City Cruises Alexandria The Wharf Water Taxi

Location: The Wharf area Potomac Water Taxi We decided to take a tour of the Potomac River sightseeing landmarks/monuments in the Washington, DC area, after having lunch at Gordon Ramsey Fish & Chips. The cost per person was $48.40. The inside of the tour boat has AC. There are snacks and drinks you can purchase inside while on your tour. The boat has a few stops before reversing its course. The actual boat ride was approximately 45 minutes both ways. I’ve included a few videos. I would recommend the tour.

I hopped on a water taxi, and thank goodness the weather was warm! ☀️ I can’t imagine how chilly it would feel in the winter, with the cold wind cutting right through you. 🥶 The ride to Alexandria was absolutely stunning! 🌊 Along the way, I got to see the Capitol Building, planes landing at the airport, and even a Navy base. The views made the whole trip so worth it! 🛥️✨

Nice way to travel from The Wharf to Old Town Alexandria. I bought a round trip ticket online. Smooth ride there and back 🛥️.

FANTASTIC ferry service! We took the ferry from the wharf in DC to Georgetown. We really the trip. The boat was great and opportunity to take pictures too. The view points are amazing. This allow you to sample DC from another angle. I would highly recommend this tour! My family really enjoyed it.

Kind of pricey at $21 but I will say this was a delightful way to get from the wharf to Alexandria. It didn’t take too long and there are snacks and drinks available on board. You pass a lot of shady military buildings on the way. It gets hot upstairs but there’s a downstairs that’s bumping AC.

Bought tickets online and kept the tickets on my phone. Walked up, the scanned the code, we got on the boat. Super easy for an easy day out.

Paid $150 for family of 4 to travel from The Wharf to Old Alexandria. Boat ride of 20 minutes each way, with round trip. It is misrepresented as a “sightseeing” with signs as such all over website and on premises. It is a very overpriced ferry. Except unlike Stanton Island Ferry, it charges fees like a tour. No pointing out landmarks and the audio tour feature was broken. I want a refund. Would give zero stars if I could.

Love the experience!!! The brunch was amazing, friendly atmosphere 😊👌🏻🌸

I absolutely love riding the Potomac water taxi. It has stops along the Mount Vernon bike trail, which makes it perfect for biking from the wharf to Georgetown or Alexandria, and taking the water taxi back. It makes for a perfect day, especially when you throw in a brunch or a happy hour in one of these beautiful destinations. The staff is always so pleasant and professional. They make it feel like a mini vacation. The $225 season pass may seem a bit expensive, but it is worth every penny. Here is a great 2024 with the Potomac water taxi!

For a more unique D.C. adventure, my five-year-old daughter and I bought tickets to take the water taxi from The Wharf to Old Town Alexandria on a Saturday afternoon. Here's our experience: 1) Experience: Boarding outside The Anthem at The Wharf at 3:45 p.m., the water taxi left on time and took around 40 minutes to dock in Old Town. As we sailed the Potomac River, we saw the Washington Monument, U.S. Capitol, Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, and planes landing at National Reagan Airport. We docked at Old Town and had just over an hour to wander before taking the 5:30 p.m. water taxi back to The Wharf. Our water taxi left ten minutes behind schedule, but we still saw the seasonal fireworks go off at the National Harbor across the river. There's indoor seating where you can find a single bathroom and a bar with $2 snacks (popcorn, chips, etc.) and cans of beer, spiked iced tea, etc. There's plenty of seating on the top where you can see the best views. 2) Price: For round trip tickets for myself and my five-year-old, it cost us $70 after taxes. (This was much more expensive than I thought.) Pro-tip- avoid paying expensive parking at The Wharf and take the time to find street parking in Southwest Waterfront. If you're a tourist, this is a fun way to see the monuments from a different angle. We're locals and still enjoyed it...once. :)

Nice staff, smooth and surprisingly brisk 30-minute passage between old town Alexandria and The Wharf (or National Harbor, perhaps quicker), and good seating on open-air sunny roof deck, shaded outdoor stern deck, or climate controlled interior. My particular route had no narration, which was good, since I live in DC. A bit pricey (~$23 per adult) but fun and convenient. Better for recreational users than daily commuters. In Alexandria, an information desk sells tickets. Room for up to six bikes aboard! Those spaces at the stern are first-come first served. There were two bikes aboard, plus my family e-bike on a busy June Saturday afternoon. Looking forward to riding again!

