Gondola Adventures, Inc. - Irving

Wanted to share our wonderful experience with “Bella” and Jimmy on Friday 2/27/26. After a stressful work week and a Valentine’s Day commandeered by visiting family, it was so very lovely to embark upon our sunset gondola ride. Bella the boat was a masterpiece of Venetian craftsmanship and Jimmy’s joy, GORGEOUS voice, and stealthy surprises were a delight from start to finish. We were fortunate to enjoy warm winter temps and quiet waters for our journey and it was, quite simply, divine. Jimmy is celebrated and appreciated for all he did to make our experience so wonderful. Thank you!!

I had such a fun and memorable time with Gondola Adventures! From start to finish, the experience felt like a little escape right on the water. My gondolier, Woody, was incredible. His voice was absolutely amazing and gave the whole ride a true Italy vibe. He also had such great conversation, making it feel warm, comfortable, and personal the entire way. One of the highlights was the fresh charcuterie box paired with cold, sparkly apple cider. Everything was fresh, flavorful, and refreshing. It was the perfect addition to enjoy while taking in the peaceful surroundings. Between the beautiful setting, the authentic Italian feel, and Woody’s talent and hospitality, it was an unforgettable experience. If you’re looking for something unique, relaxing, and special to do, this is it. I would 100% do it again!

We were late for our love lock cruise! Gondola Adventures was accommodating and our time on the boat was unforgettable. The snack boxes and jar cakes were a delicacy. Jimmy was absolutely amazing, he transmogrified our ride into a timeless magical journey.

What an amazing adventure! Super romantic and tranquil. I surprised my husband to celebrate his birthday, and he loved it! We arrived early, so we walked around and took a few pictures. Check in was easy, our Gondolier Pedro was amazing. He directed us to his gondola Princesca, he was friendly and a great singer! I loved that he sang Happy Birthday for my husband in Portuguese ♡. The whole ride was just amazing! The weather was perfect (right at Sunset). It's definitely worth it. Nothing negative about it!

We had an amazing time! Our gondolier (Jimi) Made the difference between a good time and an excellent experience. He even busted out a guitar and started singing love songs. Went way above & beyond!

I booked the Gondola Adventures for my husband’s birthday and the experience was nothing short of amazing! Our Gondolier, Max, was amazing and sang such a beautiful song for us. The views along Lake Carolyn are beautiful! This is a perfect romantic date or even an outing with friends or family! But definitely highly recommend coming here as a romantic date. I would definitely book this experience again - absolutely beautiful.

Gondola adventures has been a staple of the lake Carolyn/Mandalay Canals area for years now! It’s a very awesome place where you can get a boat ride through the canals and have Gondoliers sing songs to you while you eat Italian food, sip champagne, and eat dessert! They also have proposal packages! And believe me it is a great option to get the bottle drop for your proposal where your significant other can read a note in a bottle before you propose. They also offer Drone and Photography to capture the moment! If you want something, a little more chill and low-key, they also own a boat rental company on the lake, where you can rent paddle boards, kayaks, and a duck/swan boats!

The best Gondola experience. I booked this adventure for no special occasion, just simply because my husband works so hard and I wanted him to take a day off and feel loved and appreciated. I chose breakfast for two and from the moment I started planning everyone was so nice and very gracious. I had special food request due to an allergy and they were able to accommodate. They selected a really nice restaurant and the food was delicious. Our Gondolier Colibri added a very special touch that made our ride totally worth every dollar spent. Colibri was super nice, very professional and friendly. He never stopped smiling. He made sure my message in the bottle was a total surprise. It was a very special moment. The song chosen for the mood “sentimental moment” happened to be our favorite song. The music was prefect! We created a memory that will remain in our hearts forever, thanks to Gondola Adventures in Irving, TX. I would highly recommend this company to everyone!

Had a beautiful day on the gondola. Jimmy was wonderful, he even sang a song. It was peaceful and romantic. Jimmy secretly dropped a message in a bottle for my bf wrote for me. That was a cute touch! I would recommend! Ask for Jimmy!

