Northern Spirit by Mariposa Cruises

This review is for the 3 course dinner cruise during the fall season. I think the cruise would have been much more enjoyable in the summer months. Warmer so you can spend time on the outer decks, and you would be able to catch the sunset.

First the food. It wasn’t anything amazing but it wasn’t bad either. Courses were brought out quickly and we never had to wait hungry. The service leaves something to be desired though. The waitress would walk past our table, stare at our empty water glasses, and then walk away to stand idle next to the counter. We really thought that maybe there’s a surcharge for water refills and that’s why she didn’t offer.

The cruise itself was… boring to be honest. There’s only really one view of Toronto skyline and we spent the whole 3 or so hours just going back and forth looking at the same few buildings. If it was warmer I think sitting out on the decks with a drink might have been enjoyable. By the time most people finished eating, there was still almost 2 hours left. It may have been a good time for dinner conversations but the music from the DJ was so loud we couldn’t hear each other across the table without shouting. Most people just gave up and ended up on their phones for the rest of the evening. I’m not sure what the purpose of the live DJ was other than to drive up the perceived value of the cruise. Clearly it wasn’t for volume control. We watched the DJ busily twisting at all his knobs throughout the night while the music played on seemingly unaffected by his actions.

We couldn’t wait to get off the boat by the end of the night. Everyone lined up in the cold waiting for the ramp to be lowered so we can all just finally go home.

All in all, I’m glad we got to experience it once so we know to never do it again.

It was just okay. I think this might be due to the fact Toronto did not had much to see in city along water. Just a few buildings. I am comparing because we came from US and took cruise for cities like New York and San Francisco. And these cities has lot more to see on boat.

Overall crew and staff was friendly and accommodating nature.

Not worth it, its better to spend that money on some other activity.

Very boring. Didn't even go close to Toronto Island. Just cruised in front of the condos. Waste of money.

Well organised tour around the harbour, the talk was also very interesting and informative you can get some really good photos.

Guided tour in English, it is worth it, the view is beautiful, in October excellent weather.

Evening cruise using city pass. Caught the sunset and nighttime cityscape. Very nice evening breeze and friendly crew/tour guide.

It was okay, nice for those visiting Toronto the first time I guess- which was also the case for me. The brunch buffet is literally nothing special, it resembles hotel breakfast with less variety and a long wait. I didn’t expect the by-table lineups which take an hour if you’re on the last couple tables and the food is pretty lukewarm/cold by that point. Cocktails were small and not cheap but you’d expect that. The music played during brunch was so loud it almost felt like a club and you couldn’t hear others without elevating your voice which was distracting because this was supposedly a dining experience, not a club scene at noon.

Maybe for some this type of offering is just not a great fit. Tickets are usually much more expensive than we paid and I don’t think I could justify paying full price.

I took my family for the 60 minute cruise through the city pass toronto. It was a very nice ride. The boat was clean, staff was polite. Nakul was the tour guide and he was excellent. Good sense of humour and he knew the content well. He knew how to keep the audience engaged. Kudos to him, he deserves a raise.

It was okay ride. A little on the slower side since the ferry we went on was pretty small. Good service by the crew.

Fantastic experience with City Cruise. I miss my boat and Amarjeet help ensure that I got my ticket transferred to another time. Thanks guys

Food was better than anticipated, DJ music was terrific. Views of the city amazing. Great time!

Took their Cocktail cruise and it was the most disappointing cruise from these people.completely miss managed.
Just one bar tender and had to wait more than 20 mins to get 1 Cocktail.if you decide to get another one you have to wait another 20 mins.so if you cant get Cocktail on time than why call it Cocktail cruise.this company should stop fooling people.
Second thing they trick you online with their drink tickets.you can only beers and ciders with that.but online they mention mixed drinks as well.and crew on board dont consider that.
Please please avoid this company.

A great experience aboard the Showboat for a company event! All the administrative people and on-board crew were excellent to work with. The food was delicious and well presented. The linens, cutlery, and dishes were clean and nicely arranged. Thank you for a wonderful evening on the Toronto Harbour!

Booked the sightseeing cruise for my family that came to visit me, and unfortunately, we had a very disappointing experience. The description says the cruise offers narration and we enjoyed a full silence trip. No guide or narration was offered at all. We were all excited to know more about the harbour front and island history and ended up just with a trip to the island, that we could do by ourselves using the ferry or taking a taxi boat.