Old boat, extremely bad service! Expensive! A waste of time and money /////:///::////////

I tried to book tickets for the Midway in San Diego through the city experiences website. We tried multiple times but the website would always freeze after clicking submit on the payment. We gave up and bought tickets on site. The next day I checked my bank account and the company had charged me for the tickets 4 times. Totaling $352. I immediately reached out to them and they assured me since the charges were pending it was just a glitch and they would not go through. They also showed no record of me buying tickets The next day they posted to my account. I've called everyday since then trying to get my money back and they just keep telling me the accounting team has to review it and determine if I get my money back. They won't let me talk to a supervisor. They said the accounting team doesn't have outside phone lines so I can't talk to them. So as of now they have stolen $350 from me and will not tell me if or when I will get it back

Took a ride on their buffet brunch cruise, Odyssey DC, with friends the other day. So much fun. DJ spinning some great tunes, service was exceptional and the food was delicious! Definitely recommend to others!

This company sucks, huge scam! I had to transfer my tour due to train delays, they wouldn't honor a refund after being 4 minutes late due to heavy traffic/last minute train schedule changes. They also wouldn't let me meet up with the group after being 4 minutes late, what a joke!! The representative (wish I had her name) told me I would be charged $34 to transfer the tour. I was charged $45.88! F this company, stay away it's fraudulent. Don't book future tours and report the issue to better business bureau and dispute the transaction with your bank if you are stuck like me. This company needs to be held accountable.

We went on the spirit of boat launch signature cruise on the Potomac. It was very fun good service, good food during the cherry blossom season.

Everyone was happy and smiling and professional from the gate, the greeters, the picture people, the staff along with way. The DJ was funny and awesome, the food was better than I had expected (reading reviews made me weary) but much to our surprise the food was great! The boat was clean and beautiful, looked well taken care of. The only problem and comment I didn't like was my two servers. That is where I think the greatest potential for improvement exists. Everyone was happy and smiling and focused on customer service except my servers. They kept disappearing for long periods of time, meaning I could not see them on the floor. People in my group were without water or drinks for long periods of time. I asked the bar to call my waiter/server several times because I could not see either of them. When I asked for coffee, I was told the coffee machine broke. So I asked for Tea and my server said; "oh those aren't my tables. You will need to ask the other server" my group got split up between two servers and instead of helping each other they didn't work together at all. They were not friendly or happy in appearance nor were they focused on customer service. For the amount of money we paid per guest and toast. I expected the service to be better. At the end there was an issue with the Drinks, which I told my guests any alcohol would be on them since we paid for the rest. I had to cover some alcohol beverages because she couldn't remember who ordered them. It isn't my job as a guest to keep track of what 32 people are ordering. The servers should be more professional and attentive to details and shouldn't disappear for long periods of time, in my opinion. We dine out a lot in DMV and we know what to expect when it comes to customer service.

They don't post cost for drinks. Ordered two cans of non-alcoholic beer which cost $17. A six pack at the grocery store only cost $11. That is a profit of $40 per six pack.

Terrible experience with City Experiences Water Taxi in Washington DC. I booked an all day ticket in person at the ticket counter in Alexandria and was assured I could visit Georgetown, National Harbor, and The Wharf. Departure times were to be posted at each pier. I rode from Alexandria to Georgetown had a great dinner returned to the pier and didn't find any departure times posted (or any signage). I called customer service at 7:00 PM and was told there would be a boat at 8:30 PM (this by itself would prevent the visits to all the stops). 8:30 came and went with no boat- I called again and was told no boat was scheduled and there were none scheduled. I had to Uber to a Metro station and Metro back to Alexandria. I've been fighting for a refund with no luck. The boats are operated by independent companies and appear to do their own thing without any accountability. I'm disappointed and surprised there is not more oversight or scrutiny from (Hornblower/City Experiences).

Called Hornblower cruises DC@ 4pm for information re DC cherry blossom cruises; RoboResponder said waiting time : 2minutes; followed in 10seconds by: "National City Experiences office is closed; call back later, or email us. CRAPPY 1st contact experience!

