City Cruises - Washington DC

esome . Friendly , helpful and the food was fantastic . I really can not say enough of kind words about our experience . I recommend everyone to look into the wedding packages they offer and also just the cruises they offer as well ! We will be visiting the odyssey next for a dinner cruise . Can’t wait !

sure everything went smoothly. The food on the National Elite is so good, and the staff/crew are great. It is the perfect all-inclusive venue with a unique twist. The only down side was that I wish we had extended the cruise an additional hour; and that we had the chance to talk to the DJ before hand.

ts that we will cherish forever. Chef Matt was AMAZING and the staff aboard could not have been more sweet and accommodating. Even the Captain was heavily involved in making sure our needs were met. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making our day perfect!

ll our needs were met and if we had any issues they were prompt at responding and resolving the issues. Food was also delicious and the entertainment was awesome. Thank you Elite Yacht for giving us our perfect dream wedding!!

e Salmon was grilled perfectly. My wedding exceeded my expectations thanks to their diligence and team work! We will have another event on your cruise lines you all are excellent!

itially. As soon as we signed the contract and made the initial payment, the customer service changed in it’s entirely. 1. My wife and I agreed to meet for the first time with our wedding coordinator (Jennifer Johnston) to review planning-related matters on a Saturday at 12:00pm. Jennifer left the office and didn’t notify us. Another wedding coordinator tried to cover Jennifer’s absence and couldn’t get ahold of Jennifer over the phone (she ended up arriving 1 ½ hours late). We were told it was a personal emergency (which we decided to believe) 2. We had a telephone conversation with Jennifer’s manager (Kimi) during the upcoming week to discuss the incident as it was unacceptable not to be notified and we were worried this would happen again. Kimi asked us to CC her in every email we sent to Jennifer moving forward, but we decided not to do so and move forward and trust Jennifer 3. We sent several questions and made a few requests to Jennifer during the upcoming weeks, that in most cases required a yes or no answer. Same thing, unresponsive and very difficult to reach out to her. 4. Working with Kimi was basically the same thing. She lied about having sent an amended contract to us when we mentioned we didn’t receive anything. She sent it “again” next morning, timestamped with that day’s date. The contract was done obviously last minute; several paragraphs were chopped off and the overall aspect of the document was very unprofessional. This makes the integrity of a person and a company to be questioned. 5. We found out after the wedding that the venue ran out of food during the first serving and that many of our guests couldn’t get a full meal. This is not acceptable! We spend more than half of our budget on the reception for a tiny and intimate reception.

Heather my POC was highly responsive and it felt like a sister was helping me plan my wedding. Maggie

everything! She thought of all of the details that we missed and followed up with appropriate action. The staff on the ship was so professional and thoughtful on our big day as well. Honestly, I had no stresses because of Elena and the support from the National Elite staff.

After we sent the paperwork for the reception in, the DJ, Rich, reached out to me to make sure all the songs and genre was appropriate. We boarded, met by the manager Kenneth who helped my new wife to the elevator to get to the third deck, as her dress wouldn't allow her to walk up the stairs. Once on board, the food was absolutely great, the deck had been set up just like Heather had described. I was able to get a couple helpers on board early to set up the personal items. Heather made sure to find out if we had a bakery delivery, where they needed to go and where to drop off the items. The entire crew was very pleasant and made our reception very joyous. I would highly recommend anyone looking for a reception/wedding area to check out this fabulous cruise.

s a breeze. She was easy to work with and quick to provided answers. Working with Elena D. , wedding coordinator, was a blast. She was really friendly and excited to make our day special. I emailed Elena a lot of times (even about little things) and she was always there to help and ensure me that things will go well. I am glad we had our wedding on the Spirit of Washington. Our guests enjoyed.

ager Mike was very responsive with our needs and a very generous manager and Elena the coordinator did a fantastic job working with us and being very responsive leading up to and even the day of our wedding. We thank you guys so much for giving us a wonderful day. Each of you was a pleasure to work with and if we could do it all over again we would absolutely do so with you.

