After driving around aimlessly looking for some basketball courts with good ballin' to no avail and being exhausted as a result, I looked up boat rides and came across this tour company. I looked them up, saw a time slot for 2:30pm, and made my way there. Parking was no issue as I parked for free a short walk away. There was a long line, but I was still able to get on. Cost was $20. Lower level had some snacks while upper level was open and had great views. Although it was a little hard to hear the tour guide speak as his voice came through the speakers a little muffled, I still got to learn a great deal about the history of the area and the various landmarks. In addition, it was so relaxing to just sit in my chair on the boat, kick back, and enjoy the awesome views all while it was in the 70s, not to mention take some excellent pictures. Boat ride was an hour which I felt was the perfect amount of time to be out. It was long enough that I could relax but short enough that I had enough time to do other things that day. Last paragraph here is just to say that I had this review rated at 4 stars due to the issues with the speakers, but I was still able to hear most of what the tour guide was saying, plus just being on the boat and taking in the views to me easily made it worth the $20 bucks spent. read more

Attended a fundraiser on the boat. Nice cruise down the Detroit River. Parking is an issue as there is no close parking to the boat.

This was a last-minute type of thing for our group. The boat itself was clean and in good condition. The employees all seemed to be cheerful and helpful. The views are also great; not quite as impressive as the Chicago architecture boat tours, but you'll get some great photos of both the Detroit skyline and the Canadian side. Pricing was reasonable. read more

This was a really fun experience. For work, I rented the smaller boat for about 50 people and it was a blast. Open bar, BBQ chicken dinner, great views on the Detroit River. We had a 2 hour ride. I think it cost about $5,000 with the bar. This package was very reasonably priced. The views are beautiful; I really liked seeing the riverside so close-up on both sides. It was a beautiful sunny day with great photo ops! The only reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is the quality of the food. Basic, GFS picnic food; nothing homemade. If I book again, I'd pay to bring in my own catering. This was a family event which included kids, so we had boneless BBQ chicken breasts, burgers, hot dogs, au gratin potatoes, green beans and salad. Basic. I was happy because I was drinking. Sometimes a greasy GFS burger is all you need. Even just the public tour would be fun because Atwater Brewery is right across the street. read more

Service was good but disappointed at the route they took which didn't go near Belle isle, skimmed Canada to the ambassador bridge then turned around. Previous tours went to the opening of lake st Clair then past the ambassador bridge. The prices have not gone down but the amount of time on the boat has. read more

Had company in from out of town and decided to take a ride on the Diamond Jack on a beautiful, sunny day! For the best seating, be sure to get to the dock early since it is first come, first served. Boat rides are an hour in length. The boats disembark at the foot of Cullen (formerly Rivard) Plaza. Snacks and drinks are sold on board. read more

Diamond Jack's River Tours - Boating Near Me - Detroit, Michigan

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The Diamond Jack provides a very nice and long cruise on the Detroit River! For $20 per adult, you get a comfortable two hour boat ride with lots of scenic views of Detroit, Belle Isle, and Windsor, Ontario, and a lot of interesting fun facts about all of the sights. There's also restrooms, concessions, and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages available on the boat as well to make your cruise more enjoyable. I really enjoyed my time aboard, but as much as i love boats two hours was a bit long. At the 1.5 hour mark i was ready to dock, and i think i wasn't the only one. However, i am never disappointed about getting my money's worth, which i indeed did. read more

Diamond Jack's River Tours - Boating Near Me - Detroit, Michigan

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My wife took an afternoon tour along the Detroit River for Father's Day. It was a very hot Sunday, so the idea of being on the water was appealing. We parked near the dock location on the street for free which was a bonus. A short walk down to the Riverfront and we were in line awaiting our turn to board. $20 each and we were on our way. No reservations necessary. They offered a limited bar and soft drinks plus snacks on the lower level. Up top was a spectacular view of the Detroit River, Windsor, Canada and Lake St. Claire. The tour lasted around 90 minutes and was very informative. Got to see a lot of landmarks and learn about their history. This is a great idea to visit downtown Detroit with a few friends who haven't been there lately. Follow it up with dinner in town and you have a great, affordable day in the city! read more

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This was a wonderful find on a beautiful summer day. Boat ride explaining the history of detroit and canada as well. Very nicely maintained vessel with an awesome crew. read more

