My daughter and I really enjoyed the Portland Spirit Happy Hour Cruise. Instead of the…read morehigher-priced lunch or dinner cruises, this option lets you relax, take advantage of drink specials, and order food as you prefer. The ride itself was peaceful, with interesting commentary about the sights along the river. The bar service was great, and the staff was friendly and welcoming. A lovely way to spend an afternoon!

The Salmon Springs Dock is where the Portland Spirit embarks and disembarks its passengers. It's…read moreeasy to get to by Uber or Lyft; there's a little pull over area where car services can drop you off safely. If you have mobility issues, there is a long, smooth ramp walk way that you can take instead of the stepped area. Note: Portland Spirit only has stairs but it's manageable depending on your situation. Nice photo ops in this area, too!

3 1/2 Stars - This is a difficult review to write…read more May 22, 2026 we went on our third Portland Spirit Cruise. We upgraded to the "Admiral Package," as this was a special Rose Festival Cruise, concluding with a fireworks display. The cruise itself was wonderful. The live piano music is a lovely enhancement, and the atmosphere was buoyant ;-). Every staff member was a delight and the captain is charming. But - The Food: Our appetizers were interesting, Mr. Wonderful ordered the Shrimp Cocktail and said it was alright. I had the Cheese Platter, some of the cheeses were hard, (as in dried out) and the bread was *overly hard. The salads were good, the dressing delicious. For our mains, I ordered the pasta dish. I took perhaps four bites and passed. The pasta was far beyond al dente and the vegetables were almost unrecognizable. Mr. Wonderful ordered the Beef Short ribs, and was happy with his meal. I'm going to chalk this up to me ordering incorrectly. We ordered our desserts and coffee. We received our coffee about 10 minutes afterwards. Then we watched as our server, served a large table next to us their desserts and a couple of other tables nearby. He may have been overwhelmed as this deck was extremely busy. Anyway, after waiting 20 plus minutes more, we requested our dessert, again. Cold coffee and dessert = not great. Viewing the fireworks from the top deck was a treat! We enjoy cruising with Portland Spirit and will do so again, but we would *not purchase the upgrade. Hint: Request a window seat on the *second deck, as the views are much more desirable.

Sometimes it quite difficult trying to figure out exactly what gifts to buy for your family members…read moreeach year so instead of buying each person a gift, I gifted my entire family this wonderful lunch cruise offered by Portland Spirit. Everyone in my family (wife and 3 adult kids) had a blast. Our server, Liliana, was quite accommodating and did a great job taking care of our food, drinks and deserts. The Manager, Cory, was welcoming as well. He brought us to our seats and also sang a song for someone who was celebrating birthday/anniversary along with our live piano player. Captain Cody did a great job navigating the boat up and down the river. The ride was smooth and enjoying. What a great experience! The food was delicious and generous portions. I had the marinated beef, while we tried the chicken and blackened steelhead. All delicious! The complimentary bread was the show stopper. It was a focaccia bread that had some thickness to the dough yet delicious and quite addicting. We had a chance to walk up to the top deck to get some fresh air. The forward part of the boat is covered which what we needed since it was sprinkling outside. The deck was wet but one of the crew members was quick to sweep the water away from the deck to avoid any accidents. We are looking forward to the cruise again but for dinner and probably not until end of spring or summer when the weather gets better. Parking garage is 1 block away. We went on a Saturday and the parking was flat rate $6 which was reasonable.