Tahoe Queen

We originally booked a dinner cruise on the M.S. Dixie, but it was broken down so our cruise ended up being on the Tahoe Queen.

The boarding process was quick and organized. The tables were set up so you are sitting with strangers if you aren't in a large group, but the hostess shows you to your seat. I felt like that removed some of the awkwardness. Our table mates ended up being a lovely couple from a region of the country we love so the seating arrangements worked out fine for us. We were also served a glass of champagne upon arrival which helped loosen everyone up for conversation.

Once everyone was seated and the time to start the cruise came the caprese salads were quickly delivered to each seat. I liked that they didn't waste any time getting the meal started. As we finished up our salads the buffet line opened up. The buffet offered a steak thing, salmon, cheesy potatoes, and mixed vegetables. The food was okay, probably similar to average wedding buffet food (which is why I didn't go with a buffet at my wedding). The dessert came out next and was supposed to be a peach cobbler, but was nearly inedible. Saying it left something to be desired would be an understatement.

The staff on the boat was very friendly and attentive. They were quick to clear plates between dinner courses and make sure drinks were always full.

After dinner everyone dispersed and enjoyed the multiple levels of the boat. All three levels had plenty of seating and bars to purchase drinks. There was a nice band that played classic music that would suit all tastes. They definitely kept the mood lively. We cruised and saw many beautiful views of the lake.

Overall, we enjoyed ourselves and cruising around to see the various areas of the lake. It was relaxing to cruise with a drink while listening to the band play. Just don't expect the food to be the highlight.

I've heard many stories that the Best place to see the Lake Tahoe Fireworks is from a boat on the Lake. So we decided to book a cruise on the Tahoe Queen. The price was expensive but was hopeful for a night to remember to commemorate Independence Day!

You can skip the next 3 paragraphs if you don't want to hear my issue... The confusion started when I received a phone call from their home office to meet up at the front of our hotel which was adjacent to the Tahoe Queen boat ramp. Unfortunately, the lake was 15'+ lower than normal not allowing the Tahoe Queen to take off. Thus they said to look for a shuttle to Zephyr Cove. The lady wasn't sure of the color which was the 1st indication that she wasn't from Lake Tahoe.

So we waited, and waited, and waited... Finally 40 minutes after the requested time, the bus showed up. During that time, we were frantically calling and walking up and down the area looking for any buses. We talked on the phone with a couple of different woman and they gave us two different locations on where to meet the bus. It was a frustrating 40 min but thankfully a nice bus driver from Zephyr Cove picked us up. He was checking people's names off of a hand written and confusing paper. Over the Ham Radio we can hear all the bus drivers trying to shoot from the hip to coordinate who's picking up who at what location. The bus driver tried to pick up as many people as he could prior to the boat taking off. I'm certain that someone was left behind...

During that ordeal, even before the cruise taking off proved to us that the left hand is not talking to the right hand. Coordination and planning will obviously be the death of them.

As for the Cruise... Boarding was ok. We had no issues. They took our picture in front of the Tahoe Queen which can later be purchased for $27. We received a crab tostada appetizer which was ok. Main course was a buffet line with salad, asparagus, lobster risotto, and tenderloin. The dessert was a disastrous lemon or raspberry flavored watered down cake or maybe it was a pie or maybe a cake/pie. All was ok and nothing spectacular. The food was actually below average with the steamed Asparagus tasting the best! I could cook better at home and I'm not a good cook. I've been on other cruises and this is probably the worst menu I've had.

They had two levels where they served dinner. The 2nd level was louder due to the 2-man live band. They should have asked us if we wanted the 2nd floor with loud music or the 1st floor with muffled music and engine noise. I was thankful they had a 3rd floor that had ample space for everyone to view the fireworks.

Live music was ok but it's difficult to talk above the noise. The country singer could have sung better with more passion and should have chosen more songs that suited his Willie Nelson voice.

Make sure to stay seated during drink ordering or when they give you the plates or you will be missed and they won't come back around for you. The bathrooms are small and there's typically a line.

