I had previously taken a similar tour in 2019 on Biscayne Bay. I am not sure if this was the same company we sailed with. When I booked on TripAdvisor, the tour was listed as being 1hour and 20 minutes. The sail time was listed as 2:30pm with a suggested arrival time of 2pm. We arrived at 2pm on March 19th 2026. We easily found the waiting area...by the Ferris wheel and Hard Rock Cafe. There was no particular order to the line. Once the crew arrived they scanned our digital confirmations and handed us paper tickets. They pulled this wooden ship's wheel out, and began directing us to the wheel to take a photo. We knew this to be a marketing ploy for possible purchase of the photo later. Normally, I do not have an issue with this, I get it. However when we tried to decline the taking of the photo, we were told it was for "safety purposes " and we could always decline the purchase later. Really? I've never heard of such a thing? I felt as though they weren't being honest with us. Once on board, the ship did not pull off until 2:50pm. We returned at 3:50pm. So, in actuality the tour was an hour. The tour let us know about a few historical facts about Biscayne Bay and pointed out celebrity mansions. I know this is a pretty standard tour for the area. This particular one felt rushed with the narrator speaking fast, the music mediocre and not much group interaction. I probably have exhausted my Biscayne Bay tours. I do not see me taking another one, and certainly not with this company. read more

Miami Aqua Tours - Biscayne Bay - Boat Charters Near Me - Miami, Florida

Our boat tour experience aboard El Loro pirate ship was mixed. The tour guide had a dynamic personality and made the tour fun. The tour in itself was very nice and relaxing. However, we were very disappointed because the ship was dirty, the smell of gasoline was nauseating at times, and even worse, there was a horrible smell, that of a dead rat or animal of the sort, and trash as well. That aspect made the tour unpleasant and it's unacceptable. THEY NEED TO CLEAN THAT BOAT! PS. The music they play its EXTREMELY LOUD! read more

The worst open bar rip off I have ever experienced! Paid top dollar for the best open bar package that was available and all it was, was beer, wine, sangria or the absolute worst champagne known to me or possibly man kind. And this may be on me but it's only a 90 minute ordeal so ended up paying 60$ extra each for four models each that's 15$ a beer that we could have just bought for 7.50$ or something,..and it was advertised as a sunset cruise that set out after dark... The captain and crew were however very pleasant and dealt with my disappointment fairly well. read more

Our tour was packed. Avoid sitting near the captain (extremely loud music is played) and she tells you which celebrities live in which house. They do a raffle for a cruise (if you agree to attend a 4 hour sales pitch by a company) within so many days of the cruise. They sell beverages on the cruise. read more

We had an unforgettable Sunset Boat Tour with Miami Aqua Tours! We had an absolutely amazing experience with Miami Aqua Tours on their beautiful sunset tour around Biscayne Bay, departing from Bayside Miami. From start to finish, the entire evening felt magical and perfectly planned. One of the best parts was cruising past the famous celebrity homes on Star Island and other nearby islands. Seeing these stunning waterfront mansions up close, while our guide shared fun stories and fascinating facts about who lived there, really made the tour special. The guides were not only knowledgeable but also funny and engaging, keeping everyone entertained while pointing out Miami's history and culture along the way. The views of the Miami skyline at sunset were absolutely breathtaking. Watching the sun slowly set behind the city while the lights began to sparkle was something my family and I will never forget. Being out on the water provided such a peaceful and relaxing escape from the busy streets   It was the perfect way to slow down and really take in the beauty of Miami. To top it off, the boat played music that matched the mood of the evening ; upbeat enough to keep things lively, yet calm and smooth as we watched the sun dip below the horizon. It created the perfect mix of romantic and fun vibes, making it enjoyable for all ages. If you're visiting Miami (or even if you live here!), I can't recommend this tour enough. It's the ideal way to see the city from a whole new perspective, learn some interesting local history, and just unwind while surrounded by the gorgeous sights of Biscayne Bay. read more

Miami Aqua Tours - Bayside fun sunset boat tour - Boat Charters Near Me - Miami, Florida