Wonderful ambiance. My partner was very pleased with her birthday package. The food was very good! Great job guys. Will be recommending your cruise to my friends

Had a great tour of the Toronto islands and harbour from the water. Great price for the short tour we did.

A beautiful experience. Me and my wife had a really great time on the cruise. The staff were very friendly and the Buffet was top quality. Great for hosting small events and for special occasions like anniversaries and birthdays.

This is by far the worst customer service I have ever experienced in my life.

I bought a dinner cruise for two back on September 9th 2020, because of Covid, our cruise was cancelled - understandable. I called back to explore my options, they were pushing for me to re-schedule but when they could not provide a time frame of when that would happen, I requested a refund to close this off and when everything settles down I would re-book.

Fast forward one year and three weeks and I still don't have my refund. 15+ calls, each call a minimum of 45 minutes (a few calls have gone over an hour and a half) you sit on hold for at least 20-30 minutes before you even talk to anybody.

This is absolutely absurd. I have been told that I have not received my refund because I did not request it to be put back on my card, but yet I have provided my credit card almost every phone call. I have asked to talk to managers/supervisors all which are always busy every time I call, I have requested that they call me back when they are available - has never happened. Every phone call ends with "the refund has been passed down to our credit department and will be processed right away". I have asked to be passed down to that department to stay on the phone with them while they process my refund, which they will not do. The last time I spoke to them, Diamond said she is copying in her supervisor (going over her managers head) in the email to their credit department for them to follow up with me to let me know what is happening with the refund, no said call happened. I have also asked for them to email me with any updates/news on my refund because I don’t have the time to call in and talk to them, never happened.

No matter what I do or say nothing changes and I still don’t have my refund of $308 from September 9th 2020. I highly recommend you do not book with this company as it has been nothing but headaches.

Ranu was awesome! Great trip, friendly staff and an awesome way to celebrate our anniversary. Would highly recommend

Solid experience for a cruise. The dinner was buffet style and drinks were extra. My favorite part was getting to watch the sunset.

On the evening of September 4,2021, a group of ten of us went on the dinner cruise. One of our group had a medical emergency while on the cruise that required EMS assistance. The staff on the boat from the captain on down, with special mention to Andrew, Amar (?) and others, were super attentive and caring. Without going in to details, Andrew and the crew were outstanding and should be commended for their level of response.

Aug. 8: I had to reschedule my booking and was given an e-voucher instead. Having to contact them regarding that took 45 minutes. I tried to rebook and its saying my voucher is invalid. I have to contact them again. When I try entering my confirmation number it's saying that it is invalid so I can't even do the self service online. I wish they had an email I could contact instead of having to wait another 45+ minutes on the phone.

Aug 8 Update: had an on and off 3h and 2min wait period to get my concerns addressed. I thought that everything was good. But when I waited for confirmation I never got one. I checked on the self service which is now working and it says I still have an outstanding balance. How? I JUST paid the outstanding with a representative. I am not calling again today. And will update again tomorrow. This is a HUGE waste of my time. Not impressed what so ever.

Hopes to everyone involved and the Northern Spirit by Mariposa Cruises is back into service very soon and covid-19 is gone very soon.

We had the best time. I booked the lunch cruise to celebrate my girlfriend's graduation (bachelor's with honours). The staff were incredibly attentive, friendly and gracious.

It was our first time and we discovered that it was the first cruise since Covid19 and they outdid themselves. I can't wait to go again!

From the time we boarded straight through until we disembarked, the ships team was friendly and attentive.
This was an anniversary surprise from my wife that she had booked for us.
We where sat by Renu, who it turned out would be looking after us. He was exceptionally polite and well versed on what the itinerary was for the evening. He assured us that he would look after anything we needed. Just prior to dinner being served he came to us and said it may be a little loud etc in the main dining room, he offered that we move to the second deck where it be much quieter and a more romantic atmosphere. Even though we had a wonderful window table we accepted his offer. The atmosphere he promised was exactly what we received.
Dinner was a selection of beef, chicken and fish, with rice, potatoes and salads. Everything was prepared and displayed as expected. Most importantly hot food was hot and cold food was cold!
He was always checking on our dinners, drinks etc. He always seemed to appear at the right moment when we wanted our drinks refilled etc. Someone announced that it was our anniversary over the PA system and Renu appeared from nowhere with a small tray of selected deserts he had obviously taken pride in arranging himself as a surprise to us.
Very member of team that passed by our table ensured we where happy and where being looked after. It made us feel very much like VIPs. I am unsure of their designations so forgive me, the deck hands, mates, Captain and servers included.
We cannot say enough great things about our experience, especially Renu who really delivered the magic.