and I wedding reception experience on Capital Elite! We wished we had more time to just party the night away... 2 hours was not enough! We had 60 guest, did bouquet and garder toss, used Fred as DJ provided via Capital Elite for additional fee. Food, I wished we took some home! Music, perfect! White linens, plum satin napkins, white chair covers with plum satin sashes, and plum table runners gave "Eye orgasims"! We did simple orange and plum flower centerpieces and with the shiny interior of the boat walls and reflective windows they matched perfectly and brought everything together well!... Everyone keeps telling us how much fun they had and wished we stayed on boat longer!... There was construction on pier which wasn't eye friendly, but did not even matter with a reception thrown like the one we had! Totally could overlook that! Oh one two last comments, our hostess was amazing! She made the night flow the way it was supposed to! Saving best for last. Elena, our coordinator was so helpful, friendly and professional! Wish everyone could be like her! She showed pictures on her iPad for ideas and met us at every point! So would host another celebration here!

uggestions. They listen carefully to what we wanted and surpassed our expectation at every turn. It was a fun, carefree, phenomenal day! All of our guest said it was one of the best weddings they had ever been to. Everyone said how marvelous the food was! The crew on the ship was amazing. I could not have asked for a better day! Thanks to everyone on the National Elite!!

lena Dixon, the wedding coordinator of the Odyssey, surely made me feel like I was a bride for the first time. The food was fabulous and the views magnificent. If you are looking for the perfect place to get married , you must consider having it on the odyssey. You will cherish the moments forever , like I will.!!

went to an open house and met Jennifer - obsessed! We gathered tons of information and toured the boat all while enjoying some of their delicious champagne! The decision to get married on The Odyssey was an easy one after the experience we had with Jennifer at the open house! This left us with about 8 months to plan and organize! The Odyssey sent us on an evening dinner cruise aboard the ship and we knew we had made the right decision to get married there. Elena then came into our lives and what a saving grace she was! She was our Wedding Coordinator and was absolutely amazing - she always had the answer to my 2938409382904 questions and was a pleasure to work with! She was calm, cool, and collected through the entire experience and our wedding would not have been the Fairytale it was without her help! Not only did my husband and I have the times of our lives, but our friends and families whom attended did as well! I would relive this day over and over again if I could! Thank you Odyssey!

do. Everytime I came up with something she had wonderful ideas to share. The most important thing is that she made me enjoy my day without worring about anything. She was on top of every single detail. I love the fact that most thing were added into the package, from the wedding planner to a single chair. My husband and I would never have chosen a better place to have our wedding ceremony and reception. Thank you Spirit Of Washington for making it unforgettable.

The staff was great to work with and were very efficient. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars was due to the price and restrictions. It is pricey and there are more restrictions than other venues but if you want a hassle free evening with great food and entertainment, choose Odyssey!!

erience. I'd recommend having a wedding or any special event here any day!

ough we only booked one side of the Carneros Room and there were other guests on the boat during our wedding, it felt so exclusive and intimate. Our guests traveled to our wedding from all over the world, from New York to Missouri, from the US Virgin Islands to Africa, so we wanted to provide them with a unique destination experience and a tour of DC all at the same time. Every single one of our guests loved the venue and raved about the food even to this day. Since it was at the end of April, it happened to be a somewhat rainy and gloomy day, but once you were inside the beautiful ship you would have never known it. Our guests were completely shielded from the elements but still able to have the morning sun shining down on them and look at the amazing views of the river, the monuments, and the DC skyline. Although everything didn’t go off without a hitch (on our end) the staff and team at the Odyssey were absolutely amazing at handling the schedule changes and craziness. All the staff went above and beyond. They made the day as stress free as possible and were completely understanding and patient with us. This made us feel like VIP on our special day. DJ Rich was amazing and a true professional. Working with Elena and Jennifer from the very beginning was awesome. They were knowledgeable, detail-oriented, organized, and made every effort to accommodate any special requests we had. We are so glad and grateful that we choose the Odyssey to have this one and a lifetime day! Tip: I highly recommend getting the boarding photos, they make the perfect wedding favors, our guests loved them, money well spent!! - Crystal & Bacary