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I would not recommend the Biscayne Bay tour: --Loud music played throughout the tour, extremely unpleasant --Tour guide spoke English with a very thick accent, we could not understand much of what he said, his Spanish was fluent, but we don't speak Spanish. --Advertised time of departure: 12;30, actual time 12:55pm --Advertised length of tour: 80 minutes, actual time 60 minutes --Raffle drawing for a free trip, my daughter and husband won it, but it was to sell time-shares, you had to sit through some presentation with high pressure sales tactics--they declined it. Stay away from Miami Aqua, pick another company. read more

The pamphlet they gave us says El Loro sightseeing tours, but on Yelp they're called Miami Aqua tours and also go by another name, so I guess my review will go on both? Anyways, my friend and I were at Bayside and some guy at one of those little booths asked us if we wanted to go on a pirate ship and tour of fancy homes, about 1 hour for $25. The speedboat tours were $75! So, Absolutely! I would have loved to do the sunset tour, but unfortunately my friend had a flight to catch a flight so we couldn't. Anyways! The tour was cheesy, of course, but it was fun. The host said everything in English and in Spanish, which makes sense (when in Miami). They played a good mix of very loud music (Spanish, oldies, etc). The music went along with the tour (Miami Sound Machine for Gloria Estafan's house, etc.) They had drinks for sale but we didn't purchase any. It was a fun little tourist experience and I'd do it again. read more

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WATCH OUT FOR SCAMS. I booked a tour of millionaire island through viator with Miami Aqua Tours. I unfortunately didn't read the reviews earlier and didn't realize they were running a scam on board. The actual tour of the island was fine, but last minute they changed our boat and said we would need to switch to a pirate ship. Once we boarded, they invited a company called Holiday network to enter everyone into a raffle. This turned out to be a scam /timeshare situation where they ask you to pay them upfront for a 3-7 day free vacation and then ask you to attend a conference in order for you to claim your prize. Thankfully, I felt this was all suspicious and didn't move forward after "winning" on the boat. Read about this online but lots of people were lured into giving sensitive information (social security number, running a credit check etc) and if you agree to the timeshare it's thousands of dollars. I've read multiple reviews on viator of people with the same experience as me specifically with the "pirate ship" boat option and that they were switched last minute. Feels like they are targeting specific people for this scam. I'd encourage Miami Aqua Tours to stop this and stick with running a smooth tour. read more

We came for the 3:30 tour on Monday, 5/20 and had an amazing time! This was our first time attending a boat tour in Miami and we were not familiar with the pier. Catalina, the woman who sold us our tickets was very patient with us when explaining exactly where we needed to go even when we ourselves were frustrated. I appreciated her remaining calm and reassuring us despite the stress. Luckily, there was some wiggle room with the departure time otherwise we would have missed a great tour! On the ship, which although it appeared very authentically pirate, was professional and not over-the-top with theming. The main focus was the tour of the celebrity homes which our hostess, Lina, presented flawlessly. Lina was very engaging and informative, and you can tell she enjoys her job. She also had the difficult task of presenting in both English and Spanish but did so easily. During the tour, there is an option to purchase drinks from the bar if so desired. The bartender, Alain, was friendly and engaging. He made sure everything was to our satisfaction. I would recommend Aqua Tours to anyone visiting Miami, and anyone new to booking boat tours in general. Thank you for a great experience! read more

Miami Aqua Tours - Boat Charters Near Me - Miami, Florida

Be careful with the raffle they do on board. I wouldn't even play a part of it if I were you. They'll try to lure you to sit through a presentation for a free trip, then scam you for thousands of dollars with what they claim is not a timeshare. I'm currently in the process of cancelling since you only have 3 days after the initial sign up. I would not recommend the pirate ship boat tour because of this scam they're running. Such a shame and it's totally turned me off from going back to Miami completely. read more

Came here on vacation, and decided to do the boat tour. I booked online through Viator. It left from behind the Hyatt Regency Miami. Parking was difficult, so ended up using valet parking which was $20-$40 when I went I believe, because my friend paid since I drove. We literally were the only people on the boat. Which was awesome, staff was very friendly and chill. I paid for my ticket only $28.24 with tax for the boat tour. Which you can't beat in my opinion. Drinks onboard also weren't super pricey either. There is also a bathroom on the boat which is convenient. My only compliant was that it was shorter than advertised. The advised 90 minutes, but it was only 60 minutes. But for the price couldn't compliant. I would highly recommend it still, because you do see a lot and your can relax and drink with friends and family. read more

