City Cruises

We did the ThamesJet on 29 Dec. The boat operator and first mate spoke a total of 8 words during the entire 65-​minute trip. The guy at the pier was great though. But if you are looking for a tour or any kind of narration, or a description or even politeness, this is not the trip to take. The reason for the 2 stars was the boat did go fast during the places they could go fast.

Loved seeing the city from the water. The «Watermen» that navigate the River Thames (established 1555!), and their commentary were awesome.

A good way to sight see The Thames River.
Just make sure your boat has a live guide, not a recording. It makes the journey more enjoyable.
And also make sure your boat has a working bar with alcohol. It makes your journey really more enjoyable…

We enjoyed this cruise. It was an easy and relaxing way to see London. You can hop on/​hop off all day long if you wish at different stop. It’s a better alternative to the hop on/​off bus, IMO. I like the breezes along the Thames and brief history lessons from the guide of different buildings and such in London.
We got off in Greenwich (last stop), had lunch and walked around, and got back on another cruise to get back to London, city center.

This is a great cruise with a funny captain. He claimed he’s not an official tour guide, but he seemed to possess so much knowledge and does a good commentary during the 30min one way trip that I thought he was being humble. Thankfully, I videotaped it in 1080HD so I’m going to have a great time relaxing and reviewing the trip again on my big screen TV!
Having said that, board the boat at the Westminster Pier which is located very close to the Westminster tube station. However, during the day when I boarded the boat, it suffered a mechanical problem so we all had to wait for another 45mins for a replacement boat to arrive on top of the 30 mins we already spent waiting. The top deck is the best for views and the seats are good, solid and made of metal.
it’s a hop on and off service, but I only took it one way up Thames River and then returning back via the tube.

Another great way to sightseeing London is to take the river cruise. You have great view for many architecture. The board ride is about 30 minutes one way. It moves very slow so you have plenty of time to take pictures. Actually it is better way to take pictures distance away so you can see the whole architecture.
There are double decks. Upper deck are open air. More popular because better views.
There is tour guide on the boat giving you information of all the major architecture you pass by. Very informative!

My husband and I love doing lunch/​dinner cruises whenever we visit a new place. I spent a few hours looking through different cruises when I came across City Cruises. I was really impressed with their prices. A two-​course 1 hour and 45 minute cruise for only 30 pounds a person! I’ve done several cruises in America and I have never seen one so cheap!
In addition to the cruise, we were able to get a small discount on tickets to the London Tower thanks to City Cruises. The only problem was that their ticket booth ended up opening later than the time posted online. It made for a little bit of a rushed time for the London Tower, but it ended up working out alright in the end.
The cruise itself goes up and down the Thames River. You get to see a lot of the historical places in London, such as The Elizabeth Tower (aka Big Ben), The London Eye, Parliament, and St. Paul’s Cathedral. The first hour or so of the tour is spent listening to some great music as you grab some drinks and enjoy your meal. We were able to split a pretty good bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon for 17 pounds with our meal. The meal itself I would say was only OK. The chicken was a little dry, but the dauphinoise potato was delicious. I’d say the mixed vegetables (green beans and carrots) were pretty good. I’d say the best part of the dinner cruise was the dessert. It was INCREDIBLE (and a huge step up from the other desserts I’ve had in London). It was a white, dark, and milk chocolate truffle cake served in a raspberry sauce. It had what can only be described as Milk Duds and chocolate chunks on top. Very good!
During the last half hour, they spend more time pointing out famous London landmarks and giving you some history, which was nice. Overall, I thought the service was great and really enjoyed getting a look of London from the river. I would definitely do it again.

My family and I took the cruise from The London Eye to Tower of London, nice cruise very informative and entertaining, friendly staff.
After departing the ship and walking around London I realized my wallet was gone, initially I thought I had been picked, bummed but not wanting it to ruin our vacation I called CC companies etc and we continued with our trip. Well dumb ass me had dropped in on the City Cruises boat, they found it located my employee ID and contacted my work who, through email found me in Paris. City Cruises then offered to mail it to me wherever I was or send it home to the US… I opted for home. A few days later my son calls us from home to say the wallet had arrived.
My family and I spent a month traveling through Europe this summer and unfortunately ran into a more than a few dishonest people and companies just preying on travelers, it was a real uplift in spirits to have a company go that extra mile to help me out.

