about the narration and music — we're currently exploring new background music options to better complement the onboard narration that hopefully strikes the right balance of being upbeat without being too distracting.
Stephanie_C, Jul 2025
We had a great time. The only thing that was a bit sad was we couldn't hear the narration during the cruise. Please consider a bluetooth option for people to hear the interesting information. We enjoyed ourselves enough that when we come back to Portland, we plan on enjoying all of the cruises available.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Thank you so much for joining us — and for the kind words! We’re thrilled to hear you had a great time and that you’re already planning to come back for more cruises. That means a lot to us!
We appreciate your feedback about the narration. We do have the narration available through Bluetooth for guests who bring their own headphones and can access it via their phone, and we also have the full narration available in written form. That said, you’re absolutely right — we don’t typically highlight that option on our Happy Hour Cruise since the narration plays throughout the boat. We'll take a closer look at how we communicate that moving forward. Thanks again for the helpful suggestion, and we can’t wait to welcome you back aboard soon!
susan_w, Jul 2025
Narrated cruise on the Portland Spirit is well worth the 1.5 hours and the cost. Views are beautiful
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Thank you for cruising with us! We're so glad you enjoyed the views and felt the experience was worth the time and cost. We hope to welcome you back aboard again in the future!
John_N, Feb 2025
Very relaxing ride riding down the river. Great view of the city and the surrounding areas. Very easy to move around the boat for views
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Thank you for cruising with us on our Happy Hour Sightseeing Cruise last summer! We're so glad you had a relaxing time and enjoyed the beautiful views of the city and surrounding areas. We love hearing that guests find it easy to move around and take in all the sights. We hope to welcome you aboard again this summer!
From $41.00
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Happy Hour Sightseeing Cruise
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