The Gondola experience was a 10 out 10 from booking with Ms Anna to our driver Jimmy (who answered any questions we had and was very professional). We did the hour tour and added on the blanket and message in a bottle. Sparkling water and chocolate were complementary added.

We really had a delightful afternoon with perfect weather and a nice smooth ride. We went in with not high expectations for the food and were we wrong. We both ordered the Calzone and it was hot, fresh and full of cheese. My guess it is the Italian cafe there on the corner. We had stopped in there for a quick stop and overtaken my a smell of Italian delight and goodness. We did the hour tour instead of the 1.5 hours and we were not disappointed. Thirty more minutes may have been too long in my opinion. We had a delightful breeze and the food/service was great.

The entire experience was amazing from the beginning until the end. The gondolier helped us into the gondola and then poured us a glass of sparkling apple cider! We don't drink. The ride was amazing and his singing was impeccable! This was an experience that I'm so happy that we had the opportunity to share with one another! We went for my husband's birthday and a special outing for my son and daughter-in-law! Thank you Gondola Adventures for bringing the vision to fruition!

ROMANTIC, to put it in one word. A hidden gem. The closest thing to being in Italy. Long beautiful lighted gondolas with yr choice of electric to man rowed. Both options operated by a gondolier. The weather was perfect. Me and my gf went on a full moon night. And still had the building lights reflecting on the glass-like water. The Gondolier played music from Sinatra, Martin, Davis Jr, etc...Highly recommend for any occasio. As a couple or in a group. Comes with complimentary Cider but you can bring yr own bottle of wine. Also comes with complimentally chocolates. Many upgrades to choose from but all are at an extra charge. But the entire experience is well worth it! Plus at same location there is bery nice Italian Cafe if you like before or after yr cruise. We were both very happy with our experience here.

My husband and I had a wonderful time on our one hour cruise. Our Gondolier, Gabriel, was so nice ! He sang to us and he has the most beautiful voice. We hd sparkling cider and chocolates. We did a cruise at 7:00 so we could see the sunset. Well worth the money and a fun experience. We were sad when it was over

I took my husband(fiancé at the time) for his birthday as a surprise and he loved it!! It was an amazing experience!

If there's a bucket list of DFW activities, this should be on there! I had so much fun celebrating my wedding anniversary with gondola adventures. As long as you pick a day with good weather, then you are sure to have a good time.

We went for an hour boat ride. It is behind the Italian Cafe in a residential area. I recommend going during sunset or at night. It was very romantic. The service was great and the area was beautiful.

This was the perfect anniversary night! If you go make sure you get Noel as your driver. She sings like an angel while you sail!

Worth the money. Dessert was delicious. Peaceful and calm. Great date night, special occasion event.

What a fun night on our 1yr Anniversary! Our Gondolier was awesome! His name is Colibri. We did the whole kitchen sink. Had a great Italian Dinner on the Gondola. We were serenaded by our Gondolier. Food was on point! Chicken Piccata, Eggplant Parmesan, Caesar Salads, and some bubbly! Highly recommend this relaxing scenic cruise. They also have motorized Gondolas, but we went for the authentic package! We'll be back for sure!

Money well spent. Wasn't expecting it to be so peaceful also if your gonna do it do it late at night way better

5+++ This was a really neat experience. We opted for the lunch cruise, the food was great and the set up was super fun. Perfect weather, great scenery - lots of kayakers and pedal boats through the canals. Our gondolier was awesome. A great afternoon in Irving!!!

Our Gondalo experience was wonderful, with a beautiful view, and our gondolier, Tom, was really nice and professional! His singing was amazing! The experience was nice and romantic! But the booking is a total experience. April was RUDE since the beginning! It was super unprofessional how she spoke to my husband and myself. Tom and the view 10 out of 10; April 1 out of 10! Be nice to the customers!

Pedro was our gondolier and he was amazing. He made sure my date felt safe and had interesting information to share. His singing voice was OUTSTANDING! The only problem I had was that I won't be able to top this date ever again! We ordered some calzones and they were very yummy.