I had hour to kill and wanted to see what was new on the river and this is the way to do it. They have very comfortable boats with an indoor salon and a deck seating area for nice weather. The tour was just exactly what I wanted and I saw all the changes from the perspective of the river. The tour guide was a very polite (All Brits are polite as far as I can tell.) and knew his stuff about the river lore and what was new and not. I enjoyed him and the truncated trip. I believe they do a variety of tour combinations but I can’t comment on this forum as I was inarush.

We took the cruise from Westminster Pier to Greenwich. Unfortunately we arrived just as the previous boat was pushing off so we waited about an hour for the next boat. This was OK simply because my wife and I had each other’s company.
All boats are not the same, so if you see a boat cruising down river do not assume that is the boat you will be on. Not all routes are the same either. Other boats did not stop at the London Eye, but ours did immediately after pushing off from Westminster. A perk, though, was that when it left London Eye it went under the bridge and we cruised in front of Parliament before turning to head toward the Tower of London. The other boats we saw did NOT go that far, so that was a perk because we got to see a great view of that fantastic building. We didn’t have much time to spend in Greenwich already, but all of this made that amount of time even more abbreviated.
Even though you may not get on the boat type that you want, you can make the best of it regardless. Each boat has it’s pros and cons, just find the pros of the one you’re on and use them.
As far as I know each boat has a bar with drinks and snacks. It was a cash only bar so be prepared.
If you can adapt to unknown events and make the best of situations that don’t go as planned, you’ll be fine. We made the best of it and enjoyed the experience.

I could never say no to a river cruise, especially in the Thames. This cruise was just OK. Nothing special. From Westminster Pier to Tower Pier, the commentator tried to be funny on numerous occasions (with his dry British humor), but failed to uplift the passengers. We didn’t have any food/​tea onboard so I can’t comment on that. I did take some great pictures. City Cruises is sufficient enough for a river cruise but next time I would just opt for a Thames River Clipper, without the audio, and just the views.

I have been on these boats twice and on both occasions was left very frustrated! We were given dinner cruise tickets as a Christmas gift and went along looking forward to the gourmet meal and 5 star entertainment that was promised. When we boarded there was no menu or choice, we just had to wait and see what they were going to bring out. Safe to say it was not worth the wait. Dried out chicken in an insipid sauce which was more like something you’d expect to be served in a hospital. The waiters came round with trays of ‘champagne’ which it looked like they were offering up. On taking one you were briskly informed that would be £6.50. Most people put them back. If you wanted a glass you’d ask for one, seemed like they were trying to trick you and it was very wasteful! Most people must have declined as towards the end of the night the waiters came back and had a ridiculously good deal on. We ordered a couple of glasses but almost as soon as they arrived we were told we had to get out and couldn’t take the drinks with us. The entertainment was grim, it felt like going back in time. I was just glad we hadn’t actually paid for this so we could laugh at how shockingly bad it was. Much better nights out can be had in London.
I should have known not to go back but we had people visiting who wanted to do a Thames boat trip. I thought how bad can it be if it was just a boat tour? We boarded at the London Eye by which point there are virtually no seats with a half decent view left. I went to get us drinks and ordered some gin and tonics. When asked if I wanted doubles I declined, however once I looked at my receipt I saw I had been charged for doubles. I flagged this issue up with the cashier who insisted that I asked for doubles. She checked with her colleague who confirmed that I asked for singles and that was what she’d poured out. They then said they couldn’t fix it as there was no manager on board and I would need to take the doubles. I said I didn’t want them and didn’t need to take anything and they continued to insist I had to. Eventually they gave me the extra £5 I had been charged out of the till but it took some coercing and they had a real attitude problem. The ‘guide’ who was commenting on stuff didn’t seem to know much and was giving his opinion on how certain sights were ‘crap’. He was cringey and irritating. Won’t make this mistake a third time — steer clear of city cruises.

Worth it just for the view of the bridge alone! We had a great time on the boat, it was a beautiful day and it was nice to get a view from the water. We had the London Pass (which I highly recommend) and this was included. As I mentioned, you get really close to the bridge and we were able to take some great pictures. I really enjoyed this tour!