The best thing about my City Experiences by Hornblower Baltimore harbor was the picture perfect weather ! The staff members were professional and friendly.The food was most disappointing , lots of pasta salads ,corn mixed with ??? ,Meat that I did not recognize and other dishes...? Salmon was ok .Dont expect crabcakes or shrimp ..,not even wings !! Desserts were good .Cash bar. I did not hear ,but expected narration Of where we were sailing . I loved the smooth ride Next time I will dine out at agood seafood restaurant and instead of 200.00 ,take thre 1 hour 31.00 cruise !!!

New to DC: Took the water taxi from Georgetown to The Wharf. Got excellent information and was served adult beverages and snacks from an incredible crew. The weather was gorgeous and the trip was perfect. Couldn't be more pleased for a $15 boat ride!

We recently booked a 2 hour Potomac River Brunch Cruise aboard the Odyssey, departing at 11:30am. We have booked holiday cruises (Thanksgiving) twice previously with the same company, neither aboard the Odyssey. As usual, parking is a nightmare in the area, as Hornblower does not have a dedicated parking lot. Street parking is scarce and very tightly controlled. The nearest public parking structure is approximately $45, and is about 2-3 blocks away. Not horrible, but not super convenient either. There is no place to wait if you arrive early - you'll be standing around if you aren't lucky enough to land one of 2-3 benches. If it's hot, beware - there is limited shade. That said, once they begin boarding, the process is smooth and fairly fast. The Odyssey is a long/wide vessel with glass sides and top, which allows for excellent views along the way. The ride is very smooth - you won't get seasick. Unfortunately, the glass top/sides contributes to two issues: when the sun is out in summer, it's HOT (although there is A/C aboard - it really can't keep up) and the acoustics are dreadful. More on that later. We were a party of 4, seated in the most forward and starboard (right side) table, in the corner. The views were epic! Unfortunately, directly behind us was a table of six ladies celebrating an event. When I booked the tickets, my vision of a "brunch cruise" was fairly sedate. What we got was an altogether different experience more akin to a Booze Cruise/Party Barge ambience. The ladies behind us were served at least 3 rounds of shots (in addition to full-sized cocktails AND the complimentary Mimosas) before we even left the dock. As you can imagine, as their BAC rose, so too did the volume of their celebration. As we left the dock, they were already screaming/singing at top volume as well as twerking and gyrating practically on top of OUR table (as well as theirs). I'm glad they were having a good time, but the volume of their party was so loud that we couldn't even converse at our table. I just did not expect an 11:30am Brunch Cruise to be this rowdy! Sadly, the DJ catered to these very enthusiastic ladies and played music far more suitable to a 10pm Nightclub audience rather than an 11:30am Brunch audience. I was VERY disappointed that cruise management aboard didn't seem to have awareness of how a couple of tables of people CLEARLY looking to have a Booze Cruise/Party Barge experience would impact the experience of people expecting a different (Brunch cruise) ambience. On top of that, being in the corner, all of the noise bounced and was amplified on our table. It was awful. We could not even have a conversation with each other. Now, onto the good stuff. Our server (Dee) was exceptional. Truly, an asset to the company! Dee was professional, prompt, attentive and in every way awesome. The food was excellent! The buffet was refreshed and all the food was hot (or cold) as indicated and super yummy! In future, if I decide to book again, I will /call/ to create my booking and be sure that we're going to have the ambiance/experience we are expecting. I have NO problem with people who want to do a Booze Cruise/Party Barge experience, but that is /not/ what I'm looking for if I book an 11:30am Brunch cruise. People who want the Booze Cruise/Party Barge experience should NOT be catered to if they inappropriately book a Brunch Cruise experience. I was so embarrassed that I had brought my out of town guest aboard after I had bragged so hard about how cool this experience would be and it was just loud, unruly, and vulgar.

Unfortunately, we had a less-than-ideal experience on the Inner Harbor Spirit vessel. We set sail to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday. The servers had a long lag; the dinner plates were filthy, we had to go to the bottom of the pile, the food was not that hot, and the customer and the spinach dip appetizer were awful.

Went on the Dinner Cruise yesterday with a group of 20 people. Our dinner was pre planned and preselected. The food was poorly presented (some salads and other appetizers were missing key ingredients, tomatoes and croutons). The soup was actually ice cold. The pan seared chicken breast was actually an OVER COOKED chicken leg! NEVER will I EVER go on another group cruise with City Experiences! The ONLY thing that made it not unbearable was the young man Justin who was our server for the evening.