I was looking for a romantic, unique experience for our one-year anniversary and found Gondola Adventures. I was a little skeptical because I didn't even know there were canals like this in the Dallas area! I booked a time slot during sunset, and paid a bit extra for the traditional gondola (no shade or motor), as well as the wine package (BYOW, ice bucket & glasses provided). We met our gondolier, Jimi, and instantly loved him! He's a great host and we had fun conversation and some laughs. He even sang for us and DAYUM he has an amazing voice. I think Gondola Adventures should add on an optional "singing" package because it was the perfect addition to an already special experience. I highly recommend this for date night, anniversary, proposals, etc...or just because you need a relaxing quiet evening. You won't be disappointed!

Let me tell you that we had an AMAZING experience and if you get Pedro as the driver you are lucky! He is a hopeless romantic,funny and very professional and he's an amazing photographer too! He sings so pretty and made it very fun! Definitely Recommend. For the ladies wear block heels or something easy to walk in for the dock wouldn't recommend tight short dresses.

This was really enjoyable, and I especially loved the fact that the Gondlier allowed us to Bluetooth our own music. We did the dessert cruise and had the Limoncello and Cheesecake. They were good although it was like your typical grocery store dessert. Our cruise was an hour, and I think that that was the perfect amount of time, not too long or short. The scenery was mostly townhouses, apartments, and office buildings although there were some glimpses of the city. The reason why I can't give it more than 3 stars though is the price. This was fairly pricey considering what it is, the length of time, and where it is.

I was so excited to do this after seeing a video of it, I sent it to my husband and he booked it right away for my bday. We booked the night cruise but didn't realize it was almost 2 hours away from where we live until we put it in the GPS that day, I figured it was a long shot to move the time up being it was the day of and their email was pretty strict on rescheduling times but it did say it could be possible with a fee which we were totally ok to pay. So I called to ask, the lady who answered the phone was unbelievably rude from the sec she answered, she kept interrupting me, I could barely get a word out, but I had said that we wanted to know if it was possible to scoot the time up to an earlier time, a simple no would've sufficed but she kept repeating "I don't know what you mean by speed it up" and I kept trying to clarify saying "oh I didn't mean speed it up, I said scoot or move the time slot up if possible" finally she goes yea scoot it up and speed it up are exactly the same thing in the most condescending tone ever. (Which no, they're actually not) I said you know what, no worries, never mind and hung up. I can't even speak on the actual ride bc this woman's interaction single handed ruined the entire experience for me. Your customers are paying a lot of money to go on a 1 hour ride, be nicer.

We had such a beautiful time in Las Colinas on the Gondala celebrating our 25th Anniversary. We had the best gondalier, Pedro. He made the experience superb! Loved everything about it! Loved the music, especially the songs Pedro played and sang. Such a great guy! We highly recommend not just the Gondala experience but requesting Pedro. We will be back to try the night trip. Laurie and Wes​

Such beautiful scenery! I'd book on a day with good weather and a nice breeze. Our guide was very respectful and assured we enjoyed our time on Lake Carolyn.

Oh man what can I say?? It was truly an amazing experience for me and my wife and stepson , we definitely had an awesome time. Pedro our gondolier was awesome, he got out his guitar and sang for us, since the beginning he treat us like family, he made us feel welcomed and comfortable the whole ride!! Definitely will be coming back!! And the wine and chocolates were delicious!!

Took my mom and dad who are 85 on one of the gondolas. The gondola had put her 350 walker on their dock and left it inside their gate. We got back and it had been stolen. After a big run around the owners wife got on the phone and was the most heartless uncaring person I have ever dealt with. Said it wasn't her problem and I was welcome to call the police. It was your employee on your property that caused it to be stolen. So you leave a 85 year mom on a dock and could care less. What a way to treat your customers and the elderly.

Pedro was an amazing gondolier and host from the moment he greeted us to the moment we left! Super fun to talk to and has great music taste for a ride my girlfriend and I couldn't have been any happier to have him as our gondolier!

Pedro made our Anniversary special. it was a wonderful experience and would recommend highly.

