Highlights Of Melbourne Cruise

It was a very odd set up. I prepurchased the tickets, which clearly stated the departure time. However, I am not sure that there was any benefit in prepurchase as I had to check in at the kiosk to get a slip of paper... This meant that arriving at 11 am meant we were late and the woman in the kiosk made sure we heard her tell us off for being late... If we had known that we needed to arrive earlier than 11 for this process we would have. I thought that prepurchasing the tickets would me we could rock up at 11 and all would be good...

Relaxed and informative.. Great to see Melbourne from the river perspective, many parts you wouldn't otherwise get access to

Excellent experience. Friendly crew. Clear welcome and instructions. Comfortable and clean boat. Refreshments were an appreciated bonus! Good value for money. Would do it again. Well deserves the 5 stars.

Great view of the Yarra river and areas In Melbourne. Dissappointed the tour was recorded and hard to hear. Enjoyed the experience but would not recommend it. A live tour presenter would have been an improvement.

Was quite disappointed, we were booked for a 2 hour tour but after hour, we were told to get off as they couldn't complete the 2nd half. Not really told why but was told to get a refund by Fay who then said we had to go through Viator. Not happy at all.

Relaxing and informative trip. We did the 2 hours which is extensive and shows you a lot of the history and riverside development of the city. Hot beverage included with other drinks available to buy.

Safe and well skippered boat. The guide info is pre recorded but informative… it was great to go up and downstream. Boat was large and bright.

This is just an okay experience in Melbourne. The narration is recorded and often hard to understand with people on the boat chatting and moving about, so not as educational as much as a cruise on the river. The many bridges have lots of graffiti, so a little sad. Keep in mind, the 2 hour option, which takes you upriver for an hour, then down river for another hour, included 1/2 hour break between, and you are asked to disembark the boat.

What a beautiful Sunny Melbourne Day to do this cruise .A good two hours invested upstream and downstream.Had a good time and clicked sone lovely skylines and river views

Sit back and relax. Take in all the wonderful views along the way with the commentary and get educated.

Interesting commentary & friendly staff. (Pity about the screaming children but the staff did do their best to control it during the commentary.)

Had a easy time booking tour, instructions were clear as to were to pick up tickets. Overall we had a lovely time cruising up the Yarra and learning about the city. It was friendly, tour was on time, reasonably priced as well. Would highly recommend this tour. Weather was wonderful, nice spring day.

The guides were friendly and professional. Loved learning about the history provided.

It was lovely trip up stream Yarra river and we thoroughly enjoyed the commentary and history tid bits. Unfortunately the tide didn't allow us to continue downstream and the weather was not exactly on our side either. Despite that the staff was friendly, helpful and very polite, something which made our experience even more enjoyable.

It was ok. Pre-recorded is not as good as a real Person giving it. Volume low. Hard to hear with everyone talking on the boat. Not very engaging. Short one way and then return.

I did the two hour cruise. One hour down one side of the river. Comes back to the Dock. One more hour down the other side of the river. PROS: - We had great weather. There is a small observation deck on the back of the boat with a bench. - Most people sit inside the boat and the views are still great. - Tea and coffee included and other snacks for purchase. - Audio details about the city is really nice. (Though on a full boat, might be too loud to hear.) - Meeting spot easy to find - Many shops and restaurants around to attend before or after the cruise. CONS: - It wasn’t clear that there would be a stop half way through the tour. Only that our tickets read “cruise 1” and “cruise 2.” Not a deal breaker but it was confusing for those of us doing the 2 hour tour. Overall: I do a lot of city boat tour and this was one of my favorite. I even went to the SkyDeck afterwards specifically called out on the tour.

I found it very boring and expensive for what it was. We were due to stay on for 2 hours but got off after a hour.

Seeing city from River Side gives you a very unique perspective. We were glad that we did the trip on both side of Yara River - upstream and downstream.

It was very basic & rough inside the boat. Chairs wernt that comfortable & there was a leak from the roof onto them The commentry would have been good if we could hear it but the man behind us talked until he got off half way.. Lovely if like us, u like being on the water

Unfortunately the wrong date was given should have been the 22nd August or I didn't notice the date at time of booking was different to what I originally had put in. So sorry I can't give a review.

This river cruise was so relaxing and informative. We loved it. The Yarra river has a rich history as do the bridges and buildings around it! We arrived back just on dusk with the lights reflecting on the water. It was so pretty. We then had dinner and drinks in the Southgate shopping district! Perfect end to a wonderful day!

