I was worried about the mixed reviews, but my husband and I went anyways. I am happy to report…read morethat we had a wonderful time! If you show up with reasonable expectations, I think you will enjoy this experience as much as we did. The boat is really nice and fairly new (less than a year old). It has three decks (two covered and one rooftop), two bars, and several bathrooms. It holds about 300 passengers. The trip to Blake Island took about 45 minutes and there are beverages/snacks available for purchase. I've had motion sickness before, but I felt totally fine on this boat! The water was really calm and it just felt like a ferry boat ride. On the trip over, George (our host) gave a nice presentation on the history of Seattle. He had a microphone, so it was easy to hear him. It was quite informative and I thought he did a really good job. Once you arrive at Blake Island, you are welcomed with a cup of steamed clams, which were delicious. It is traditional for you to dump the empty shells on the ground and stomp on them, which was fun. The meal is served in the Tillicum longhouse. (We were on the 1:30 PM cruise, and ate around 2:30 PM, so it was more of a late lunch versus dinner). All of the seating is pre-assigned, so a host will escort you to your seat. I thought the buffet was great. There was a nice variety of items including salmon, beef stew, polenta, rice, salad, fruit, and bread. They had little fruit tarts and cookies for dessert. Everything is labeled really well in case you have any dietary restrictions. Soda/tea/coffee was complimentary with our meal, but there were also alcoholic beverages available for purchase. The Native American storytelling show was neat. It was about 15 minutes and had a mix of video projection and live dancers. I thought it was the appropriate length and well done. After the show, you have some free time before the boat goes back to Seattle. You can take a short hike, walk to the beach, relax in the totem garden, visit the gift shop, hang out at the bar, or look at the artifacts in the longhouse. George gave us some more info on the way back and we made it to Seattle on time. I thought everything went really smoothly and the entire crew was friendly. We would definitely take another Argosy cruise in the future! My last few tips: * This is a pretty unique experience because you can't get to Blake Island unless you have a friend with a boat! There are no bridges and no ferries go there. * The longhouse where you eat is the same place where President Clinton hosted the 1993 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit! There are some pictures on the wall there. * Parking near the waterfront costs about $30. I suggest parking at the Second & Seneca garage. It only cost us $10 for all day on Saturday and it's a 5 minute walk to Pier 54. * Tickets are kind of expensive, but it does include a lot (transportation, buffet, entertainment). Argosy has a couple of discounts available (AAA members, Washington State residents, "Passport" card holders, etc).

This cruise was the best!. It is the perfect time to experience your own city's tours without…read morecrowds! We selected the nature walk which included a fabulous lunch of salad, clams, salmon, chicken, rice, bread, and berry cobbler and a drink. Very generous portions and such nice staff and service at tillicum. If I could give you ten stars I would. With the governor's mandate Argosy can only have 50 folks on a 400 capacity boat and boy does that make for no issue with social distancing and everyone requires a mask so you feel very safe. I was amazed at people whom had masks on kids that are less than the age that requires it. They were so good and so cute. Seattle people this is a great time for us to support local businesses and also enjoy our own city! I highly recommend this tour it was so relaxing!

