I paid $100 with tax for my husband and I to ride on the 75 minute architectural tour with the fun speedy ride at the end. I went on the Sea Dog on Tuesday, August 6th, 2019 at 5:00 p.m., which was perfect because only the first 20 minutes were really sunny, and then we got to watch the sun slowly set as the tour continued and it was not very crowded that day. The tour Included an informed and interesting hour long tour through the Chicago River and 15 minute speedy ride across Lake Michigan at the end. I would do this tour again, Lucias the tour guide was passionate, well-educated, and intriguing. Lucias knew exactly what things were culturally relevant and historically important and mixed them together to create an interesting mix of cultural information, celebrity facts, movie data, historical relevance, and the importance of the city in world history. The Captain was great also, a thank you to him. I am also happy to report the Chicago River is no longer the worst level of toxic it has been upgraded and the new Chicago River-walk is attractive (seen and learned on the tour). Overall the Sea Dog tour was entertaining, informative, and alluring, I recommend it to tourists and Chicagoans alike, everyone should know about the city they live in, near, are visiting, or live off of. Chicago is the most amazing city in the world and I am proud to be a product of it! read more

My wife and I had Dan on Architectural tour. He was very well versed, super witty, and made the experience very nice !

I did the 75-minutes architectural speedboat tour and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Tour started out with a thrilling speedboat ride out on lake michigan for 10 mins or so. After that, we were off to the river to look at and learn about the rich architectural history of Chicago. Our guide Dan was very knowledgeable and presented all information in fun, relaxed, and entertaining manner. He welcomed all questions and answered them appropriately. After about 45 minutes on the river learning interesting factoids about various Chicago landmarks, we were brought back out on lake michigan for another 10 minutes of speedboat ride. The day was gorgeous, views of the city skyline from lake michigan spectacular, the ride thrilling, and the tour informative. You can't ask for more for $22 (groupon pricing)! read more

I went on the architectural tour on 7/120/13 and i gotta say, it was tremendous. A good time on a tour not only depends on the cool and re-tellable knowledge you learn, but also depends on the vibe the tour guide creates. Luckily, I had Brian as our tour guide and he creates a fun atmosphere where everyone is engaged and laughing. The City of Chicago is awesome, the tour is worth it and you get to snap some great photos and see some real sweet views. read more

We had a quick afternoon to spend in Chicago so we took the arch tour. Jake from State Farm- take his tour! Very knowledgable about his tour and very funny. Of course the jokes are cheesy, you are on a tour. He and his crew were very professional and fun and made sure everyone had a good time. Be ready to get a little wet, but that's half the fun as well. Great views, easy to hear and lots to learn. This was the best way to see the city in a time crunch. read more

I highly recommend this tour of Downtown Chicago, even though I am a Chicagoan. It is a great way to learn more about the city in a funny humorous way. Jake was great and you get a speed run at the end in Lake Michigan! read more

I highly recommend doing this on July 4th. The ride was fun and the music was energetic. Seeing the skyline with fireworks was priceless. I cannot say enough about this tour but words cannot describe how awesome it was! read more

Do yourself a favor and do the Architecture Foundation tour instead of this one. The speed boat ride was pretty neat, but you have to wait like 20 minutes in the locks to get into the river where you sit there and breathe in the exhaust. The guide was personable and knowledgable, but there are better boat tours in Chicago. read more

I've been on a few boat tours in Chicago, but this one was by far my favorite. We attended a beer tasting/architecture/sunset cruise on a Thursday night. The hosts were super knowledgeable and made the cruise relaxing, entertaining, knowledgeable, and FUN! It was an AWESOME experience and I've already recommended it to 3 different groups of friends! My fiance and I have also talked about doing another one or trying their wine tasting sunset tour instead. Great tour and highly recommend. read more

We have done Seadog Cruises in several cities but the fireworks tour is the best. You get a tour of the city line followed by the best place to watch the fireworks. Also great for kids of all ages - particularly older teens who sometimes get bored on vacation. If I could suggest one thing it is skipping those stupid pictures no one wants to take before getting on the boats. It slows things down, I have never seen anyone buy those things and we all hate taking them. read more

This was an awesome tour! Tila was our guide and she was very knowledgeable and witty throughout the duration of the tour. The boat was very nice and clean and well managed. I was considering other river tours on the pier but I'm glad I went with Seadog! Well worth the price and the time. A must when visiting the city! Hopefully you'll get Tila as well read more