I took a cruise from downtown D.C. to Mt. Vernon with the Hornblower group through City Experiences on June 8, 2023. I have to say that the service and food offerings were absolutely terrible compared to a similar cruise we had taken in 2017. We were not welcomed after boarding except for a very brief announcement on the ship's loud speaker. Virtually no instructions were given as to what to do once we arrived to Mt. Vernon. There were only a couple of brief informative announcements about what we were seeing along the shore and the loud speaker was not working most of the time. On the previous tour in 2017, we had a delicious breakfast that was served on tables with table cloths and service was great. This time was just the opposite. When we arrived to Mt. Vernon the person inspecting our bags did only a cursory job and was very rude. We felt the crew members on board did not really care. We had to go ask about how and when the lunches we had paid for would be served. Altogether a big disappointment and not worth the money we paid.

What a disappointing experience. We paid for the monuments tour in DC from Alexandria to Georgetown. We left late, there was no service or interaction by the three crew members, you couldn't hear the audio of the tour and when you did catch a word or two (over the boat's very loud engine) it wasn't synced to what you were looking at. The best part is It doesn't take you by any monuments. Oh, wait...we did see the pentagon. I requested a refund and they refused but did offer a voucher on another experience . Don't waste your money unless you are literally taking it for nothing other than transportation from point A to point B. Would never recommend to anyone.

Extremely shocked and disappointed that it's not ADA complaint. How is this possible still in 2022?

City Experiences Hornblower Group cityexperiences.com Attention: to the CEO and Board of Directors Dear Sirs, I refer to our experience on Friday 11th August 2023 on the "Jazz Dinner Cruise on the River Thames" £274.80 for 2 inclusive of extra window table. Bearing in mind our age; "my husband is 90 and I am 80." we had high expectations due to years of travels and of diverse exposures, we were very disappointed. The Breakdown 1. Food was substandard a) Starter- artistically presented but, no depth of flavour-as it is an amuse bouche. The ingredients included ham. Unacceptable for Jewish and Muslim guests. b) Main course- An enormous duck leg unceremoniously plonked onto a plate surrounded by kale, lentils and billings of ham which was highly salted. Again, excluding the Jewish and Muslim customers. c) Dessert- The dessert saved the evening for our stomachs as we had to send all the food back as did the table next to us of two American couples. On booking this cruise, it was noted by your office agent named Pease that no pork or pig products should be added to the food. The quality of food which was sub standard at best. It felt as though there were three diverse caterers used for each course. This was evident as the courses as no coordination, style or balance in presentation. This for the extortionate price of £274.80 for just over 2 hours is a disgrace. 2. Service - The service was poor. it felt as if untrained staff were put to work. Having to wait to order a bottle of wine. Having to wait for our dinner as we were missed out by the untrained staff, I went to the back of the boat to complain to the supervisor who was furiously dishing out the unappetizing over salted duck leg. A hefty price of £274.80 for a floating "dive" of a restaurant. 3. Jazz- A Jazz quartet. The quartet strummed along fairly, however the singer was not a Jazz singer. She sang old Jazz favourites without personality passion or any essence of Jazz. Our neighbours at the next table who were American were embarrassed. £274.80 ? Not up to standard. 4. Lastly the vulgarity of a tray full of notes asking the guests for a tip was intimidating cheap and very UN BRITISH! Should have been included in the initial price. In Conclusion Going back on 60 years of travel; the British have been in the forefront in the hospitality and entertainment industry. The great Westend theatres, restaurants and cruises' have been a leading light creating magical moments for people like us. Your cruise did not depict the elements of excellence that the British are known for. It felt like a "fast buck" approach. Take a leaf from the Batton Mouche in Paris. Take a leaf from the cruise from New York to the Statue of Liberty. For the price one pays for 3 hours should , be of the highest standard and value. It is very sad that the British have dropped their standards. Very sad. Salma and Ralph Palmer P.S. Insist on your supervisor to check on the salt and pepper shakers that they are filled. Not at all British. £274.80 for 2 and 1/2 hours at this price?​ Grossly let down.