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After a terrible experience at Bay ride tours, we were very happy with Miami Aqua Tours. There was some confusion with the tickets we bought and what boat to expect, but it ended up working out very well. The tour was not overly crowded, and the guide was very engaging and informative. My only recommendation would be to be more clear with the instructions on locating the boat. There is a bar on site with drinks for purchase which was great. read more

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Didn't enjoy this boat tour, but if your Spanish you would probably like it. Music blaring was mostly Spanish. The lady taken the tickets didn't speak English at all, she was trying to tell us to go to the ticket booth and have them print out the ticket because they don't have a machine that does the QR code which they don't tell you this anywhere so we waited in a long line just to be pointed to go up to ticket booth. So we went from being close to front of the line to the very last to get on and got bad seats by some family that couldn't control there crying kids ugh. Glad the tour was only 1 hour couldn't wait to get off, we did move downstairs due to crying kids and got a drink, bartender was nice. read more

Friendly staff. Right on time. Great music. Tour guide was informative. Lots of fun. Enjoyed seeing the millionaire homes and linking some to celebrities we know and love. They offer an optional vacation raffle for passengers, sing happy birthday to celebratory guests, and pick a few passenger names to say hi to over the microphone. Tip: Instead of entering navigation to 401 Biscayne Blvd, navigate to LandShark Bar and Grill (same address). Otherwise you'll arrive about an 8 minute walk away from the Miami Aqua ticket booth, which is right up the stairs in front of LandShark. read more

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DO NOT BUY. Unfortunately, this cruise was an absolute disappointment in every advertised capacity. The images and description clearly state it will take place on a pirate ship. When we arrived they said the pirate ship "wasn't working" and we were instead on a dirty ferry boat. In the description there are lights and a DJ for a party experience, neither of which was provided. Music was played on someone's phone and there was no dance floor nor DJ. The "bar" served warm beer, and expensive at that. The tour is advertised to be an hour and 20 minutes and it did not leave until 945 and we were off the boat and down the street by 1040. This was a complete disappointment and was irresponsible and dishonest advertising, not worth the money. Contacting customer service did nothing to resolve the issue despite the multiple false claims in their advertising. read more

I can repeat this tour a thousand times, crew members, dj, the guide, everything is more than perfect. ‍ "pirate 'til I die."

My date and I were touristing in Bayside with her little one when we came across Miami Aqua Tours booth. Considering that her little one is a fan of celebrities and when we first met back in the early 90's Bayside was the only thing going in Miami we decided to give it a go. Although they normally charge $16 for minors, we got a break and were just charged two adult tickets. This boat is located where the pirate sightseeing ship used to dock, off Hard Rock cafe. We were told that the pirate ship was undergoing maintenance. The three of us boarded early enough that we were able to get upper deck seats to see most of the sights, and for the most part did enjoy the celebrity homes (at least as narrated bilingually by our tour guide) and fairly smooth sailing. The weather itself was 5 stars! We did get some waves from the jet skis going back up Government Cut back to Bayside but to us that was part of the adventure. As others mentioned, we also had our photo taken at the beginning and charged $10 (+ tax) for a printed copy. No complaints from me on that end, they need to maximize their revenue stream. Why only three stars then? Well, when we boarded we signed up for a "raffle". What was the prize? After namedropping one of the major cruise lines and how we won travel for 2 anywhere in the US, we got the hard sell that we had to sign up for a sales presentation at a hotel and would have access to their private beach. The catch, we had to leave a conditionally refundable deposit. We got this information at the end of the cruise, and asked for time to think it over. The 15 minutes between sales pitch and docking isn't enough time. I agree with the comment someone else made about the crew asking for tips after. Especially after the sales hype, I was in no mood to tip! Oh, and I'm no sailor but the ship appeared to list a little left during the cruise. One of the other tourists sitting toward the dock said that the boat was trying to leave Bayside while one of the ropes still tied. All in all, it's a fun couple of hours on a weekend. Just don't sign up for the raffle! read more