I went on the extreme thrill ride with one of my best friends. We had Louie, Captain Kat and I think Mike on the boat. The ride was great---service not so much. I had bought two tickets that morning to the 3:15 reservation. I called at about 2:45 to see if possible, could I switch our reservation time to 4:30, 5:30 or even 6:30. The girl (I feel like her name was Mikayla or Kayla) said that the extreme ride wasn't operating today. I panicked, considering I just bought non-refundable tickets and told her I swore I bought them for today's date at 3:30, and she said "it's definitely not operating today." So I said I'd call back. Immediately I checked my tickets... Which was for the right date and time, and called back. The next person may have been Katie or something along those lines, and she said yes the extreme thrill ride is up and running. I let her know someone just told me it wasn't operating today. I then asked about purchasing tickets and she said the rest of the day was completely sold out. Therefore, I told my other friend who was interested in coming that she couldn't come. We got to the boat, and it wasn't sold out. We had two seats right next to us that could've been my friends spot. Not only that, but the other times weren't sold out either. We could've switched our times so she could get there. It was just unfortunate because granted I'm not a tourist, I live in Chicago, but about 50% or more of the boat was, and if that's what they're telling customers on the phone, then it's doing you a disservice. Not only are you missing out on profit, but you're giving somewhat sloppy customer service. read more

Very informative and fun. Andy was great. Will be back and will bring friends visiting from out of town.

This is a great tour and worth the money. It was 75 minutes long with a speed ride and lots of architecture history of the river buildings. Our tour guide was Tila and she was amazing. The captain red beard and first mate chopper. The entire staff was amazing. The ride was entertaining and educational. read more

Incredible time a must do in Chicago. Ana is the best, extremely funny and a wealth of information.

Maui, Red Beard & Chopper gave an absolute amazing 75min Architectural Tour! Thank you so much!

Awesome! Went last year and I am pump to come back and do this again with my family. The tour guild was amazing and made the whole ride wonderful. read more

Very bad customer service I will not recommend it to all my family friends and my community. If Brendan Buckely does not like job, let her quit or the owner of this business must give her a training class in customer service. She was very rude poor with attitude when we asked for a refund. read more

My mom and I did the 75 minute architectural tour and it was great! Our tour guide took us all along the river and was very informative. After the river portion, they gave us a speedy ride along the lake which was so cool! Would definitely do again with out of town visitors. Thanks! read more

We went on the Seadog Extreme boat ride....there was nothing really "extreme" about it. Yes the boat has some power and is loud...but we did two measly little turns in the water and then pretty much just went from side to side....honestly I was hoping for some thrill....I def didn't find it here. read more

The Seadog speedboat cruise rocks. Its thirty bucks for thirty minutes, and worth every penny of it. Its the most fun I ever had without spending thousands to go on vacation. Its like a carnival ride and you get splashed in the face. They dont make it so wild than someone would get sick, but just enough craziness so that there is a big smile on your face. If you have just enough money to go to a nice restaurant, skip it and go on the Seadog, and then buy a cheap hot dog afterwards. Great fun. Just make sure you don't eat a big meal before your boat ride. I actually look forward to making an excuse for going back and taking another ride in a few weeks. Its more fun than a motorcycle and not that expensive. read more

Great tour on the river. Lots of fun. The 5:00pm cruise had some visual challenges due to the position of the sun and having to look straight into it during part of the cruise. All in all it was good fun though. read more

LOVED the architectural tour - our tour guide was hilarious and such a cutie! I would never buy tickets though unless I went through Groupon or something. read more

What a perfect day on the Seadog on Saturday June 30th. I took 46 of my family members from Israel, Canada, China, Australia and the US on a wonderful city cruise. All my adult and kid cousins raved about the boat, staff and perfect weather. The corporate staff person that helped me arrange this tour was A+... Thanks to Seadog for making our Saturday a great day on Lake Michigan.. Susan (Glenview, IL) read more

My friends and I went on the architectural tour over Labor Day weekend. We had Grant as our tour guide. He was amazing!! He was as much fun as he was knowledgeable. We did the night tour. It was beautiful. I would absolutely suggest others to take part in this great addition to any visit to Chicago. 'The best part about Grant?' you ask. His jokes, especially the one about the owner of Amtrak being anaerobic. Thanks for not dumbing-down the experience. read more

Dan, our guide was very amusing and John was a great captain. It was the very first thing my girlfriend and I did during our recent trip to chicago and it was a great way to start. read more