This was my second cruise. My family and I wanted to see Alaska and decided in February of 2024…read morethat the best way would be an Alaskan cruise. Especially as we were traveling with 2 people over 65. We had read that June was best for Orcas and August best for Humpback whales so we booked a June 2025 cruise. This was great as it allowed us about a year to pay it off before the cruise. My mom and her husband had one room and my sister, my son and I had another. We ended up upgrading to a balcony room and I am so glad we did. After my first cruise experience on the "FUN" cruise line, I was miserable. I was sea sick, the screaming running kids was too much, the activities kind of sucked, there were little places to relax. I was scared to ever cruise again. NCL has completely changed this for me. The good: I like the free style dining. I hated being locked into a time for a dining room especially on port days. I enjoyed being able to come and go as I wanted, not as the ship wanted. The Vibe: This ship had a totally relaxed vibe. You could chill in the atrium in the chairs and watch trivia or games. The Starbucks had comfortable chairs to watch the views outside. The observation lounge was beautiful with all different types of seating options. This was one of the best places to be during the cruising day in Glacier Bay. They also provide snacks and drinks in the observation lounge so it was truly relaxing. They offered music throughout the day. Some were great, others just made us want to leave. Overall it was a wonderful place to hand out and became a favorite place of ours. The ship itself is decorated beautifully. Much more modern and updated. All details are considered from the carpet, to the chandeliers to the stairs. I loved the art exhibits in the walkways. We really enjoyed the scavenger hunt in the art exhibit on the first night. My son and I really got into it. Port Days: NCL really takes into consideration the ease of port access. Even for some of us who have more difficulty walking or with inclines, everything was doable. When not right in town, there are buses offered. The waits are too long for the buses either and in some cases the walk was not too far and quite enjoyable, especially in Skagway. Unexpected: My son loves to do the National Park Junior Ranger programs. We were bummed we were close to Glacier Bay & he would not get to do the program. When we got to Glacier Bay we were shocked to learn that they actually bring park rangers on board and do presentations for kids & provide opportunities for them to earn their badge. This was unexpected & really made me appreciate the extra effort that goes into making sure we had a good time. I loved they brought a little store into the observation lounge so we could still get our park magnets and pins. THANK YOU. The bad: Food: The food seamed exciting and ever changing. It took us about 3 of the 7 days to realize the three main dining rooms had the same menu. We ended up mostly at the local after a few days, but the food gets a little boring and everything is just OK. The breakfast is probably the best at the Local. The buffet was one of the better buffets I've seen. I appreciate that they mix it up with Indian and Asian food options as well. There really is something for everyone. I really liked the made to order crepes. I personally thing the specialty dining is not worth it for the extra cost. I preferred finding something local when we were in port and exploring new foods that way. Two of us on the 6th night ordered Cagneys from the Manhattan room. That night everything was a mess, over an hour later and no food was coming. 3 of the 5 people go tired of waiting and left. It was especially awful considering it was a port night and we had to be off ship at a certain time. The food was improperly cooked, cold, and nothing arrived together. Then the staff had the nerve to blame us for ordering the steak. It was just terrible. No one would take our complaint in the dining room so we went to guest services, who wouldn't take our complaint either. They had to call the manager of the restaurant who after half an hour still didn't come and they had to call him again. They ended up removing the additional cost for the steak from the room, but service was unacceptable. Room Location: Unfortunately we were in the back of the ship, even though it said mid-ship and our luggage tags said mid-ship, it was really back of the ship. This caused the beds to vibrate at night when the ship was moving due to the engines, it was rough. My son was miserable on the pull out bed, it shook even worse than the beds. Luggage: We were so confused when we were told we could go to our rooms & luggage was all over the halls. Not sure if they normally deliver your bags. Took half a hour to find them. Be careful with NCL taking bags to the airport. Mine and 9 others bag tags were mixed & mine were sent to NY.

Having only cruised on the "fun" cruise line before I had vowed to never go again. But the family…read morewanted to do Alaska and quite honestly for the first time, a cruise seemed like the way to go. After some research, we landed on NCL and we liked the itinerary so we booked it about 16 months out. I really like that NCL does free dining. I hate being relegated to eat at a certain time and I liked that there were many options. The boat is large but not "too big". it was walkable, easy to get around once you get your bearings and it was beautiful inside. It felt like a grown up ship. There were great activities for kids and adults and the kids overall were so much better than on the "fun" cruise. I loved there being a Starbucks on board where I could use my card in the app to pay, they had a specialty mug that my nephew fell in love with. The staff were great overall. The room of course was small but had a good amount of storage. I am on one injection that must be refrigerated and the cooler in the room did keep it at a good temp. We had only two issues on the ship and both were food related. One, there are just not enough options. Having 3 of the restaurants have the same menus each night made it really boring and in each port I was craving something fresh and different. I liked the 24 hour restaurant the most but gosh, I wanted some variety!!! My only other issue was in the main dining room, two of us uprated our meals to the steak from Cagney's. That night we noticed no one was getting their food or food was coming and sitting and not being served. Three people in our party got tired after waiting almost an hour for our meals and left. Two of us remained and finally our steaks came, then the waiter started to blame us for everything taking so long because we ordered steak. We hadn't complained, they asked where the rest of our party was and we told them they left and then the blamed us for ordering steak. Forget the fact that every other table around us also didn't get their meals. Overall that just sucked. Like I said, everyone else was great, the ship is amazing. Lots of lounging space and areas inside to look out. It's modern and beautiful. I would easily take the Encore again. It just needs some tweaks with food.