At the end of the trip, we were supposed to be bused back to our hotel. We waited an hour standing up waiting for the bus to show up. Finally when we heard the buses were still 40 minutes away, we finally decided to walk... 1.5 hours back to our hotel. I am very mad at the lack of coordination they have. Thankfully, I got back safely even when traveling through the highway on foot... Thank God that 1/2 way a taxi felt bad for us took us back. The end of the night was fitting to provide an unforgettable experience - indeed.

Overall the cruise was overpriced for the cheap food that was served. I kept reminding myself that I'm paying for the view. Don't bet on any transportation they promise you. You're on your own.

Help! I'm so bored I want to jump overboard and swim back!

Emerald Lake is stunning. I loved spending a few hours yesterday driving around Lake Tahoe and decided I just had to get on a boat and out onto the Lake.

The friendly visitor center gave me a stack of brochures for boat trips/rentals and somehow this was all that was available last minute. The two hour trip cost $49 per person and lasts 2 hours. Sounds fun right?

We arrived half an hour early to make sure we could find a good seat, and instead we found a very a long line of elderly folks and couples with small children. I'm not the wait-in-line type of person, so I already was annoyed.

It takes forever to get on board because they stop each group and make you pose for a photo, which they later try to sell you for $35, oh and it also costs $10 to park your car for 2 hours, total tourist trap. Crappy places like this, ruin awesome places like this.

The Tahoe Queen is old time ship with the wheel thingy that propels the boat, it's 3 stories high with an upper outdoor deck, and the first and second floor were inclosed, meaning you could only look out the windows at the lake.

The trip began with some old timey music that was driving me insane, but I'm sure most of the passengers remembered and loved. By the time we were aboard and looking for seats, all the upper and middle deck seats were taken by large groups of seniors or families with bunches of kids. A few were in wheelchairs and many had strollers. This type of group may love the Tahoe Queen, but I was bored out my mind.

We ended up sitting on the lower level, at a table in the center of a dinning room. Instead of looking out at Emerald Lake, I had a view of people eating Caesar salads drenched in dressing, smelly meat sandwiches and children being spoon fed.

The lake is gorgeous, but I was falling asleep, 2 hours seemed like days. What a waste of money and a day.

Only one word is necessary to describe my group's experience on the Tahoe Queen: TURRIBLE.

We had a group of about 12 people on the dinner cruise. Somehow they forgot we were coming, even though we spent $800 on tickets. They told us that they couldn't accommodate such a large group for dinner. For a buffet? Due to this, we had to wait an hour for enough people to finish their dinner so we could eat. You can probably imagine how the food was after an hour. The worst part was that almost all of the dishes they put out for us were dirty. Not a fingerprint here or there, or maybe a tough piece of food that wouldn't come off. Almost all of the dishes were just filthy, like they didn't even bother running them through the dishwasher.

There is no question that they would have gotten shut down had the health department picked this evening for a spot check.

The boat ride was okay, I guess, but kind of hard to enjoy since we all were choosing to go hungry rather than risk our health by eating their food.

Reserving the Tahoe Queen was a bit of a last minute decision as I originally was planning on just showing my dad Emerald Bay via a drive. But when my cousin mentioned about the Emerald Bay cruise, I decided it would be a nice treat for my picture taking loving dad. We did the scenic Emerald Bay cruise on the Tahoe Queen that left Ski Run Marina on Sunday. Since it left at 1:30, we were able to grab a bite to eat before docking as the menu aboard is pretty limited to $14 sandwiches and snacks. I was so glad we did the cruise as we found out the Renaissance Fair was going on during that weekend which meant we would've been stuck in 2 hr traffic if we were to visit Emerald Bay via car.

The price seems a bit steep for a cruise only at $49 per person as when my cousin went over 10 years ago, it was only about $20-$25. The glass bottom boat that they were raving about when I made the reservation less than 48 hours before the cruise has not been available for viewing for months due to structural safety issues. It is odd that the sales/reservationists are not aware that it has been out of commission for awhile as even the attendant on the boat said I don't know why they keep telling people about something we no longer offer so I felt it was a bit of misrepresentation.

You've come a long way baby! I remember the Tahoe Queen being pretty funky on the interior as a kid! The bathrooms were totally disgusting! Well, now the interior is very posh, probably because they've added dinner cruises. The bathrooms are quite elegant now as well!