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Miami Tours is a scam they took our money and did not let us board the boat. they would not refund our money and they treated us like we was not good enough to ride after we paid. I paid for 3 tickets. do not get on that boat its a scam!!! read more

I want to thank everyone for giving us a wonderful day out in Miami. The crew on the pirate ship was fun and engaging, right from the start, and drawing mustaches on my grandsons faces to make them Pirates was perfect. We started our Mother's Day celebration by going and enjoying a relaxing cruise around Miami before going and doing our mothers day dinner. We as a Family will come back and enjoy doing this tour again. read more

Miami Aqua Tours - Great Mother's Day ! - Boat Charters Near Me - Miami, Florida

DO NOT TRUST THIS BUSINESS. I booked my tour and the boat never came. There were no staff representatives to speak to at the Bayside. The next morning, I spoke to a Miami Aqua Tour staff member, and he stated they changed the times and I WAS NEVER NOTIFIED. I insisted they give me my money pay, and THEY REFUSE TO PROVIDE REFUND. Then he HUNG UP ON ME. Very unprofessional, DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY. read more

First of all its a lie. On Groupon it states pirate boat and the pictures are of the pirate boat. Also on Groupon when you go it states pirate looking boat ( I will attach picture below of the reality and statement of the deal which is lie/spam!!) The ship/boat/ actually bucket we received was a total craaaaaaap! Really, you don't want to be on such a boat. Too long story, but there is other things are weird, they don't do reservation they messing up and than you have to pay full price or miss the ship read more

Miami Aqua Tours - Boat Charters Near Me - Miami, Florida

I wish i could spell disappointed in every language. These little local tours can be fun, but this one was anything but. To start the entire boat smelled like and thats on open water. Imagine how over powering it had to be. SICKENING. Had to give the bartender a piece of my mind do to some unfair treatment. I love my latin people, but I didn't not feel the love back on this "tour". Lastly, there was as many children as adults. Ohhhh one more thing, ROACHES!!!! As soon as we disembarked they started manning the sails.... Gross. WAIT, one more thing, we were only out for an hour! Not what i paid for. THIS WAS NOT WORTH ONE SINGLE PENNY! read more

Miami Aqua Tours - The smell comes through... - Boat Charters Near Me - Miami, Florida

If I could give a zero rating I would. We have two young children and booked the Pirate cruise. We received notification two weeks before our vacation that the cruise we booked 6 months earlier was cancelled and we'd either forfeit our money or have to go on an oversized ferry boat tour instead. The sales representative David was extremely unhelpful and just shared their policy that they can essentially cancel any tour or boat without repercussions. Avoid this company! read more

This tour was super fun and not too expensive($26.75). There is a bar on the boat in case you want to buy drinks and the guide is very fun!

Island princess uno de lis mejores barcos para pasar con la familia, excelente atención y actitud de los tripulantes

If you're looking for a good, decently quick tour around the waters of Miami. Go on this one! It's loaded with information. Plenty of famous mansion. A little bit of Miami history. Well put together! read more

Miami Aqua Tours - El Loro, the boat for the journey! - Boat Charters Near Me - Miami, Florida

I went on the Pirate Ship night party to celebrate a friend's birthday. It was a super fun party and everyone couldn't stop talking about wanting to go back. The live DJ was playing all the best music (combination of edm, pop, and rap). The drinks service was easy and fast. The views of Miami were amazing. Staff was attentive and helpful. I recommend Miami Aqua Tours to anyone looking to have a fun night in Miami. read more

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My wife and I booked the Party Cruise & Miami Skyline Tour for our first anniversary. We wanted something special, and this looked like the kind of party we were looking for! The website makes the cruise look great. That being said... The cruise is overcrowded with lots of chairs all over the top level, we had to stand by a garbage can all hour. There was no way to have any semblance of social distancing. Everything was on the right side of the boat, so only the 20 people on that side could see, or take pictures of, anything without crowding on top of each other. There were several people smoking the entire trip. Over half of the people weren't wearing masks (including the bartender) and NOT because they were drinking. The "dance floor" was 6'x6' and directly at the top of the stairway. Nobody but the tour guide was brave enough to dance there, once. I heard about a dozen other people complaining that this cruise was nothing like the advertising. It was our 1st anniversary cruise, something to do that was fun and we could party and dance. Nope, ruined that. Complete waste of time and money. Would rather have bought a dance mix CD, a 6 pack of Smirnoff Ice, and weeded my garden. Would cost MUCH less, I'd know what to expect, and I'd get what I paid for. read more