Nothing beats a sunny day on a boat in Seattle! Our captain Dorin and his boat Mitlite were…read moreperfect. The boat is beautiful and well designed with space in the front, back, inside and below for guests to relax and enjoy the cruise. Once we left the doc to cruise around Lake Union and Lake Washington I was instantly relaxed. Friends were able to easily move around the boat and I was impressed by how little it rocked on the water. Would definitely recommend Dorin and his boat for any occasion you have to get out on the water!

Great day aboard the Mitlite! Capt Dorin was a terrific captain, very knowledgeable about the area…read moreand a great host! We had a amazing time! Thank you.

Immediately upon entering the nicely appointed check in area, you are greeted with a smile and…read morefriendly "hello" Both the check in space and the changing shack Is very clean and organized. There is one bathroom and two changing rooms with lockers within the changing shack. We did add rose petals and eucalyptus Epsom Salt The boats run well and had no mechanicals issues whatsoever ever. You feel very stable and secure within the boat. There is room for for 6 adults in one boat, how we husband and I both noted it would have been as comfortable with two more people (we only had 4 in our party). 4 adults allows you to stretch out comfortably so nobody is impeding on another's personal space. We went 8-10pm and that was amazing because we had lots of daylight and then a gorgeous sunset decide floating back in, in the dark. The boats have blue light strips and that looks nice at nice! Great choice for out of town guests to experience the beautiful weather, sunsets. Extra long summer evening and a scenery with a fb post :) This business is consistently a guest fav Very unique. Another friend also suggested this is a great wedding gift!

Years later and I'm back with a five star update! So the rating didn't change but I felt the need…read moreto show them love again. We recently booked Hot Tub Boats with our friends for a triple date day out, and we had a blaaasssttt! I was the only one of us out of six who had done it, so it was so fun getting to introduce them to Hot Tub Boats. Upon arrival they asked if it was anybody's first time, and as mentioned it was, so they gave us a 10% discount and free epsom salt soak which was so nice of them and totally unexpected. They got us back into the locker room quickly to pack up all of our stuff and get ready to head to the boats. After a quick safety demo we were out! It's so fun to bring along some snacks, refreshing beverages, and hang out on the lake on a nice day with friends. It was so cool seeing several sea planes landing and taking off! My only complaint is that two hours on the boat goes waaaay too fast. But that just gives me an excuse to book again. :) 10/10 do recommend checking them out if you haven't, it's the perfect day out!

Lisa in the cafeteria galley on the Anacortas to Orcas run was lovely, attentive, and so fun to…read moretalk to. A highlight of what can be a boring commute - thank you Lisa!

Lifelong Washington state resident who travels frequently on the Seattle:Bainbridge run and it is…read moreso sporadic-boats you plan on taking ate 15-30 minutes late, we tried catching a Seattle to Bainbridge ferry tonight that was due to leave at 9:40 and it still had not left Seattle at 10::40/it was over an HOUR late and they just dropped two runs, a 9 PM and a 9:40. If you plan on needing a reliable form of transportation sadly this is not it. Somehow WSF managed to make it work for the FIFA in Seattle but once that ended they sadly regressed to their old ways.

Argosy Lake Washington Blue Angels Seafair Cruise Friday July 2026…read more A great experience and fun event. A quick debrief on the logistics. We went on Friday for the airshow thinking it would be less crowded. There is parking underground and a short walk to the pier. You can grab some shade under a few umbrellas by the water. There are public restrooms very close. You queue up about a half an hour before boarding starts. We headed straight to the top deck of the Argosy Explorer in order to get the best viewing. The ship holds 500 but the captain said there were 180 on board that day. We found chairs on the port rail. We were idling at least 2 miles from show center but got a lot of low flyovers. No one really gets a good seat for the Seafair airshow. They're just too far out over the water. The crew was friendly and ship had lots of non-alcoholic drinks available too like cold brew coffee. Bathrooms are good size and there are several. The ship was absolutely immaculate. Getting off takes some time and it's warm inside. There's a nice breeze when the ship is underway but it's hot on top otherwise. A bit of an older crowd and everyone was real social and polite. Wear your SPF clothing, hat, and bring sunscreen. It's a bit rocky on top but got used to it after a bit.