I have been on these boats a few times with different people, and I always enjoy it! I have never booked in advance, just went directly to the ticket office when I was ready to go and purchased a one way journey from Westminster pier down to Tower Bridge for no more than £9 each per adult. I have also previously gotten great value by having this tour as part of various site-​seeing deals (Madame Tussauds and the London Dungeon included). The staff are always good for a laugh and friendly too.
In my opinion, this tour is excellent value for money, and a bit different from your standard bus tour. It also doesn’t hurt that there’s a bar on board! Of course, everyone is desperate to get a decent view on top deck, so if you don’t get aboard quickly you may have trouble getting yourself a good seat. The operators are usually very knowledgeable, and always inject a bit of humour into their presentation.
All in, if you want to see a bit of London, this is the best way to do it… especially you’re visiting the Tower of London that day! Don’t forget to check deals that are on at the other attractions you’re visiting, as often you can get this half price or better. You can save yourself a packet if you’re good at searching for deals in advance.

I am curious as to why one of your captains saw fit to shower me with abuse when I asked if he was headed to the tate?
I made an innocent, and easy mistake, presuming that his was the boat travelling between tate sites. The incident occurred at around 15:15 on the millennium pier.
Once the boat had left the dock, the captain leant out of the window to shout at me, treating me as if I was very stupid for presuming his boat (which was at the same boarding point that the Tate to Tate boat leaves from) was the correct one.
Several other members of the public also saw this. I wonder if this is the type of behaviour you expect of the representatives of your company.

Others have mentioned «controlled chaos» and that’s about the size of it. We ordered advance tickets which had a departure point clearly marked on the ticket, but was not to be found at the actual quay. Somehow or another we were supposed to simply know that we should go to gate C (even though our tickets specified gate D), and the quay staff member seemed annoyed that we didn’t absorb this information telepathically or something, and had the affront to ASK where to queue up.
Anyway, after boarding the boat we sat next to a window, as requested, and thought all would be well. Actually, it was more like «and the boat didn’t capsize or anything». The food was mediocre at best (and I mean at its very best) but you don’t go on these lunch cruises for haute cuisine, I know that, but still. Yuk.
The worst part was that of alllll the things that could have been highlighted on a trip on the Thames, the one that WAS NOT on the list was the Houses of Parliament! We saw lots of old warehouses converted into apartments — dozens of those, in fact — and some pubs, and some bridges. Okay, the bridges were kind of cool. +1 for those. –5 for the other non-​sights and the fact we cruised by them multiple times.
The audio system on board was awful, full of static. Which in a way was a good thing, because when I COULD hear the captain’s commentary, it was dreck. Misogynistic «jokes», tired jabs at celebrities, very little information on London, really.
This was one of the lowlights of our trip to London. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, not even the over-​70 crowd that seemed to predominate on the day we went.
2 stars because the staff on board the ship was nice, and City Cruises (nominally) delivered what they said they would. More of a 1.5 star experience, really.

We waited in line a full hour before the first boat showed up. It was utter, disorganised chaos. No staff around so people we cutting in line. When the boat finally showed up we were crammed in like sardines next to a wall so couldn’t even see outside. To top it off there’s a super-​chavy guy giving commentary. He’s more interested in hearing the sound of his own voice than giving information about the sites.
All in all a really long, unpleasant experience.

City Cruises is a very good cruise across the River Thames, I went from The Tower of London to London Eye. The staff were really nice and helpful, I had a short conversation with the person who went on to give us the tour about the upcoming game, he was a very friendly person who told the rest of the boat and I some interesting facts.
The boat, I boarded has a top and bottom deck, on the bottom they was a large amount of seats and windows already open as well as a small café selling coffee and sandwiches.
The tour took about 25 minutes and was 1 way, The ticket was actually included in my open top bus tour of London, considering it was free, It was a great tour.
After some consideration I feel 4 stars is more suitable here, as they was one minor thing that should be improved, I don’t know whose fault this is, the tour company or the bus company I booked with but I was disappointed that the tour did not include return (the free ticket booked in with my open top bus tour) however still I would recommended this tours as the staff are great and it is a nice, educational tour what is a must do when visiting London for a first time, or even for residents of London to do to learn more about their great city.

The cruise was part of our Big Bus Tour ticket & was fantastic! The commentary was educational, informative & fun the guide even pointed our Helen Mirren’s house! We didn’t realize the last boat back from Greenwich was so early so we pretty much had to run to the Observatory to get our photo & run back (which was about 15 – 20 min each way). When you get to the top of the hill, turn left. (The sign was a little hidden).
Would have loved to spend more time in Greenwich. Very cute town.
The cruise is much faster on the way back with way less commentary since everything was pointed out on the way there.
No one ever checked our ticket, I feel like we could have easily walked right on. Sit on the outside deck for sure (unless I guess it’s raining). Get the cruise on the Big Ben side of the bridge. After that is crosses the Thames to pick up people on the London Eye side & it’s pretty full by then.