We would recommend this dinner cruise to one and all.

See you on the Northern Spirit next time.

Carolyn and Joe

Spoiled fruit being served. After mentioning it discreetly to a staff member, it was ignored. Fruit had already started breaking down. Sour taste. Lunch/brunch was horrible. Few things over cooked, few things undercooked. Staff was very unorganized. And the prices on our drink bill didn’t correspond to the prices displayed on the table reader. It seems like the Captain was the only one who did his job and did it properly.

No stars at all. They cancelled our cruise without letting us know why. Disappointed that we can't go.

Although the cruise was planned well and the service was really good, the reason I would give it only 3 stars is the food quality. Firstly there weren't nearly enough choices for the vegetarian people in our party. Secondly, almost everyone in our party of 15 felt sick to different degrees after getting back from the cruise. The drinks at the bar and the wine was really good, however the quality of the food was less than mediocre considering the price you pay for it and because of this reason, I would probably not cruise with Mariposa again.

Amazing view and amazing cruise. I had an amazing time, and took plenty of pictures. Definitely worth the price paid. Beautiful view of the CN Tower can be captured from the cruise as well.

We celebrated my wife's birthday on Northern Spirit on Sun 28th July. From boarding, dinner, desert, to dancing, and the sight viewing, evert moment was memorable. We had a great time. Staffs were the best. Will recommend to everyone. Thank you again to all staffs on board. Thank you to Mariposa for your making my wife 50th BD memorable.

Excellent cruise and the staff really made the trip comfortable for my toddler and myself. Can't praise them enough definitely worth the visit.

Went there for our 1st anniversary. Spectacular scenery, delicious food and great service.
The music was a bit loud for me, but I guess it depends on what you prefer.
Thinking of going again with the whole family.

Overall, a very pleasant experience. The staff that was helping us was very friendly and informative. He also offered to take pictures for us. The food was decent, could have been a tiny bit warmer but it was bearable. Just a little pricey on overall cost due to administrative fee. I also didnt like how the fleet/cruise/boat wasnt guaranteed although you have booked with a specific sailing.

We attended father's day brunch cruise and even though we had a great time there was a few things that we thought should have been better due to the price we paid. The service was ok. We were asked if we wanted drinks but assumed coffee would be served as the cups were on the table, but we had to ask for coffee and then milk and then sugar as none was offered or was on our table. We were told by our server that they would let everyone know when the buffet was ready to get up and get food so we waited for the Dj or Mc to say something but everyone started serving themselves and lining up. We waited until the end since we were with our kids (3 and 10 months old) and by the time we got there there was no more roast beef but we thought they would get more but they didnt. When we got up to check if they brought some they had already taken down one side of the buffet. Then when my husband went to get dessert there was no more cakes or fruit so he just got a yogurt for our baby. I fed the yogurt and after we realized it was expired. The one we gave her was expired on June 4th (11 days ago) and when we went to check the other ones they were all expired! We grabbed one and took a picture and it expired june 7th. This should be checked as it is unacceptable to charge $85 per person and serve expired things. It does make you wonder what else they might be using to cook the dishes served if what they are putting out for the public has passed the expiry date. My concern was that I fed it to our baby and that there was a lot of other children that might have had it. The dessert table was replenished again later and even though we found out that another table complained about the yogurt being expired it was still on the table and the staff did not remove it. We did mention the yogurt incident to a nice young man that came to our table to get our empty cups and he apologized and said he will let a manager know. Other than that it was a good experience, we enjoyed it but were not happy in the end as the for the price there was too many things that were not acceptable. I feel the event lacked organization and since it was a first time for us and on a special occasion maybe more attention could have been given. We will not recommend it as we dont feel it was worth the money for what we got. The kitchen staff should definitely be more careful about the food being served.

Dinner cruise on the Northern Spirit was good, but I was lucky to have good weather. The buffet tasted good but service wasn't great. It felt under staffed. They are supposed to announce when tables can go get food but no one did so it became a free for all. Staff were not monitoring the buffet and all the proteins sat empty which held the line up for 5 minutes. Another problem with the buffet are the tongs. If any one was going to get sick from eating there it would be because of the tongs. People keep letting them drop into the food so they get covered in food and bacteria transfers into the food trays. Also unlike cruise ships, they don't squirt hand sanitizer on everyone on board but they really should! The DJ was good and the nice weather made the cruise enjoyable. Tip for customers: bring hand sanitizer.