!! I had the perfect day and wouldn't change anything about it!! Thank you, Elena!!

his was largely because of the great services provided to us by the staff at Entertainment Cruises, who diligently helped us plan the event; and the crew aboard the Capital Elite, who graciously saw to our every need during the dinner cruise. We particularly appreciated their assistance in providing a list of reputable florists, bakeries, and event designers to help us create the warm, formal ambience we desired. The special amenities, food and drinks were awesome. The cruise around the Potomac River provided the perfect backdrop. Hat's off to Jennifer Johnson (Wedding Accounts Manager) and Elena Dixon (Wedding & Events Coordinator) for jobs well done! Thanks for helping to make our 50th Anniversary a special memory.

ervices (probably a bad metaphor for a wedding); their hands’ on start to finish comprehensive assistance made all the difference in the world, and we would give a special thanks to their wedding coordinator Elaine. We were most impressed by the food. Of course, we were expecting good food, but assumed that a “ship” would have its limitations. However, we were pleasantly surprised by the taste and quality of the food. Even the rather unpalatable sounding “Airline Chicken,” was fabulous. Thank you Elaine and The National Elite. Of course since this marriage is going to last forever, I won’t be giving you any repeat business, but I can only offer you a great review

country, so we felt like a dinner cruise was a fun and unique way to celebrate our wedding and show our guests some of D.C.'s best sites! We booked our reception site about 1 year in advance, and although we worked with 3 different Elite Charters wedding coordinators during that time, ALL of them were friendly and very helpful as we prepared for our big day. Elena, the current wedding coordinator, was wonderful! She was always quick to respond to e-mails or phone calls, and answered any and all questions we had. She even attended our reception and worked behind the scenes to make sure things ran smoothly. I don't know what we would have done without her! The cruise itself was perfect and all of our guests had a great time! We chose to have a dinner buffet, and all of the food was delicious! The guests were happy they had the chance to go back for seconds (and thirds...)! I had been concerned the boat might feel crowded with 60 people, but there was plenty of indoor and outdoor seating and dance floor space for everyone! We also hired a DJ (Fred) through Elite Yacht Charters. He was very reasonably priced, fun, energetic, professional and did a fantastic job! He wanted to make sure all of our favorite songs were played, and accepted unlimited song requests throughout the night. Amazing! We were overall EXTREMELY happy we chose Elite Yacht Charters for our reception venue. It was fun, unique, and suited our needs perfectly. The only drawbacks we experienced were: 1) Heavy construction near the dock made finding the boarding location difficult for some of our guests. There was also very limited parking onsite. 2) There was a leak on the night of our cruise, which caused some of the carpet to be damp near the bar area. I believe that issue has since been resolved.

n and checking out several options available in the DC area. The Boat was sparkling clean;the "Cruise staff" courteous, friendly & incredibly helpful; the food seriously delicious. An outstanding combo! Our son's Rehearsal dinner was a stress free, first class event.

and forgot that it was raining. In fact all the guests would like us to do it again on our anniversary. I honestly wouldn't change a thing. We opted for the 3 hour lunch cruise and that worked out perfectly. The food was delicious.

ite provided a unique venue that will have our guests talking about our wedding for years to come!

the food was amazing, the wedding coordination on the day of the wedding was right on schedule and even Jen was great in improvising a bread being eaten by our dog at home. Funny story, but our dog sneaked in and ate half of a bread that was supposed to be used as part of the ceremony. We found that out while I was getting ready and had no time to address it. At that point I thought that I should leave it out, but Jen improvised and it all worked out perfectly. Tegan on the other hand worked with us before the day and made sure we were staying within our budget and was informing us for every change that was coming up. We actually ended up getting married on her birthday!!! If you want to have an unforgettable and different wedding experience, this is your place.

