Nautical Adventures

The staff was very friendly, professional and funny. When we boarded the ship, we were greeted by the staff as we walked around. Also as we boarded the ship there was a table of appetizers that had cheese, crackers, olives and vegetables. They had plenty to go around for everyone and the staff was always coming out with more food to make sure the table was never empty. When we went for dinner I thought that the food portions would be small but I was wrong. They gave you plenty of food and I couldn't go up for seconds.The firework show and music really made the night perfect. The DJ was great and the fireworks show off Harbor Front were amazing. Last forever and had the best seat on the lake.I would recommend this cruise in a heartbeat.

Great for everything a nice way to see Toronto from out in the Lake Ontario. I liked it so much I had my wedding aboard the Empire Sandy. Every one thought it was the best wedding very unique. Many thanks to Sharon for the wonderful wedding day arrangements.

Toronto Harbor Cruise try the Best Most Elegant Tall Ship The Empire Sandy with a great tradition , Sailing, dancing dinner, drinks fun DJ. I have gone back Sandy cruising many times and always had a wonderful time .I liked it so much I decided to have my wedding aboard the Sandy. By far the best unique wedding was a common comment of our guests and family of the Nautical Wedding experince. I am already planning on anniversary cruise. The only problem was my brother in law giving everyone water wings, it scared the crew.I consider it the best Toronto Harbor Cruise because of the ship. You are outside on a really big sailing ship looking over the Toronto Skyline. Amazing experience you will not be disappointed. I especially enjoyed the band and cruise party nights. As you can tell I am a fan. Robert

We did our company party here and it's such a cool experience. Staff were friendly. Catering was great. Could use better liquor selection on deck but full bar in the hull.

I bought a Groupon which had said free pop and juice on the cruise. The time was not mentioned on it, so I called and was told over the phone. Then we received an email saying to print out the Groupon again, because now it has the time on it. I didn't because I was just going to show it on my phone.Before we boarded we had to pay $5 in tax as HST. It was lucky I had cash on me. The person taking the money didn't bring change and the first person in line was paying with a $50, so she had to go get change. You'd think they would know to have some change.When I went to get our pop, I looked at my Groupon and whilst the time of the cruise had been added, the line about free pop and juice was removed. I went downstairs to the bar and was told that it costs $2 for pop. I told them that my Groupon had originally said it was free, but now doesn't, which put me in an awkward situation. The unfriendly bar staff seemed shifty, giving each other meaningful looks and saying I have to pay. I asked how much the coffee was. One of the staff said it was free, which made one of the other bar staff very angry, She did not want me to get my drink for free! It was so low class. The nice one called someone who said yes, I do get the drink for free. So it is free unless you are a schmuck. They were the most unfriendly bar staff I have ever encountered. They must pocket a good deal of money from the people who don't know the pop is free.The benches were so flimsy they buckled under the weight of one person. There was some garbage on the deck. When the cruise started there was a friendly announcement, but no information at all about where the cruise was going. Then they put on awful, blaring music, such as Shania Twain, Chicago, Michael Buble, etc. No one was in a disco mood. At the very end of the cruise they played a nautical song and one by Gordon Lightfoot which were so much more in keeping with the atmosphere.We sailed a little bit to the east, then turned back. Again, there was word at any time during the cruise where we would be going. Yet they had a perfectly good loud, clear speaker system. Not a single word about anything of interest. Just the blaring disco music. We went about as far east as Parliament Street. We passed the lighthouse on the Leslie Street spit. The actual cruise was good.At the end they fired a cannon which they say they do every Canada Day. They told us to cover our ears, but even so, it was painfully loud.I would not recommend this to anyone, unless there is no other cruise at all. If you do have to go, eat and drink beforehand and bring noise-cancelling headphones. The shifty, unfriendly bar staff really ruined it for me. I can't believe that when one of them offered me a coffee, another one had a fit about me getting something for free. It reminded me of a poorly-run fast food place.

The cruise was very nice. Weather was awesome and the music was right up our alley. However when we booked to cruise the confirmation sheet said live entertainment and dinner buffet. There was no live entertainment it was only DJ with music. The dinner buffet consisted of appetizers only. Little deceiving. The appetizers were yummy but it was not a dinner buffet. Had I have known I would have eaten before I boarded. Other than that it was a very pleasant crew and the DJ Rocked!! Overall it was a very pleasant experience and would certainly recommend it.

We took the Dinner Cruise in Friday July 22. The schooner ride was very nice and seeing T.O. from the lake during the evening return was beautiful.HOWEVER: The food was atrocious, burnt very small pieces of chicken, and a very grey tasteless rib was very unappealing. Dessert was served in 4 groups. When our group was called up to Help yourself". There was absolutely NOTHING

Too many people meant cold food at 10pm and inability to move around the ship.Went on the blues cruise night for a date night. All the problems that we have with the night steamed from one big problem, they allow TOO MANY PEOPLE on. We could hardly move when we first boarded, then even as people moved around we couldn't get to the edge of the ship to look out or take pictures and it was impossible to get a seat on the deck. The appetizers were just on tables, with no staff monitoring, which meant after standing in the long line to get to the table there was no veggies left and the cheese was warm from sitting out. It was obvious people were taking more then their fair share. Then, for dinner because they couldn't feed everyone at once or fit everyone in the dinning part downstairs they had to do it in waves. They went by the colour of a ticket you received when you boarded. I don't know what determined the ticket colour but we arrived at 8:37 so we weren't late but we were the last to be called. By then the potatoes were running low so we barely got any, and the food was cold as it was almost 10pm (an hour after they started the process). Also I had assumed that given it was a 'dinner cruise' it wouldn't be 10 to 10 when we sat down to eat, we were starving. The view and the staff were great, just so poorly executed because it was obvious they were just trying to get as many people as they could on board to make the quick buck rather then making it a more comfortable cruise with less people. Also they blared the music the whole time. Would have been nice to have just soft background music as we looked out for at least part of the time. Instead all the way up until we got off we were yelling in each other's ear just to talk.

Having lived in Toronto for 12 years and seen the gorgeous Empire Sandy parked at the foot of Spadina for years, it was a long-standing tourist dream come true for me to take a dinner cruise on my Canada Day birthday on the massive vessel. The ship is an absolute beauty above deck, the crew is fantastic and the overall experience was just superb. The captain is funny and it was lovely to see how the huge sails go up with young crew people working so hard to make it happen. They even set off their teeny cannon and it was quite the spectacle!However the food was beyond abysmal. I've done Toronto harbour cruises before so I knew it wasn't about the food at all, but this was even below my already low expectations.Apps were passed around but very limited and there were just two dismal looking veggie platters set out on tables. The choices for dinner were limited to say the least. They only had ONE meat option - beef - which my partner does not eat. Sides were also limited and he had to fill up on salad and rolls. The salad literally tasted of rotten leaves. At least provide a chicken option? Note that a menu was not provided beforehand and we were not aware of what would be served even though the website mentions a dinner buffet. Two salads, roasted veggies and beef DO NOT make a buffet." The deserts were decent

This was the absolute worst experience ever, likely magnified by the fact I purchased on Groupon. The biggest issue is that they over crowd the vessel, so the minute you get on you realize what the deal" is and feel like the trapped sardine you now are for the next 4 1/2 hours. The food