Great experience. The agent booking the reservation over the telephone was unable to find our offer — a discount from a travel brochure, but honored it sight unseen and allowed us to deliver the offer upon arrival.
We went on an afternoon tea cruise. This was a great value — the per person fee was equal to the lower priced formal teas in London, so it was like getting the boat cruise free! It was very relaxing. I’d recommend people to dress in layers for the Tea Cruises and bring sunglasses for maximum comfort — it can get very bright on a sunny day and the temps can fluctuate. Very pleasant staff.

É uma viagem agradável e permite conhecer ambos os lados do rio e ter uma perspectiva diferente da cidade.

Wir hatten das River Red Rover Tour Ticket inklusive hop on hop off. Somit kann man den ganzen Tag die Themse entlang fahren und an den bekannten Stellen ein– und austeigen.
Die Fahrten haben sich auf jeden Fall gelohnt. Vieles was wir uns von Nahem angesehen hatten, konnten wir nun von der Themse aus nochmal sehen. Der Kapitain gab noch sehr interessante Extrainformationen zum Besten. Das war das eigentliche Highlight, denn das was später vom Band kam, war doch recht trocken.
Die Fahrt war sehr angenehm. Unten war es etwas stickig, auf das Dach konnte man wegen des Regens nicht. Daher würde ich für den Komfort eigentlich nur 4 Sterne geben, wenn ich sehr pingelig bin, sogar weniger.
Doch die Fahrt hat einfach alles wieder rausgerissen.
Wer in London ist, sollte in jedem Fall mal eine River Cruise machen.

Vendue avec le ticket des bus touristique, la petite balade sur la Tamise est assez sympathique (comptez 25 livres pour les 2). En 40 minutes, elle vous emmèné de Big Ben à la Tour de Londres (ou inversement ^^), avec un guide anglophone (sorry !) à bord. Explication et descriptions sont donc au rendez vous.
Si le temps le permet (et c’était mon cas), vous prendrez place au pont supérieur, cheveux au vent pour prendre des photos mémorables.
On découvre au cours de la balade différents «monuments», «the london eye» (la grand roué londonienne), la cathédrale saint paul, les différents ponts de londres, et notamment le tower bridge, la tour de londres, et big ben of course.
C’est un bon complément au bus touristique.
Prévoyez quand même de quoi vous couvrir si vous n’y allez pas l’été !

Die Stadtfahrten führen zu den beliebtesten Touristen-​Ausflugszielen (Westminster, Waterloo, Tower of London und Greenwich).
Die Firma befördert jedes Jahr bis zu 10 Millionen Fahrgäste und ist somit das größte Flussunternehmen in London.
Durch die Einführung neuer Routen, Dienstleistungen, Tickets und Vergünstigungen für körperlich behinderte Menschen, bieten diese Stadtrundfahrten ein umfangreiches Angebot, Flexibilität
und ein gutes Preis-​Leistungsverhältnis.
Das Erfolgsrezept der Stadtrundfahrten auf dem Wasser waren deren Leistungsfähigkeit,
ihre Effizienz, sich durchgehend auszuweiten und sich um attraktive Innovationen zu bemühen.
Das Ergebnis ist ein erfolgreicher Sightseeing-​Service der sich ohne Subventionen durchsetzen konnte.
Öffnungszeiten
Montag bis Sonntag
Die Abfahrtzeiten variieren: bitte Kontakt aufnehmen.
Preise
River Red Rover Tour
Erwachsene £11.50
Kinder £5.75
Red River Rover-​Familien Packet:
£28.00
Red River Rover und DLR:
Erwachsene £13.50, Kinder £6.75
Red River Rover + Nachmittags Tee + Eingang beim Churchill Museum & Cabinet War Rooms:
Erwachsene £24.50, Kinder £20.00
Mittagessens Cruise (12.15 vom Tower Pier, Rueckfahrt zum Tower Pier 13.30, fuer Gruppen 40+):
Erwachsene £25.50, Kinder £19.00
Tee Cruise (fuer Gruppen 20+):
Erwachsene £20.50, Kinder £15.00

Cuando estuve en Londres con mi novia, nos decidimos por uno de estos paseos en barco por el Támesis y no quedamos para nada defraudados. Da una perspectiva distinta a Londres, y llegamos hasta el mismo puente de la Torre, partiendo cercanos al Big Ben, para hacernos una idea de la distancia recorrida por el río.