I went on the lunch cruise and it was amazing. It was a relaxing trip and the food was great. I loved being on the water seeing Toronto from a new perspective. I can't wait to come back and do it again soon.

Fantastic experience! Everyone including the captain, bartender and waiter were incredibly corteous and gave us a great experience: Took pictures of us, told us when the boat passes by nice scenery, and even offered us a complimentary drink as we were celebrating a special occasion. Loved it, would recommend

Boat was fine, but supper ended up being salad and 2 of the world's smallest appetizers. Spent too long in long lines waiting for appetizers that were gone by the time I got to the front.

Best $30 I have ever spent at the harbourfront. Vanessa was incredibly helpful and informative in helping me pick the right tour. I was lucky to get the entire downstairs to myself (as well as the staff). I absolutely ADORE the Oriole.

The " historic" narrative is very colonial white. So many white names and almost no mention of the MUCH LONGER indigenous history of the islands, the lake, and Toronto. Very disappointed for the tourists who will continue to be misinformed.

I do not like being ignored. If I'm interested in booking for my wedding and you have no time to reply to my emails, I can only imagine the out come of the biggest days of my life. I will look for another company or hire someone private

My husband and I had our wedding on the Showboat Sep 2018. For the most part we had fun (we tried to since it's our BIG DAY) but there were many things that were a negative experience.

First when we came to take a look prior to making our decision, we were speaking with a specific representative and was telling us what were included in their pricing. Then once we've made a decision to go ahead and gave our deposit (closer to our date), we were transferred to a different representative and she was telling us different story to what the first representative told us. For example, for our ceremony, initially we were told that the a White Aisle Runner and White chair cover were included in the price. Then on our 2nd tour with the new rep, we were told, this is NOT included.

We've selected the Platinum package for DJ, which was the highest package, includes 3 scheduled meetings (we only had 1). This 1 meeting was also very hard to book with him. I've emailed the company and himself several times and took quite some time to get a response back. I've requested for a different DJ (since this one seemed busy and hard to cooperate with) but we were told that he's the only one available. DJ service to include service and games. We never had any games AT ALL. The overall energy from the DJ hosting considering it's our wedding was mediocre. He just seemed like he hated his job. Not typical to see a DJ not hyped or anything. His voice was very soft, our guest could hardly hear him. Some of our requested songs were played.

On the day of our wedding, there were many complaints from our guests. They didn't distribute the cakes to our guests. Some guests took the initiative to get a piece of cake but majority told me afterwards that they didn't have some. We also chose the desserts of Chocolate fountain with fruits and marshmallows and this also was untouched. Our guests told us (including kids) that they tried to take some and they didn't let them (reason they gave was because we were still dancing? !?) There were also lots of leftover food which I saw was a ton left and quickly tried to put it away. When we inquired to take them home, the servers told us that they were all finished and some said they have no to go containers so which is it? !? Also we gave $1,000 deposit for host bar and within 30 minutes boarding, we saw our guests paying for their own drink. When we brought this attention to the manager on-board, she told us, it was all used already? !? Why did you not give us tabs/receipts or notify (which we were told they would do) us that they would let us know when we're coming close to finishing our deposit. It just seemed fishy overall. The main floor was extremely hot as well (NO A/C) WE WISH WE WENT WITH ANOTHER COMPANY FOR OUR WEDDING.

P. S. They only gave us about 1 hour to decorate the boat prior to our wedding and they limit the amount of people helping as well. We also had to clean/remove decorations (including our guests) once we docked. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR, DON'T DO YOUR WEDDING HERE.

The food was ok but not the best. The servers were good, but he boat was very small and very cold. They have the dance floor on the top so if you go in a cold day forget about dancing.

I went for the new years eve mariposa cruises with my bf and another couple. The weather was terrible as it was raining and windy. But the inside of the cruise was fun, delicious free appetizers, diverse group of people but sadly the cruises docked way earlier than expected my bf thinks they docked before the mid night. We wished we could have spend more time in the bay.

While I'm sure they may be a great cruise, This is my personal experience. Artist from the bad weather, service on the cruise was planned poorly. The staff were helpful but were asked to place single trays of food in the center of the boat. Which means everyone had to queue up only to realize the food is long over since there was so little of it. Bad weather also meant the deck was off limits. DJ was so so. Atmosphere was a bit dull since it's generally older folks. But we did manage to amp up the guests ourselves. Won't do it again.