Today we booked a Pirate Boat Tour, it left around 2 p.m. This was the worst tour we've ever taken and we've taken the Pirate Tour 4 times before and other tours at least 4 times. The tour guide was inconsistent in describing homes. Often she would only speak Spanish and only pronounce the name of the owner of the house in English. This greatly confused our family and often we did not know which home she was talking about. It seemed as if this Tour was catered to Spanish speakers and normally the tour guide gives full definitions in both languages. The tour did not go for 90 minutes, more like 50 minutes!!! It seemed like the tour was sped up so that we did not get a full tour. They didn't describe all the stars' homes and skipped over several that I recognized from previous tours. I usually recommend this tour to all family and friends who visit, I don't know if I will do that in the future. If this is now the tour they will receive, it really isn't worth the time. read more

I have been trying to book over 40 tickets for a special event and it's taken about 2 weeks to get someone to send me the information to pay! I had done the tour with another group before, so it's not something new, but every time we call they tell us that they'll talk to manager and get back to us. I have the credit card ready to pay ... but I don't think they want the business... Unfortunate, since it's something my new group wants to do as a special event in Miami... but we'll have to go with another option since we can't even book it! read more

What a wonderful way to spend the Sunday afternoon . Our tour guide host was so friendly and welcoming she really helped make our ride more enjoyable . There was also great music played during the ride with beautiful sites of celebrity mansions . Drinks were offered at a reasonable price. However it was super hot on the boat I do not believe there was any AC inside. read more

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Staff was nice and friendly. They played good music on the boat and showed us some great sights of Miami. The mojito was good too. read more

Miami Aqua Tours - Boat Charters Near Me - Miami, Florida

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The tour itself was ok but much shorter than they advertise & the boat was not in the best condition. My main problem is the complete lack of customer service & the tour company screwing up our day. We were a group of 11 people who all purchased Groupons 3 months ago. Following the terms, we all called the company back in December to reserve the trip for February 24th. More than half of our group were from out of town so it was important to have the date set in advance. When we all tried to print out our vouchers (as is required by Miami Aqua Tours), we found that all of our vouchers were marked used & redeemed back in December! Apparently when we called to reserve, someone at Miami Aqua tours marked the vouchers as redeemed. Since the tour office was closed, Each of us had to waste time online with Groupon to straighten this out (Thank you Groupon). Yesterday, after driving more than an hour, we all get to the dock an hour early to sign in & we're told the boat we booked is no longer available for the time we reserved. Note that when we reserved back in December, Sonia from Miami Aqua Tours took all of our voucher numbers & phone numbers. No one ever called us to tell us the boat schedule was changed. We were told we could either wait an additional hour or we could take the "pirate boat" which we specifically did not want. We ended up on the pirate boat because we could not wait 2 hours. No apologies, no attempt to compensate us in any way. Everyone was aggravated & it certainly put a damper on what was supposed to be a fun family gathering. There are a lot of tour boats to choose from & I would not recommend this one. read more

Took my parents on a sunset cruise on the El Loro ship, which is the one that looks like an old pirate ship. Pricewise OK because we scored a Groupon. Careful when reviewing the information regarding tour options and times on their website as it is not accurate. The late departures don't run during this time of year. Good thing we called ahead and got the current departure times from the nice lady who answered the phone. The dock is located behind the hard rock cafe and easy to find. Check in was very fast. The boat was packed on Sunday night, there was barely enough room for everyone to sit but we managed. The length of the tour is one hour and they departed on time. They take you around Palm, Hibiscus and Star Island while the first mate fills you in on who owns which mansion, in both English and Spanish. There are no refreshments available on board, although their website states so. The music in between commentary was a tad annoying (cheesy dance tracks) but tolerable. As compared to other cruises, there is a catamaran sunset cruise leaving from Brickell Bay Drive with Play Time Water Sports that provides more bang for your buck. Less than 20 people on the boat, 2.5 hours of cruising and they provide beer, wine and appetizers. read more