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Upon docking the guy yells at you to step back. (I was the first person in line, so I know what I am telling you people) No signs whatsoever, no loud speaker announcement prehand to all guests and no apologies from their ungrateful staffing. They serve way past the legal liquor limit to the guests on board for their 3 hour monetary gain. No concern about their drunk passengers driving home after the cruise ends. It's an all out money for them and forget about you afterwards and for any future boat ride with them again. They seemed to be very disrespectful and they need to have their alcohol license pulled by the state of Michigan. Save your money and ride the Princess cruise instead located at mid town Detroit river area near Cobo Hall. read more

I ended up on this thing because my family seemed really excited about going, and went against my better judgment. Unfortunately that judgment was vindicated early on. If you are a Detroit native, don't bother. If you are a visiting tourist, maybe bother if the weather is nice. If it's windy and in the 70F range, you will be whipped and frozen. Bring a sweatshirt no matter what. But Diamond Jack can't control the weather, so this one star review is based solely on content. On my trip this weekend the guide/narrator was a young-sounding guy who didn't know bupkiss about Detroit history and was clearly reading a script with barely any affect to his voice. There were ten minute lulls between anecdotes, and I hesitate to call them anecdotes -- they were sparse descriptions at best. We rolled by Hart Plaza while the Detroit International Jazz Festival was going on, and the guide mentioned that Hart Plaza is home to many important festivals such as the Hoedown, DEMF, and...Jazz Fest every Labor Day weekend. It was as if the festival wasn't actually taking place, this wasn't Labor Day weekend, and the guide's script exists in a vacuum. Totally lame and frankly embarrassing for everyone on the boat that knew it was Labor Day weekend and could see and hear the festival from the upper deck. There is so much to Detroit history, more than enough to fill a two hour boat cruise whether or not the buildings and structures in question are even visible during the time of the storytelling. Instead this tour focuses on cursory treatments of a few landmarks. A HUGE missed opportunity by Diamond Jack. Somebody should hand the reins over to Preservation Wayne, where there are guides that actually care about sharing Detroit's story with both its residents and its visitors -- it would be better for all involved. ...I'd ask for my money back but on the plus side I used a groupon. read more

This was a fun couple of hours. Be aware you can't purchase tickets on the website or anywhere beforehand, you just come and wait in line and buy them as you're getting on the boat. (I couldn't find that particular information anywhere on the website, so I chatted online with an agent to find that out.) The trip itself is fun, I especially liked getting to see what's on the Canada side of the river a bit, but the narration is a little lacking. I don't necessarily need a constant stream of talk but there were big sections of quiet where my husband or I would say, "I wonder what that is?" All in all though, it was a pleasant and relaxing thing to do. read more

I have been on 2 Diamond Jack tours now, and it was a blast each time. It is true that you won't learn any deep history about Detroit, but if you catch a ride on a sunny, warm day, you'll experience a slice of heaven. Last week my guy and I went on the Detroit tour from the Riverwalk doc. I spent lots of time in Detroit as a kid, so it was neat seeing some of the old landmarks (the Seven Sisters, the old Boblo Island doc) from the river. It was also neat to see all the waterfront mansions on the Canadian side just past Windsor. The Detroit history narration was quite limited, but this means you'll be able to carry a conversation without missing much. The ride is priced just right for the experience. read more

Diamond Jack offers a nice tour of the U.S. and Canadian sides of the Detroit River. We were fortunate to go on a beautiful day and had a wonderful tour which consisted of various sights up and down the river between the Ambassador Bridge and Lake Saint Clair. read more

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The cruise was beautiful but the narration was lacking in information and spark. Some anecdotal information and humor would add a lot to the presentation. Also the narrator used a singsong type of voice that was extremely unnatural sounding and verging on annoying. I do need to add that one highlight of the tour was when she pointed out a bald eagle in a tree and then it flew around a couple of times. read more

After using Diamond Jack's boat excursions several times over the years , departing from both locations things have drastically changed . Taking the boat tour this past Saturday , I could not help but notice the ride has been cut in half ! In my opinion the best part of the "old" boat tour/ride is gone. No more ride around Belle isle or even touring the Canadian side . Also the price has increased a fair amount . Like most everything the quality of the ride is less but the price is more . I was extremely disappointed , if it's your first time riding maybe it wont matter because you dont know what's missed . Being a long time patron , I will not be back . If it's a economic issue raise the price a little more or offer fewer trips to get full capacity on scheduled trips , but give a more timely excursion . read more