We booked online and saved 1/2 off the ticket price...only about $25 p/p. We did the 11:00 cruise to Emerald Bay and packed a lunch. The website said no food/drinks but no one checked our bags or seemed to care when we bust out our picnic!

FYI, you can access the boat w/ a stroller or wheelchair, but you'll be stuck on the bottom deck (which is inside). We went to the top deck which is outside and carried DD up in the stroller.

Even if you've been to Tahoe many times this is still an enjoyable thing to do!

My husband and I plus 7 of our closest friends drove up to Tahoe for a weekend of fun at a lake view cabin. We spent most of our weekend at the house but I though it'd fun to do something on the lake. But in October, who wants to jump in to a freezing lake?! Tahoe Queen was a great alternative. I checked out a few cruise lines but we picked the dinner cruise for the price ($69), amount of time on the water (2.5 hours), and the fact that we get fed! We booked on the website but were not able to book 9 people together (for some reason it only goes up to 8). So we put 5 people under my name and 4 under my husband and added it into one cart.

The directions said to come 30-45 minutes before to check in, but getting 9 people dressed and in the car before time was work in itself. Luckily they didn't sail away without us. I think we showed up with 15 minutes to spare.

We lined up on the dock and was told to go upstairs. We found a seat in the lounge and ordered some drinks. I suggest getting a table as soon as you board! We were lucky and got the last two adjoining tables downstairs once we noticed people were leaving the lounge.

If you are sitting on the far right hand side of the lower level next to the bar you will be first to the buffet. I got the very first piece of prime rib (score!) Food was pretty good. I read mixed reviews on yelp but I've had buffets in Vegas taste worse than this and this is premade and on a moving ship! Prime rib was hot and slices were fair. Mashed potatoes were my favorite. Brussels sprouts actually tasted good and I never eat them! Shrimp pasta was creamy but overall ok. Chocolate cake was moist. Drinks are not included in the price but are about 5 bucks a pop and they are not stingy on alcohol at all.

During the cruise you ride around the only island on the lake in Emerald Bay. If you can bare the cold and wind, it was awesome to see it all up close. We had a few people who get sea sick usually but were perfectly fine on the cruise. After dinner we headed back up to the lounge and listened/ danced to the live band.

Overall it was totally worth the money. My group truly enjoyed the whole cruise. It is a must see if your in town!

Okay, okay, okay!!!
So I have been reluctant to write out this review because I am so disappointed in the service as well as the utter disregard for the complaints given. I didn't want to relive this crazy sorry excuse for a company!
I had the 4th of July booked for the dinner cruise and was excited to go, thinking that this was going to be somewhat reminiscent of my dinner on a train and wine tour that I had in Napa. Oh boy, was I mistaken!!!!
You would think that the beginning of the experience would have been good, but alas! It started out from the very beginning! How terrible or worse could it be? Well, I'll enlighten you!
So we get a phone call the day prior to the 4th of July stating that the lake was low, therefore instead of lining up at the Ski Run pier, we would be picked up by a shuttle at 6 pm. The cruise was to leave the shore at 7:30 pm. Hey, that's enough time right? And one would think that these guys would plan well for impacted traffic since it IS the holiday right? Wrong!! 6 pm passes, then 6:15 passes, then 6:30 pm....uhmmm....where's the shuttle at? Are we at the right place to wait? Where did they tell us to wait again, oh that's right they didn't, just in front of the hotel. How vague! I call the number listed, my fiancé calls, the other young woman calls.....so we have 2 parties calling stating the same thing, but apparently the office or whoever is on the other side of the phone line knows nothing of a shuttle heading in our direction and instructs us to drive ourselves to the Zephyr Cove Marina. WTH?!?! It is now, 6:45 pm and we need to board by 7:15?!?! Wait! YOU CALLED ME!!!!! But somehow this lady knows nothing! I'm sorry but this is incredibly poor management when 1 hand doesn't talk to the other. How did you guys stay in business for so long?

7:00 arrives! Whoa! What's that??? It's the Tahoe Queen shuttle! Me: you're late! Thank goodness you're here though! The man shows me his paper and I can see for myself that the paper listed his pick up time scrawled on for 7:15 pm. Technically according to his paper, he was early! Ugh!

