Gateway Clipper Fleet, Pittsburgh

My husband and I went on the T.G.I.F. dinner cruise this weekend. The cruise was wonderful! We both loved this cruise. The food was great ( buffet style) the drinks were great and reasonably priced. For the cruise itself, It was magnificent! The crew was wonderful, knowledgeable and courteous. We cruised the 3 rivers which was beautiful and were able to take great photos of the downtown Pittsburgh. The best thing is that for the price I can say that we were definitely pleasantly surprised! We would have spent in the three digit range here in Philadelphia for a wonderful cruise like this. We would definitely recommend this cruise to anyone visiting this area. We plan on going again on our next visit to Pittsburgh.

We were fortunate to get a seat on the sold-out luncheon cruise that featured the Patsy Cline tribute performance by Cathie Rhodes. We enjoyed her show and how she greeted everyone beforehand. Very good singer! The food on the cruise was also excellent and we were comfortable inside the boat and outside on the deck. The staff was personable and helpful as we had wheelchairs on board. We are planning to go back for the next Aug 27 Patsy tribute show but will call well ahead of time to reserve our seats! Over all, a great value for the whole family.

Made reservations for a trip to Mountaineer on the Gateway Clipper on 08/28/2009. We were told that we would board a bus at the end of the day at Mountaineer at 7:30 p.m. and arrive back to Station Square Parking lot at 9:30 p.m. We arrived back at 2 a.m. and I still had to drive 4 people home. The buses that picked us up when we arrived at Mountaineer got lost and what should have been a 10 minute ride was 1 1/2 hours. Our buses did not come back to pick us up until 10 PM, not 7:30 PM as I was told. the bus broke down and we had to wait until midnight for another bus. The driver did not tell anyone what was going on. There were a busload of very angry people on the way home. Some missed medication, some had to go to work in a few hours and one couple missed leaving for vacation. I have called the Gateway Clipper and left messages and have gotten no response. I will never use them again.

I was down there with my sisters for a sisters weekend. We are from all over the states. And once a year we get together at one of the sisters home town. This year it was PA and she booked the Hawaiian tour for us. It was one of the most enjoyable experiences that we have done to date. The city was beautiful at night and the food was WONDERFUL. The staff and the captain were all very friendly and informative. The show was exciting and the host was hysterical. Would I recommend this experience to any body else? I already have. Thank you for a beautiful cruise and a wonderful experience for my sisters and I to remember for the rest of our lives.

The meal, atmosphere and service was outstanding. Highly recommend. Had a outstanding evening in Pittsburgh. M. Ziccardi, Massillon, Ohio

Overall I enjoyed the gateway clipper Dinner and dance cruise. I wouldnt recommend wasting your money on any of the 1 hour cruises, this one is the only way to go. It was pretty expensive, and the drinks prices were high (10.00 a drink!) but I guess thats about the same for any event or fancy outing. Im not from Pittsburgh, and I always thought the city is one of the dirtiest, most run down cities I have ever been in, but seeing it from the clipper fleet on the river makes it look so nice. The food was all very good, and I was shocked that after I loaded up on the buffet they cleared it out and then served dinner. I thought what I had just eaten WAS dinner. That was nice, you definitely get fed well. If you have the money, take the long cruise, its very enjoyable. I only found 3 things wrong with the trip, but nothing major. 1 - assigned seating. This was so dumb. Why is there assigned seating? There were plenty of open seats, and for the hundreds of dollars you pay it would be nice to not get stuck sitting next to some loud hick or screaming child. 2- When we went the band they had sucked. It wasnt that they played bad music or I didnt like the songs. They chose good songs, they just did a horrible job. I've heard better high school garage bands. They really should have done better, especially for the sky high prices you pay 3 - Dress. This really bothered me, I paid a lot of money to go on a nice, fancy cruise on the river. The boat was nice, the food was good, it was very up-scale. About 90% of the people were dressed appropriately. My party wore suits and dresses, and a few people there had polos and slacks which was fine. On the other hand, a few people were on the ship wearing flip flops, sleeveless T-shirts and jean shorts! When you buy the dinner dance cruise, they tell you its semi-formal. Most people go for a nice night out on the river, I have no idea why people would even show up dressed like they came right out of the trailer park. Gateway Clipper really should enforce the dress code. No one wants to slow dance with their wife in a $1600 suit next to the guy in the Miller lite shirt and jean shorts. It just ruined the experience. Show up with a collar or GTFO. Other than that, expect to leave broke, but its a fun time. Definitely go if you are visiting the city.

We went with a group from a convention on one of there boats. The whole clipper fleets purpose was not to give us an enjoyable boat cruse, but to get every dollar they could out of the captured customers. It took us forever to get on to the boat because they had to take pictures of every couple getting on to the boat leaving everyone standing on the dock in the elements. Pittsburgh in April is not the warmest weather. There was not enough tables set up for our group and some of the people had to sit at unset tables. Of course the first thing conventioneers do is go for a drink - $7 for a small rum and coke! The buffet was the average wedding food (chicken, beef, and pasta - nothing that we wouldn't receive at a local buffet), but tasty and plentiful. There was no tea, water or soda served with dinner. You had to buy your own beverage. At $75 a couple they could at least give you some ice tea or a $.50 can of soda. Even though there were coffee cups and cream on the tables, there was no coffee offered. After dinner someone did finally come around with water in plastic type beer cups, but he was to never to be seen again. The only time we seen our waiter (he only came around after dinner) was when he tried several time to hock there souvenir cups. He must of worked on commission to sell these cup (pushy). Lord only know what they cost. Of course we walked past the pictures of us they were also trying to hock when we got off the boat. The company was enjoyable, the scenery of Pittsburgh was beautiful, the boat itself if tastefully decorated, but the boat trip was a disappointment. If you want a beautiful view of Pittsburgh and a enjoyable meal take the incline to a restaurant on top of Mt Washington and skip the Gateway Clipper.

Took the Thanksgiving cruise and had a wonderful time. The food was good the, service ran smoothly, and the crew was freindly and inviting. It was like a big Pittsburgh family holiday, they involved the kids so they were not bored after eating, and it was very cute (might I add). The weather was beautiful the city looked great, I would do this again maybe each year do a different holiday. The price was also resonable . Keep up the good work bringing Pittsburgh together.

We wanted to ride the clipper fleet over to the Pirates game on May 24. No problem. Got our tickets and boarded one of the enclosed boats at the dock. Key word here is enclosed. After about 10 minutes onboard we heard an announcement that we would be riding the Good Ship Lollipop to PNC Park.If I would have known that they overload this little pontoon boat so there is not enough seats for everyone I would have disembarked and asked for a refund. It was cold that day and they do not drive slow. I had to stand at the front of the boat in the wind for the whole ride over. Being a carefully coiffed lady I must say I was disappointed that I arrived at the game looking quite dishelveled. I think they should tell you in advance that you will be riding in a glorified pontoon or discount the ticket fee. They did they same thing on the return ride and it was freezing. What a disappointment. This was our first time on this fleet and I must say I was extremely disappointed in the service. I will not be riding them again anytime soon.

The Gateway Clipper Fleet was a nice experience because it was very relaxing, yet elogent. It was very nice on the rivers because you got to see all of pittsburgh! (Go Steelers/Pens!) The service was nice and the spring is a great time of year for a little cruise!