2.5-hour Dinner Cruise on Willamette River
Description
The best way to dine in Portland, Oregon — on the Willamette River enhanced by dazzling city sights and lights. You'll enjoy an evening featuring Northwest cuisine (locally sourced and prepared fresh on board), live piano music and narration of the sights on the outer decks. This two and a half hour cruise on the Willamette River is perfect for Portland natives and newcomers alike. Vessel is subject to change.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Board The Portland Spirit
We'll pass under the Hawthorne, constructed in 1910, is the oldest vertical lift bridge in operation in America. In a typical year, daily traffic on the Hawthorne Bridge averages 30,000 vehicles and 5,000 cyclists.
Travel under the Interstate 5 bridge also known as Marquam Bridge. Marquam bridge’s main span is 440 feet long and the two side spans are each 301 feet long.
Cruise by OMSI and see the USS Blueback, a barbel class submarine in the United States Navy.
Tilikum Crossing, Portland’s newest bridge, opened in 2015 for foot, bicycle, and public transportation traffic only. The bridge features 178 LED lights that are set to change color and speed according to the temperature of the water, the direction of the tide and speed of the river.
You'll pass under the Ross Island Bridge, designed by famed engineer Gustav Lindernthal. Gustav designed bridges over the Hudson River in Ohio and dozens of other rivers in the United States.
Cruise by the oldest continually operating amusement park in the country. Oaks Amusement Park opened in May 1905 and is just 3.5 miles south of Downtown Portland.
You'll pass under the Sellwood Bridge, Portland's southernmost bridge. The bridge is the busiest two-lane crossing in Oregon, carrying about 30,000 vehicles a day. It replaced a two-lane bridge originally built in 1925 that stood for more than 90 years.
This 7-acre park is a haven for dog lovers with its off-leash dog area and sandy beaches.
Cruise by Waverley Country Club, one of the first golf clubs in the west, established in 1896. Fifty years before the construction of Waverley Country Club on the current site, its history can be traced back to Henderson Luelling, known as the Johnny Appleseed of the West. It is believed by many that the presentation of the green jacket at the Masters started at Waverley.
The Island represents part of an ancient volcano that erupted about 40 million years ago. The large, jagged rocks found throughout the area are Waverly Heights Basalt that were formed by lava flows and may be the oldest exposed rocks in the Portland area. Only on the dinner cruise can you see this island up close as we pass by it on our way to Lake Oswego.
Lake Oswego is a city located in Clackamas County, but has small portions extending into Washington County to the west and Multnomah County to the north.
Foothills park was completed in 2005 and has become one of Lake Oswego’s premier riverfront parks.
Cruise under the Morrison Bridge, named after a Scottish immigrant, John L. Morrison, who built the first home on Morrison Street.
We turn around at the Steel Bridge before heading back to the dock. The Steel Bridge is quite remarkable for all its design characteristics. It is the world's only double deck bridge with independent lifts.
Cruise under the Burnside Bridge, distinctive for its Italian Renaissance-style towers and was made famous by its architect Joseph Straus, who was also the architect for the famed Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
The Burnside Bridge is a great spot to view the "Portland Oregon" sign also known as the "White Stag" sign, which we’ll pass on the port side of the vessel.
Cruise by much of Tom McCall Waterfront Park which has 36 acres of open space and is host to a variety of events throughout the year.
The Rose Quarter campus includes the Veterans Memorial Coliseum and Moda Center. The Moda Center has a seating capacity of nearly 20,000 for NBA basketball games and is the current home of the Portland Trailblazers.
The Oregon Convention Center is easy to recognize from the water due to its two blue-green glass spires.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- 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 is a NON Smoking Vessel
Reviews(532)
We got to the ship at 7pm and were the last people to board. All the other people were seated and had started their dinners. We were not aware that being early would be a benefit.
Great cruise and food. Smooth ride; Photo option prior to boarding. $20 optional photo purchase. The steelhead and cherry -yaki w/ the mashed potatoes was top tier! The French & Espresso Martini drinks were delicious. Great bartender! Brad was our server, friendly and great service energy. Great teamwork in customer service. Views were great with a beautiful sunset. The option to go out to the side of the boats was great! I wish on the inside area they would provide a speaker on the route but the map provided was suitable. The piano experience could be adjusted to maybe a saxophonist or violinist. 10/10 Recommend stop if in the PNW.
A lovely experience. Such a nice way to see the city from the ship and enjoy a delicious meal. Service was great and very welcoming atmosphere. Thoroughly delighted with my selection to do in Portland.
Thank you for joining us on the Portland Spirit Dinner Cruise! We're thrilled you found it to be such a lovely way to experience Portland from the water. It's wonderful to hear you enjoyed the delicious meal, welcoming service, and beautiful river views. Thank you for making us part of your visit to Portland, and we hope to see you again someday!