Gondola Adventures in Irving, TX provided an amazing experience for my family and I. I've been on two gondola adventures so far and each time was unique and special. The first time was for my birthday with my husband. We were initially greeted by an outstanding gondolier who was extremely welcoming and friendly. Unfortunately, I cannot recall his name, but he was the one who registered us for check-in. We were assigned another gondolier for our adventure. The gondolier played soft Italian music as we strolled along Lake Carolyn on a beautiful sunny 72 degree day. He gave us some history regarding the area and he kindly allowed us to take in the experience without too much conversation. As the ride began to wind down the gondolier played "At Last" by Etta James, which was very touching and fitting for a romantic ride for two. We enjoyed it so much, that when my Mom and Sister came to town a month later to visit for the holidays, I booked another gondola adventure and we were blown away by the amazing hospitality and outstanding customer service provided by Pedro! This second visit took our experience to another unexpectedly pleasant level!!! Pedro went above and beyond in making our experience the best ever! He serenaded us with an original song and played guitar. Each time, we were provided drinks and chocolates. I would highly recommend this company. I have more family arriving soon for a visit, and I plan to surprise them with this amazing experience!

Where do I begin? This experience was the best surprise I could have given my beautiful wife. I want to start this by talking about a few points. 1. Experience in getting set up and purchasing the gondola ride. 2. Arrival and presentation 3. The ride 4. Overall review Set up and purchase were very easy; I looked up gondola adventures online and gave them a call. I was able to speak with a representative who walked me through the process and provided me with all details and information required to complete the email I would receive for the time, the place, and other amenities for the ride. I give this interaction a 5/5 because the rep was very informative and willing to assist with the setup making sure I understood what I was buying and what I was paging for. We arrived early to make sure we would be able to find the location. An email was sent with the place that I could click on, and the coordinates opened in my GPS, making the site very easy to find. When we got on site, we were greeted by our gondolier (Pedro). He was charming and informative and had a fantastic voice. Our gondola presentation was excellent. We were delighted that Pedro took the time to make sure safety came first by helping us on the gondola. Pedro provided us with a bottle of sparkling cider and chocolates. This experience was for sure a 5 out of 5 We gained so much knowledge during our ride, like how the lake came about and Las Colinas took it over. Pedro made sure the experience was charming for my wife. He made sure to show us all the best parts of the lake, the beautiful fountains, the waterfall, the bridges. It was a romantic getaway Pedro's lovely songs he would sing in the background while we enjoyed the sparkling wine, chocolate-covered strawberries, milk chocolates, and a smooth ride. In closing, I will be honest and say we took our ride during the day, and it was a fantastic experience that I would recommend to anyone that is looking for extra fun and exciting romantic adventure. Next time we will for sure request Pedro and look to do a night ride. Thank you again, Pedro

I took my son for a ride and we loved it! Yes, it's typically a romantic adventure, but we wanted to experience the gondola and have a relaxing ride seeing some nature and good people watching. Pedro was our captain and he was fun, funny, inclusive, and a great singer/guitarist. I highly recommend this local excursion, whether with your family, friends, or romantically with your significant other.

I booked this for my husband for our anniversary and we had the best afternoon. Our gondolier Pedro was fabulous!!! As we ate lunch he played the guitar and sang. What an amazing time. We'll definitely bring out of town guests.

Absolutely loved this adventure!!! Pedro was an amazing tour guide during our adventure. He serenaded us with his lovely guitar and singing skills. We went during the day and the weather was great and views were amazing. We will definitely come back and try a night adventure.

We had a wonderful anniversary dinner cruise with friends here and couldn't have been more pleased with the service and the food. I highly recommend Gondola Adventures.

My husband and I had a lovely time celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. Jimmy, our gondolier was awesome. The pizza was delicious. Highly recommend for a unique experience in Irving, TX.

Yesterday was our 35th wedding anniversary and my husband surprised me with a sunset dinner on a gondola. It was AMAZING, the views were breathtaking and our gondolier Kaleb was informative and even serenaded us with Can't help falling in love with you. (He has an amazing voice). Somehow he even slipped in a message in a bottle (from my husband)into the water that I plucked out of water. It was perfect!!!! Thank you Kaleb for making our night so special.