Speakers were not working on the boat. No mention was made of this. I approached two people about the issue and nothing was done to remedy the situation. read more

Nice tour but almost missed the boat because their website says credit cards are accepted but their brochure says cash only. The nearest atm machine was half a mile away read more

I was fortunate enough to experience this tour as part of a Google offsite, and had a terrific time. The tour takes you along the river around Belle Island, and the views are spectacular. Additionally, the drink selection is varied, which helps cater to a wide audience. A really cool part is that they have an aux cord available for tour playlists, which keeps the atmosphere lively. The staff is both considerate and optimistic, with many cracking jokes for our amusement. Overall, this is a great way to explore the river and bond with people (whether it be close friends or colleagues). read more

Diamond Jack's River Tours - Here's our wonderful vessel! - Boating Near Me - Detroit, Michigan

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Disappointing experience overall: - First of all, there was no parking in the adjacent lot or on the street, so we had to park almost a mile away and paid $16 in a structure. - Second, the narrator only points out things on one side of the boat, so if you sit on the "wrong side," you miss half of the presentation. - Third, the narration was very weak. Besides not being loud enough to be heard thru the speakers, a bare minimum of noteworthy shoreside items were pointed out, with very long intervals of silence in between. So if all you're looking to do is spend $20 for a pleasant 2-hour cruise, this is the one for you! read more

Been going here for the past five years for the Michigan anti-cruelty society boat trip they have. I am never disappointed. The food is always great. It is for a great cause. the basket raffle that they have is incredible and the general table has everything. Plud it is for a great cause and a great time I would highly recommend this! read more

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My boyfriend and I did the 2 hour tour on one of the Diamond Jack boats yesterday. We got there at 12:30 for a 1 p.m tour. All the seats on the upper level were taken. However on the sides of the boat, they have a big chest where they store the life preservers and and they allow you to sit on those. So, that is what we did. Would hve been nice to sit in the very front of the boat but there are maybe only 12 seats up there if that (all taken). It was a very nice day.. hot but the breeze felt nice. We enjoyed the tour. However, the young girl that was doing a lot of the narrating was HORRIBLE. She made mistakes the entire time, mis-pronouncing words, fumbling the script, and saying "right" instead of "left" and vice versa. Clearly she needed A LOT of practice before doing this.. And she was hard to hear. We very much preferred when the young man or the older man (probably the captain) was narrating. Another compliant we had was that people came and just stood right in front of us hanging over the side of the boat. So, we couldn't see anything. These were the people that got on the boat late and were forced to sit down stairs.. So they just came and stood in front of us.. Jerks!!! We were SO mad! We very much enjoyed the beautiful tour Windsor along the waterfront. So much more clean and beautiful than Detroit! Be sure to get to the boat atleast an hour early so you can get a GOOD seat up on top.. there aren't many. read more

When i knew i was going to be in detroit i told local friends that i wanted to go downtown and to see the riverfront there. So, we decided to take this tour. The people who ran it were nice, and friendly and answered any questions that i had they would explain things about the river. We went on a beautiful day and had some amazing shots of both sides. We sailed on the Diamond Queen, a small, but clean vessell that has a very nice topside which we enjoyed! read more

Nice but with one glaring issue. The downstairs speaker is shit so bad that you can't understand one word of the tour guide.

Our family took the tour yesterday. The tour itself was really nice, the staff was really great. The only complaint that we have were some of the other passengers. During the entire trip, they would not be quiet. We could not hear most of the naration of the tour. But we heard everything about dogs and dog grooming. One very large family could not get enough pictures of themselves. They ran into to us with their purses over and over again. We thought the front of the boat would be the place to sit, NOT if you want to enjoy the ride. We would take the tour again but, know better than to sit in the bow of the boat. a few hints to those that ride, keep ur very large purses at home and SHUT UP. Don't be rude, you may not want to hear the tour but others do. read more

There was no order or organization in where the line was to get on the boat. Site seeing was nice, cruise view sucked!!! Stood in line for a while to be first on boat to sit in front. My family paid 180 for all of us and we sat in the front. The view was blocked for 90% of the cruise!!!! Inconsiderate people stood in front of us. Staff obviously did not care! Don't waste your time or money. read more