This was an informative 2-hour cruise upstream and downstream with a 30 minute break in between the two cruises. It was very pleasant with a friendly, capable captain and assistant. Many famous landmarks of Melbourne were pointed out as was much of Melbourne's early history. As a former Melburnian for over 40 years, I learnt quite an amount about early Melbourne. It was reasonably priced with tea and coffee included.

Good view of Melbourne, while relaxing.

Fabulous even in the winter cold! The Skipper and Deckhand were so friendly. Definitely should be on your list of things to do.

Very nice trip. The down stream was a bit more interesting . Would recommend both. Cup of tea in a cold day very welcome too

Great experience. got to experience the CBD view and commentary about the history of the buildings and place.

It’s okay. Lots of time spent mooring up to collect and drop people off. Better down to the port than upstream.

Great commentary, good company of Grant and Annie. Free tea and coffee. A biscuit would have been nice.

Great commentary on the sights you see as you travel up the river. However due to a high tide we were not able to go down river

Awesome and great experience. The captain of the ship was very helpful and accomodating. Love to recommend this one

I booked the Yarra River Cruise tour for my elderly parents in May 2026. That was their first visit to Melbourne. They really enjoyed the experience—it was relaxing and gave them a unique view of Melbourne’s CBD, with its beautiful buildings seen from the riverside. If you’re looking for a slow-paced, scenic way to admire Melbourne and its surroundings, I would definitely recommend this tour.

Nice informative trip down the River, I liked to see a bit more of Melbourne. Hubby wasn't as interested.

I took the cruise both ways and found it a good way to see a chunk of Melbourne that I would normally never.

Easy to locate and pick up ticketts. Great crew, lots of room to move around. Glad we did 2 hour cruise so got to go upstream (gardens) and downstream (docklands).

A great two hour trip, informative and friendly crew

Great views of Melbourne and a different perspective of the size of the city and the Docklands area. Great commentary and a full 2 hours up and down the Yarra from Bay 2. Great crew. Thoroughly recommend.

We really enjoyed seeing the sights from the river. We did the 2 hour trip

Excellent boat cruise! We really enjoyed it. Nice atmosphere. Good commentary both by the captain & audio.

Not great at all. A booring tour. Recorded commentary . Would be better with alive commentator and include modern info about Melbourne.

We took the cruise since there was no hop on and hop off bus tour. The up stream trip was poring, but the lower steam side somehow better.

There is NO mention of a 1/2 hour “lunch break” in the middle of the cruise where it docks after 1st hour…then you go onto 2nd hour. There was no: bottled water (there is a water station) , chips, beef jerky etc on board for sale despite it being advertised at the kiosk. Only stale Pringles and nuts were available. Staff not that friendly especially the driver of the boat. Take your own snacks. Not with the $$ we paid.

We were only able to complete half of the tour due to high tide but we were still charged the full amount of the tour. We were not offered a partial refund or any additional compensation. Tour guides were fantastic and friendly! Lovely city

Great trip and worth doing 2 hour tour as very different. Polite and courteous staff. Highly recommend

I was the visitor from interstate, they lived in Victoria….. all were very impressed by the Yarra 2hr cruise I had booked as a surprise. Went south then north, saw and learnt much regards history, trade, entertainment and sporting facilities. Jovial captain and competent young deckies . Near Berth 2 where u board are a vast range of eateries and bars at Southbank. So arrive early and enjoy a great day out in all weather.

The river boat was nice and the two hour crews a wonderful way to see the city. Melbourne is a beautiful city and the recorded narration was informative. I would recommend to people who would like a relaxing way to see the city

Worst cruise ever. Could not hear crew member on loading instructions. Then once on the boat the captain was a little rude and stated the left side of the boat was reserved for the school kids. Did not start the boat cruise until 25 minutes after start time. Could not hear the commentary about the history of the river as the kids were too busy being loud and not paying attention to the cruise. To top it off, we were stuck in the middle of the boat and did not have the opportunity to see anything. Last cruise for us. Got off the boat after 1 hour on a paid 2 hour river cruise. Sydney harbor was way better along with the cruises in Europe.

Very enjoyable and informative cruise. I just wish the chairs had been more comfortable. Overall, a very nice experience.

Went on the 2 hour cruise, which turned out to be the 1 hour down stream followed by the 1 hour up stream. Half the downstream is boring through the docks, the upstream was truncated and had the downstream through the city again to compensate. The comentary was pre-recorded and difficult to hear at times. Wish we had found a 1 hour cruise going 1/2 the distances down and up stream.

Enjoyed the leisurely river cruise with interesting narrative regarding the history of the Yarra River