The Lake Washington Argosy Cruise trip was my third trip with the cruise line. I was excited to…read moreexplore this area more and I felt like I had a very satisfying trip! There was a little bit of frustration but much of it did not have to do with Argosy. They have three departure times to tour around the lake. I planned to go to the earliest one but realized that I wouldn't make it so I hoped to make the second departure time. I didn't make it due to heavy construction as a result of weekend construction on I-5. That was really the most infuriating about making these times but again that has nothing to do with Argosy. I encountered a little bit more frustration once I got to Kirkland because the ticket office to buy tickets was closed. In between departure times the ticketing office closes and reopens a half an hour before the next departure time. That is a huge difference compared to the Argosy Cruise location in downtown Seattle where it is open during the day time hours. But I understand why and the reason is that there are a lot more cruise tours that leave from that location while the Kirkland location just has the one tour offered. The tour itself was very enjoyable! The tour guide that narrated during the tour was very good and knowledgeable about the area and the lake! We toured closest to the Bellevue side and looked at many of the lavish homes that were along the lake shore. Very beautiful homes! This area is probably the most primo of homes in the metro area as you can get! We also went by Bill and Melinda Gates' home which was a real highlight even though much of the house was obscured by trees. Lake Washington has a couple floating bridges and we went under the 520 floating bridge which was very cool to see! The views of Seattle, Bellevue and Mount Rainier were in top form as there was minimal haze the day I went. Tickets for this cruise are around the $36 range and the tour itself lasts about an hour and a half. There is a cocktail bar on the ship as well as snacks. It was a fun, relaxing trip after the frustration from the beginning of the outing and is enjoyable for summer tourists as well as locals... in fact the cruise I was on it seemed like that there were more locals than there were people from out of town! The tour guide popped this question early on. This location also does a Christmas cruise and that trip would be pretty since the areas around the lake really go all out on decorations apparently!

Captain Trig's yacht (the Viaggio) is most certainly luxurious, and the experience you can expect…read morewould be very difficult to surpass. Clients are pampered, fed three gourmet meals each day, and taken on beautiful excursions. We saw an abundance of whales, dall porpoises, sea otters, harbor seals, sea lions, bald eagles, deer, and bears. Fishing was a delightful success(we shipped 43 pounds of salmon and halibut home). After our cruise, we explored Alaska by land, and although still scenic, the whole land experience was anticlimactic. Any future visits we make to Alaska will center on this kind of cruise, and I can't imagine anyone doing it better than Viaggio Luxury. Floyd Hale

Never been to Alaska. Never been overnight on a boat. Now we want to do both again for future…read morevacations and we will choose Viaggio for our Alaska tours. Only 6 guests allowed, so the boat is quiet and not over crowded. Only 2-3 crew members who take care of everything and with a smile. They emphasize making the trip as stress-free as possible-and it was. Spacious boat, nice, clean rooms, delicious food, friendly crew. Watch and learn from the chef (who will cater to your likes/dislikes, food allergies and preferences), hang out in the wheelhouse and talk with the captain while looking for wildlife, and drive the boat. Great for all ages-fellow travelers ranged from teen to senior. Lots to do on the boat like movies and local books and plenty more off the boat- kayaking, whaler for easier sight-seeing, 27' sport boat so we could fish as often as we wanted (fishing licenses included-so one less thing we had to deal with). Caught crab and fish and had it for our meals the same day and beyond! We even had some to take home. We saw so much wildlife and other special sites without the cost of extra excursion fares. We rarely saw other boats (besides fishermen) so we were out in Alaska's natural element to take in the scenery with privacy-no big cruise ships or 1000s of people-just a small boat and nature. We were able to get close to wildlife without disturbing them or they followed our boat for up-close and personal experiences-from whales to porpoises, bears to porcupines. You spend a lot of time at sea but in a good way-taking in the surroundings you normally wouldn't see with other tours (large cruises) or traveling on your own. But you can make stops in town for a night depending on what tour you book. With never being on a private charter tour before, we really didn't know what to expect, but we were blown away with the experience and being spoiled. PS - They were great about getting back to us when we had additional questions before booking the trip. Also, they will work to pick you up at your hotel or airport.

This is a small cruise port to me. It is alao really fast if you can walk up stairs. Elevator line…read morefor people in wheel chairs was consistently long.

This cruise terminal has friendly staff and quick efficient checking in and out for cruises. No…read morecomplaints!