Wow! Pedro was amazing! He sang, we got to chat with him, and he was very informative. It's my 1 year anniversary with my boyfriend and it was a complete success. We had breakfast and the food was amazing and the area was great and very inviting. I loved every second of it. Will definitely be back. Thank you Pedro!

We thoroughly our gondola ride with Gondola Adventures. Our gondolier was excellent. We offered to take pictures for us and was very knowledgeable about his position and with other questions that we had on the tour. A word of advice to anyone looking to book is that we booked our tour for 6:30 pm. I would recommend a tour later in the evening as it would've been more romantic in the dark with the candle light they provided. Finally, on the day that we initially booked our tour I was traveling to Irving from San Antonio on Greyhound bus when the bus cause a flat tire. We were stuck just outside of San Antonio for several hours. I called the company 30 minutes after the bus went down. I explained my situation and let them know that I wasn't sure when the bus would be operational again. They asked that I kept them updated on the situation. I made a call to the company after every update from the bus driver. Once we got a final estimated arrival time into Irving I informed the gondola company. They rescheduled my tour but I had to pay a rescheduling fee. I understand they have policies in place but I couldn't make it at no fault of my own. Greyhound was willing to explain in writing of the mishap. I do however appreciate the gondola company reducing the rescheduling fee but it would've been extremely nice if it could've been waived altogether.

Absolutely amazing! Not only did we have a private gondola ride for our anniversary, but she sang to us! Like she sang to full songs! It was so sweet! Also every part of the boat ride was super thought out. She had blankets, chocolates, hot chocolate and anything else we would have asked her for. Definitely the best gondola ride I have been on

Gondola Adventures ruined my proposal photos, admitted they screwed up, and refused to refund me properly. I booked this company in advanced for a surprise proposal to my fiancee since I saw that they offer to capture your proposal via photo/video. I had questions leading up to the day about the angle of photography, lighting, etc., and they took my emails and calls and cleared things up the morning of the cruise. It was exceedingly obvious that I would not have booked this $450+ total cruise if they were unable to capture photography as I wanted to be sure they could capture my proposal. My fiancee and I planned on using still photo captures for an engagement party, and we planned to use it as part of our wedding video as well. Unfortunately, they did not capture the video properly. The video file was corrupted due to either pulling the micro sd card before the video was done processing or because the camera died before the video was done. While this was upsetting and it's something we cannot get back, it would have been okay if Gondola Adventures (upon admitting their mistake--which they did), offered a refund or at least attempted to fix the situation. Their solution was to refund the GoPro video portion, merely 75 dollars, when the whole reason I booked the cruise was for the proposal photography which they assured me they will do properly! Their other solution would be for me to fly back down to Irving on my own dime, book another hotel stay, for the [awful] opportunity to fake another proposal on a 30-40 minute cruise (we booked the hour dessert cruise which was worth hundreds of dollars). Frustrated with the lack of empathy, I asked them to at least give me the monetary worth of that replacement cruise, to which they replied that it has no value because they don't normally offer such a cruise, and since they already refunded the GoPro portion of the cruise, that re-shoot of a staged proposal wasn't even on the table anymore. Gondola Adventures was more than happy to take my $480 and assure me the proposal photography would go perfect. It's unfortunate that after taking fault for the photography failure and screwing up my proposal photos, they offered nothing more than a mere $75 back and then considered the matter "closed" instead of continuing to communicate with me. I have attached the e-mail exchange as I do not trust this company to truthfully address this review.

Fun relaxing ride! Pedro played guitar and sang, he had wine glasses and chocolate ready for us, made it a nice romantic cruise around the lake.

My man Mr Pedro was freakin amazing!!! This man and his gondola single handedly made me consider putting dallas over Houston as a more fun city. I was a bit nervous bout water and the temperature, but Mr Pedro absolutely killed it and we will definitely come back. Thanks for the amazing music as well

Thank you for making our anniversary unique! My husband and I felt like celebrating our love was Pedro's number one priority. The lake was not busy at 9:15 am booked ride and not too hot beautiful time and music was lovely. Our 5th year anniversary was magical Pedro made sure of it!