My son's daycare arranged a field trip here so the young kids could take a boat ride. The daycare director called Diamond Jack's to find out if life jackets would be available (some of the parents refused to allow their children to go unless they were wearing life jackets). The office assured them that life jackets were available for the children. On arrival, the captain overrode that decision and told them that there wasn't time to put life jackets on so the children wouldn't be allowed to wear them. Wasn't time?? That's a ridiculous excuse. So in the end the children couldn't go since many children only had permission if they would be in a life jacket. it was 2 hours round trip, and no boat ride. When I contacted Diamond Jack's, I was given a different excuse. "...you were sailing with other guests that day and we need to let them know the reasoning behind some people having on life jackets and their group not requiring them as to not set off a panic or the perception of our boat being unsafe unless wearing of life jackets." Really? Like people would panic if they see a group of preschoolers wearing life jackets? Ridiculous, I'm extremely disappointed in their policies and the way they handled this. They were informed that life jackets would be required for the kids, everything was fine until they showed up and the Captain said there wasn't time to put on life jackets. read more

We booked the Diamond Belle for an anniversary party and were very pleased with the experience. This was not a guided tour. The crew was wonderful. The food was good. We had a very hot day in July, but you wouldn't know it. It was very comfortable in and outside on the decks. We have a very large family and we were well accomodated and just had a wonderful experience. I would recommend this to anyone. Thanks Diamond Jack! read more

Our senior living community booked a river tour for our residents, whom go every year, and have always been accommodated. When a senior living community takes seniors, they use a shuttle. They would not let our residents get dropped off and argued with my Engage Life Director that if they couldn't walk, they shouldn't be coming! They had this undignified conversation over their walkie-talkies, which was humiliating for our staff and residents who so look forward to this trip every year. We are not a "nursing home"; we're an independent and assisted living community. Our residents have walkers and wheel chairs and many are mobile without any devices. Our director spoke with the owner/manager who treated her just as poorly and threatened to call the police if she didn't move our shuttle. She stood her ground and allowed our residents to exit there however saying you're "wheel chair" accessible and friendly is certainly not true but treating a human life so poorly is quite possibly the worst customer service experience I've yet to have in all my years in this industry. To the management and staff at diamond Jack River Tour's, you should be ashamed for how you treated our residents and staff today. Someday, when YOUR parents age, please bring them to our community and we can show them what a dignified life feels like because they certainly won't experience one with your staff. Seniors and senior living communities, beware: you will not be accommodated or treated with dignity while visiting Diamond Jack River Tours. Invest your time and money where every human life is treated to a dignified experience. read more

Great way to see the City. The guide gave a ton of interesting information. Was not expensive as well (also heard there may be Groupon discounts). Get in line about 1/2 hour before the tour starts and would suggest sitting on the shoreline side as you board. read more

I went tonight with the Jewish Historical Society. Nice day but quite Cool when a headwind is blowing. Bring a windbreaker, even in Mid Summer! As others have written here, between the bad loudspeakers and folks talking, it's hard to hear the narration, which was a bit sparse to begin with. On a Dinner Cruise, if eating is important to you, stake out a seat on the midlevel First, or you will have to bring your dinner up/down the stairs. They need more seating, or two buffet levels. They Also should have dinner plates for the entrees instead of little hordeurve plates. This was a Prohibition/flapper themed Cruise, but they said Nothing about the Purple Gang, etc. The closest they got was pointing out Hiram Walker on the Windsor side. Overall, not Bad. read more

What a fun thing to do for low prices. I suggest buying a groupon. It was a great time!!

Went twice within the last week with friends. Warm weather, nice breeze and good ride. Love this boat ride

Ok my wife found this. Add it to your Detroit venture. The cruise was fun and the guide pointed out many items including the current events going on shore. It was $20 per adult and $15 per child Which I was apprehensive about but it ended up being worth the price. Afterward take advantage of the river walk area. Detroit has done an good Jove of making this a place to casually walk around. Oh, you cannot take any food or drink on the boat. I did not buy any while on the boat so I cannot comment on that. On the river walk the telescoping viewers were free which was a surprise! read more

This was a wonderful experience, I highly recommend this tour. We were on the bust for 2 hours and in those 2 hours we were able to see lots of historical buildings and status. read more

Loved our event on Diamond Jack's River Tours! Did a three hour private event...it was amazing. There are three levels, plenty of room to move around. Staff was so great, very professional, kind, and patient with our large group! Great views of the Ren Cen, old Boblo island. Food was delicious too! Thanks so much Diamond Jack Tours! XX00 read more