My parents thoroughly enjoyed this experience! They said the food was surprisingly delicious and the staff was very pleasant. They also enjoyed the live entertainment!
Thank you for choosing the Portland Spirit Dinner Cruise for your parents! We're delighted they enjoyed the delicious food, pleasant crew, and live entertainment. We appreciate your kind review and hope to welcome your family aboard again soon!
The food was wonderful with many options for main course. I had the lamb and my husband had braised boneless ribs. Both were excellent and well prepared. Our waiter Jeff was very informative as well as a great waiter. The sights are very nice and lots of beautiful homes. If you see kids out by the shore be prepared for their version of entertainment! I’ll let you find that out on your own! I would highly recommend and if you have trouble with motion sickness you will be fine.
Thank you for the wonderful review! We're delighted to hear you enjoyed the lamb and braised short ribs, as well as Jeff's attentive and informative service. We'll be sure to share your kind words with him. We're also glad you enjoyed the scenery and appreciated your teaser about the kid's version of entertainment! Thank you for mentioning the smooth ride as well. Many first-time cruisers are pleasantly surprised by how stable the Portland Spirit is on the river. We truly appreciate your recommendation and hope to welcome you back aboard again soon.
Enjoy the night. Dinner was great. Servers were friendly. Beautiful evening. What would make it better? Seeing a sunset.
Thank you for joining us on the Portland Spirit Dinner Cruise! We're so glad you enjoyed the delicious dinner, friendly service, and just a beautiful evening out on the river. We hope you'll join us again in the future!
The dinner cruise had two levels with great views of the sites and many bridges along the river. Each floor had a piano player and plenty of friendly staff to serve food and drinks. We were able to walk around the upper deck outside which was nice. The food & drink variety was good and delicious.
Thank you for joining us on the Portland Spirit Dinner Cruise! We're so glad you enjoyed the beautiful views, live piano music, outdoor deck access and friendly service from our crew. It's wonderful to hear you enjoyed the variety of food and drink options, too. Thank you for the recommendation and for taking the time to share your experience. We hope to welcome you back aboard again soon!
Beautiful evening, great company, reasonably priced, very enjoyable. Food was ok, service was a little rough. It took nearly 45 minutes from the time we sat down for my girlfriend to get a cocktail, I even tried to go to bar and order, he took my order, left me standing there waiting for a few minutes, then told me he was too busy and to order from my server (whom after 30 minutes) we hadn’t met yet). I noticed quite a few other patrons looking around wondering if someone was taking care of them. It wasn’t an ordeal with us as we are very patient and enjoyed each others company, but I would suggest the server staff to acknowledge the guests in a timely manner and get those drink orders right away. Thats money right? We’d definitely do it again, spending time with each other on the river on a gorgeous night was definitely memorable!
Thank you for joining us and for taking the time to share your feedback. We're glad to hear you enjoyed the beautiful evening, the scenery, and most importantly the opportunity to spend quality time together on the river. That said, we're disappointed to hear about the delays you experienced with beverage service. After reviewing your comments and the number of guests onboard that evening, this sounds slower than what we would normally expect. Guests should be greeted promptly and have an opportunity to place drink orders shortly after being seated. We appreciate you bringing this to our attention. We will be sharing your feedback with our entire management team and speaking with the cruise manager and server on duty that evening so we can better understand what happened and identify opportunities for improvement. We're grateful for your patience and understanding, and we're pleased that despite the service delay you still found the evening memorable and would consider cruising with us again. We hope to have the opportunity to provide you with the seamless experience on your next visit!
All the crew and staff were helpful and friendly. Lacey was our server, and made the excursion exceptional. She was quick to meet our needs, she was cheerful and outgoing and knowledgeable. More excursions need employees like her. She was thorough ensuring that we had every thing we needed to make the excursion a once in a lifetime event. She also helped with dietary questions and issues.my wife has mobility challenges and I was going to push her up the ramp in a wheelchair, but the captain stepped in with a electric wheelchair mover, that moved her up the ramp (at low tide) easily.
Thank you for joining us on the Portland Spirit Dinner Cruise and for sharing such a thoughtful review. We're thrilled to hear Lacey helped make your evening exceptional. We'll be sure to share your kind compliments with her. She'll be delighted to know her attentiveness, knowledge and cheerful personality made such a positive impression. We're also pleased our crew was able to assist your wife with boarding. Making the experience accessible and comfortable for all guests is very important to us, and we're glad the wheelchair caddy system helped make boarding easier. Thank you for recognizing both our crew and service team. We truly appreciate your recommendation and hope to welcome you back aboard for another cruise in the future.
What a beautiful way to spend an evening! Great food and drinks, lovely scenery, and relaxing music as well.
Thank you for joining us on the Portland Spirit Dinner Cruise! We’re so glad you enjoyed the beautiful scenery, relaxing music, and delicious food and drinks. We appreciate your kind review and hope to welcome you back aboard again soon!