Booked a gondola tour for my grandmother's birthday - it was awesome! The canals and Lake Carolyn are beautiful, there's even a "hidden falls" which was such a special find. Nice touch! Our gondalier, Jimmy, was spectacular - at first I thought the music playing was a CD or something streaming, but then I looked back and saw he was playing guitar!?! He even sang my grandmother a birthday serenade. It was truly a memorable experience. My young daughter was also in tow and she had a great time as well. I would definitely book another tour for a birthday or special occasion. Money well spent for a great experience!

Gondola Adventures was nice and romantic. It was perfect for our wedding anniversary. I highly recommend it. Pedro was nice and informative. He make sure the atmosphere was nice and romantic.

I guess an error eight eh website will be changed to i picked the wrong date. Becareful of the no refundable small print. It doe not matter if they rebook you time slot. They will still keep you money.

watch the refund policy in VERY small print at the very bottom of web page. basically once you pay - there is NO refund no matter what, and they want an additional $80 for a rain check or to reschedule.

My husband surprised me for my birthday with a gondola ride and it was a wonderful experience. I'd definitely recommend. The staff was nice and the food was good. So much food! Beautiful music and a magical ride. I'd definitely recommend!

Absolutely beautiful. I surprised my boyfriend for our anniversary and his birthday and it was amazing. Customer service with April was great. The Gondola ride was super romantic, peaceful and quiet. The singing of the Gondola was beautiful as well. I do not recall his name but he was really funny and nice. I highly recommend going on a Gondola ride through Gondola Adventures. You will not regret it. left my speechless.

I found this idea online because I was visiting the Dallas area. This was the top activity in the area to do. I knew I wouldn't get my boyfriend to Italy any time soon so this was as close as we were gonna get. It was a bit pricey, but seemed worth it to me. You were able to choose how long the cruise would be for and what additions you would have to the cruise such as dinner or snacks. I chose the 1 hour with just hot cocoa and chocolate. The night view was perfect. The whole city skyline lit up to see. I was also pleased that the Gondola wasn't the tiny 2 people boat that I imagined it was. We easily could have fit a few more people. It was super relaxing. The driver stayed a good distance behind. You could easily forget he was there. They had the good chocolate on board, Lindors. I'm now in love so thanks Gondola adventures. It was such a unique thing to do for date night or a special event. Do it!

I proposed to my girlfriend's daughter and my girlfriend this weekend! Everything was amazing and worked out perfectly as planned. I would highly recommend this company for anyone considering, and if you're doing it in Irving I would highly recommend using Melissa from Allison Images (their recommended photographer). I did a dessert cruise from the Marriott, and the desserts they made were top notch! We had cheesecake and chocolate bundt cakes. The message in the bottle was a great touch as well! Our gondolier was absolutely amazing, and he was 5 stars!! We did the upgrade to the rowing gondola. As for other services, I opted to not use Gondola Adventures because I wasn't too sure of the quality. Their online pictures didn't portray any of their services as being that great, so if you don't care about the marketing and public image you portray to potential customers, you can assume they'll go with other professionals. I choose to have champagne, sparking juice, and roses from a florist placed in our room, by the hotel, and the Marriott more than took care of us. A couple of suggestions. This website is in need a major overhaul with professional photography and/or marketing. Majority of the images you see do not do any justice, and I almost did not use their services because of the shotty imagery. I believe a website overhaul would gain y'all a lot more business and convince those who are on the fence. I was on the fence for doing a dinner cruise, because the food did not look that great and pictures didn't seem worth it, so I opted to go to a steakhouse pre cruise. Second, if you are doing professional photography (which I was worried about, given the website images) I would get the photographer's recommendation for a time before booking. We went by what Gondola Adventures said and were not able to change (unlike they told me) and the sun and light were already gone by the time the cruise ended, so that was a bummer that they chose to not listen to the photographer, especially when you're spending more money for photos than the cruise itself. Because they are located in California on or by the beach, I don't think they understand the sunset in Texas is different especially when you're in a city surrounded by buildings. Even though the sun may not be completely set all the sunlight was hidden due to the buildings. With that being said, we had an amazing experience! However, Gondola Adventures has a little work to do to be perfect and receive perfect ratings.