I live in Chicago and I often take friends and relatives on the Seadog Cruise and other cruises. We had an incredible tour with Jake as our tour guide. He may be young, but he knows his history about our great city. As a veteran of Chicago, I sometimes "yawn" at the thought of another river boat cruise. (don't get me wrong, it's the BEST way to see Chicago without all the hustle and bustle of the street and noise that comes with it.) But I've been on countless tours while showing off my hometown. Jake genuinely LOVES out city and his enthusiasm and energy took this tour to another level!! Ask for him if you can. (I loves his dancing and choice of music too) FOUR STARS and TWO THUMBS UP to Jake and his crew!! Yours Truly, An Old Jaded Chicago Sea Dog read more

Took the speedboat thrill ride last week and loved it! We got soaked and had a blast! It was a nice view of the skyline and a knowledgable, fun staff. Our tour guide's name was Cartier, I believe. He was very funny and made the ride lots of fun. I am from this area and have taken other boat rides, but I recommend this one to anyone visiting from out of town or living in the Chicagoland area! read more

Had a great cruise on the lake. Even as a longtime Chiagoan, the guide provided some very interesting facts on Chicago while making it fun and enjoyable for everyone. Great time. read more

My Seadog cruise was an absolute highlight of my recent trip to Chicago. I took the Architectural Tour with was close to 90 minutes and included a speed boat ride on Lake Michigan with a killer view of the city skyline. The majority of the tour was spent on the Chicago river providing a whole new way to experience the city. Our tour guide Brian was hilarious and informative. He really took the whole tour to the next level. I would recommend Seadog Cruises to anyone. read more

Had such a great time with my family on the seadog extreme! What a rush! Im going to bring all of my out of town guests on this.Cant wait to do it again. Thanks read more

Even in the rain it was fun because of Jake who made everybody smile. You talked about energy, he got it. So we chose to smile even we were soak in the rain. I will give 5 stars for Jake and as what he said, Jake from the state farm. We surely do it again this summer. read more

My wife and I were looking to take an architecture tour while we were in Chicago and as we were researching different vendors, we were recommended by a friend to look at Seadog. Her recommendation was spot on! The tour was led by Jake who had a ton of energy, kept the tour very interactive and had incredible knowledge. I could see other tours that were happening at the same time and they did not look to be having as much fun as our cruise! Jake touched on all the different buildings that make the Chicago skyline what it is, had some very interesting facts and pointed out so many different features of building that I had never even been aware of. He also was able to answer any question someone had which showed he has a deep understanding of the city and appreciates the history and also the future as new buildings are being planned. I would highly recommend Seadog Cruises to anyone who is looking to have a fun tour that mixes in all the knowledge and facts that you come to look for. Great work Jake and Seadog! read more

Well worth the money spent. The sights are the best in the Midwest for sure. The speaker on our trip did very well. One of the best things I've done in Chicago. read more

Excellent tour on boat, Mike was very nice and resourceful! I've learned more than what I knew for the past two years and so glad I joined seadog cruise. read more

The River/Architectural tour was good. My daughter loved it most esp the tour guide Teala , she said she was awesome,funny and nice read more

Seadog Cruises - Boat Charters Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I went on the 75 minute architectural tour. I am local who had family in town. We went on a double decker bus tour the day prior. I highly recommend the Seadog tour over the bus. Our guide was Teela she was energetic, entertaining, and also very informative. The majority of the tour is peaceful and relaxing. The city views are epic. We did the 7:15 on July 5 it was much cooler on the water but bearable. The last minutes of the tour we were zipping around the lake at high speed which I would have enjoyed more if I wasn't freezing by this point. (But I blame that on the funky Chicago summer weather). The staff also provided us with water bottles. We all had a great time. I would tell anyone trying to get a great view and experience of the city spend your coins on the Seadog read more

I purchased a groupon to take the extreme thrill ride om the Seadog. Ive been wanting to do this. I called to make my reservation and the rep that I dealt with was so very unprofessional. I ended up cancelling the reservation while making it. If the customer service was bad on the telephone i can only imagine what my experience would be like. Very disappointed. I was looking forward to the ride. read more

We booked the combination river and lake tour online before our vacation. It was supposed to last 75 minutes and cost $33.95. The night ended up being chilly and windy, so there were only 8 that were on our boat. First we were told that we wouldn't get the lake portion because of it being windy. Then the guide tried to talk us into not having the actual narrative, but just having her answer any questions. She complained about us using flash photography to get good night pictures. We were back after 45 minutes, but sat waiting for the gate to the lock to open for 20 minutes. The sights of the city were great, but it definitely wasn't worth the price we paid! Don't book ahead. Wait and see what the weather is like. The shoreline cruise is cheaper and probably just as good. read more

I enjoyed my time on the seadog very much! Grace was our tour guide and she is AMAZING!! I learned so much and would highly recommend the cruise to anyone who wants to learn about Chicago!! read more