I'm a college student on break and went on this tour with 9 of my friends. We had so much fun!! Definitely recommend this tour for college kids and it's family friendly. Such a great time. read more

It was a such a great experience we got on this boat, we had a lot of fun,Crew was so nice and kind. If you come to Miami don't miss this tour read more

Miami Aqua Tours - It was a such a great experience we got on this boat - Boat Charters Near Me - Miami, Florida

We had such a great time on our tour. It's a good activity for when you want to sit around & relax, but still be a tourist at the same time. The tour guide was surprisingly good...very funny and informative. The other crew member was really friendly too. There are no restrooms on board, so make sure you give yourself enough time to find a restroom beforehand. Also, you can take food & drinks on board, so take a few more minutes to grab a piña colada! read more

Miami Aqua Tours - Boat Charters Near Me - Miami, Florida

This was one of the worst cruises/tours I have been on. There were too many people to fit on the top deck, so we were forced to stay on the bottom, which wouldn't be a big deal except there was no sound on the lower deck, so we couldn't hear anything. After 15 minutes of trying to hear bits and pieces from the top deck, I just gave up. I let one of the younger mates know that we couldn't hear, but none of the staff cared that we couldn't participate in the tour. There was a "bar" on the lower deck so we decided to get drinks and just enjoy sailing, but my mixed drink was awful, it tasted like it was mixed with sewer water. Bottled beer was the way to go. I couldn't wait to get off the boat. There was literally nothing pleasant about this tour. read more

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY! They are absolutely the WORST. We all purchased tickets almost two weeks prior for last nights 10:30pm "Pirate Party Cruise." When we got to the booth to check in the guy asked "did you make reservations?" I replied "no, nowhere on your site said you had to make reservations." So then he replied with an attitude "how many in your party" I replied "21, but we all have separate tickets" he started to get frustrated like it was a big deal everyone had separate tickets. After he scanned all the tickets he gave us ONE ticket for our entire party. Around 10:50pm the boat finally showed up and we started to get on. They "Captain" and DJ were letting us on (as well as other people who were NOT in our party.) When the last 2 in our party tried to board the "Captain" said "you can't get on, we already counted the number of people on your ticket" we then started to tell him those people you let on were NOT in our party so you need to minus the 2 you counted and let these 2 on. Instead of doing that or checking with the guy at the ticket booth, the "Captain " and DJ both started to yell and curse us out. (Not to mention there were plenty other people waiting to board the boat who were watching this getting pissed as well because the boat arrived late and it was now 11:05pm) So the 4 of us walked back to the ticket booth to explain what happened. The ticket guy walked down there to tell the "Captain" to let us all board. At this point I didn't even want to go out on this piece of crap. We left the dock around 11:20 pm. The DJ was absolutely horrible. The speakers were all blown and he played what sounded like the same 8 songs over and over. It started to rain while we were out there so the "DJ" came down the stairs to pull this cover over the dance floor. I was standing near the side and and just pushes me out of the way in a panic then starts shoving other people to get out of the way. He gets it open and it's not even water proof. They rain is just pouring thru it. The "Bar" on the boat. What a joke. They had about 3 beers to choose from a Mojito, Pina cola mixer and like 2 other mixers that looked like they have been sitting there for months. We came back into the dock at about 12:10 which wasn't even a full "75 mins or boat fun". I couldn't wait to get off this thing. Horrible service. I wish I could give them a NEGATIVE 5 stars. I still wonder how they are in business. read more

Horrible customer service. I tried to contact them with both numbers they have on file on the day I had a reservation to see if they would still be operating before I drove 40 minutes to Bayside. They never answered, so I sent an email and they responded to me 2 days later stating that the weather was not an impediment to cancel the tour (there was a huge thunderstorm that day) and that there was nothing they could do for me since I did not contact them 6 hours before my reservation time, nowhere on their website does it state that. I emailed them back on Monday saying I just wanted to reschedule my reservation to another time, it is now Saturday and still have not received a response and no one answers the phone. read more