The driver was nice, his bus was cool. He was driving safely and quickly to each pick up location. He even was offering over the CB radio to pick up extra patrons because the transportation issues were so dire! This guy alone was not 1 star, please note this! He was working hard under poor management.

Once we got to the pier we saw our boat had not taken off without us yet because all the other passengers were late too!! Smh! Oh well, hopefully the food's good!!!

The food was just ok, the appetizer was served and was ok, nothing phenomenal. Taste was not as savory as one would get from crab meat, but oh well. The main course was served buffet style, which is ok I guess. The only issue I saw was the size of the serving spoon for the sauce in the salad dressing. The spoon was to small, and the handle which had been touched by who knows how many patrons sank into the salad dressing. Yikes! They should have considered placing it into the gravy boat that way patrons could just pour it over their salad.

The food was ok, the lines did not take an excessively long amount of time. The music was really good, a couple of live singers playing various instruments. The fireworks view was spectacular!

Now time for the horror. We stood for 40 minutes in the mountainous cold weather. The ladies in skirts and dresses were shivering cold, I was shivering and cold, the captain was apologetic, but it was going to take another 40 min for the shuttles to return! Ugh. I didn't stick around for another 40 min or who knows how long, instead I proceeded to walk. Luckily a cabbie saw us and picked us up to take us back to our hotel!

My fiancé called and complained, unfortunately our complaint must have been taken as a joke, because after shelling out $450 for sucky service, they sent us tickets for 2 worth about $50.00 as their apology. What a freaking insult!

All in all there was no saving grace, sorry guys, but the single star stands for the lack luster organization skills of the shuttle services, as well as the mediocre food, and the added "insult to injury" in the form of 2 tickets worth $50.00. The band and drinks were the best thing. Thank goodness they were not in charge of the fireworks! Imagine the catastrophe that would have occurred!!! Probably would have burned down all of Lake Tahoe!

We took the Sunset Dinner Cruise on 06/21/15.

I had a group of 4 people. We paid $86 per person, which wasn't that bad since it included dinner and a shuttle that picked us up from Harvey's.

We were hesitant about booking this cruise because of all the reviews that said it sucked or that it was boring or that children kept crying and made the cruise annoying.

Well, let me tell you that it was none of the above. We enjoyed every minute of it. We got a very nice table by the window on the first floor and were very well served by our server.

I read people's reviews about paying $51 dollars for just a cruise with no food....or that it takes super long to get to Emerald Bay...I don't know what they were all expecting but did you expect a free ride or something? Did you expect the boat to make it to Emerald Bay in 10 minutes so you can then complain that it's too short of a trip?! Haha!

The salad was pretty good, and the prime rib with the sides were very tasty. I think we even had not just seconds, but thirds! We bought a bottle of champagne for $20 which was very cheap. And the band playing the whole trip, made it more enjoyable. Especially with people dancing and having a great time!

Thanks Tahoe Queen!

P.S.: I only gave it 4 stars because while shopping around for cruises, some offered free alcohol but they were all sold out. We felt that for that price, while it's still reasonable, they should include an open bar (maybe not the whole bar, but some beers on tap and wine).

The owners of the bed and breakfast we stayed at recommended we take a ride on the Tahoe Queen. We were tired on the first day, so we went the second day we were in Tahoe. Unfortunately for us, it was a dreary day. Rain, clouds, it was a complete opposite of the previous day which was sunny and cloudless. But we decided to go anyway.

It was a good decision to go, because it wasn't crowded. Most of the seats were taken, but I imagine if it was sunny, then there would have been people on the upper deck standing. It did rain on us, but we did see a beautiful rainbow. And approaching Emerald Bay with the clouds lingering made it seem so surreal. I don't think we would have had the same affect on us if it had been sunny. Since the sun wasn't out we couldn't see the emerald color of Emerald Bay. But just entering the area, there was a magical aura about it that you have to experience in person.

The crew was great and gave a great commentary of the area. And while I'm usually skeptical of food on the boat, it was decent. The only thing is that you can't order food until they left the dock. I'm not sure why that is because you can order drinks before hand. We went on the day tour, so I can't rate the dinner food.

The next time in Tahoe and it's sunny, I would like to do the tour again, so I can see why they call Emerald Bay, Emerald Bay.