ellent. The wait staff was personable and efficient, making good suggestions as we went through the evening. We had a small Wedding Party of sixteen persons, which as it turns out mingled well with other guests on board.

be in good hands. We wanted a fun and different evening for our guests, most of whom were from out of town. Everyone had a blast! Best of all, with the help of our wedding coordinator, Jen, it was such an easy event to plan. We only had 3 1/2 months to plan, and everything just fell into place. Given everything that was included in our package, we had fewer vendors to find, and our coordinators took care of contacting the other vendors we chose to coordinate everything. We honestly had so little to do, and on the day we were able to just enjoy everything. The team in DC is just fantastic, you really can't go wrong if you want a fun and memorable event!

yone to host an event there. Great atmosphere!

The staff was very helpful and organized, everything ran smoothly. The scenery was amazing for photos and all the guests had a great time! It was perfect for what we were looking for!

tter of pineapple, melon and cherries, not the cascading fruit tower you see in the brochure, and while my guests thought the reception buffet was delicious, there was not enough, and I even had less guests than the minimum I had to pay (minimum cost is for 70) so I was very upset to learn that many of my guests left hungry and went to a local restaurant after the wedding. The crew was also late in setting up so guests had to wait about 45 minutes on the dock before they could board, this also meant that I had no time pre-ceremony for pictures on the boat since nothing was setup when we arrived. I would recommend it for a sightseeing tour and cocktails but not to replace a wedding reception.

lower deck for the dinner/reception was well appointed. The food was very good!! Space was provided for our cake near our party and away from other guests. The bar and wait staff was friendly and attentive. The DJ was great and was very responsive to our requests. All around great venue for a destination wedding!!! 5STAR!!

vendors and hotels, some of which we used and were of very high quality, yet reasonably priced. The staff had us complete a questionnaire that helped tremendously with planning. Our wedding was a bit less conventional but there were things we did not think about until we completed the forms. Likewise, the DJ, Vince had us fill out a form that not only ensured we got the right mix of dinner and dance music, but also helped us plan the ceremony and not miss important details, like making sure we had toasting glasses. He called me twice to make sure we were all set with our choices and had not changed our minds about any thing related to the music. The dinning room was beautifully decorated the night of the wedding with simple, yet elegant touches. The food was delicious and there were choices for the vegan and vegetarians in our crowd. The waitstaff were superb, ensuring we both placed our orders amongst all the usual post ceremony chaos. The waitstaff were very personable offering us congratulations, veterans in the group came up to congratulate us as we were in military uniform, and one waiter took the time to exchange a few words of Chinese with my young nieces who are learning to speak the language. Vince made it on to the floor to teach us the Chicken Dance and played the Hora twice so that we both got lifted into the air. We would without reservation recommend the Odyssey as a venue for a wedding. It certainly simplifies certain aspects of planning in that you don't have to find a venue, a caterer, or a DJ. The boat ride makes for a very memorable evening for your guests even if they are not party animals! The team we worked with, Tegan Ellis and Jennifer Johnson made the entire process, start to finish a real pleasure. Oh, and a week later, our guests are still talking about the boat ride!

and my wife a wedding of a lifetime!! Rico

inner.) Overall the event went well. We decided to rent a dance floor because they wanted to charge us around $800 to add a dance floor. It was a nice warm day and the bottom deck got very very hot. The AC wouldn't keep up and it was quite uncomfortable.

ll above what I expected. All the guests were very impressed with the staff and their efficiency and kindness. The food was amazing too.... Overall - an excellent experience

e with timing during the event that I can't really explain, but other than that, the service was excellent and the Event Coordinator on board bent over backward to fix everything.

h 40 guests. The staff made sure that all of the guests needs were met. The brunch cruise was buffet so it allowed a variety and an abundance of dishes for everyone to choose. It was just the perfect day, for the perfect event, on the perfect vessel. Even the captain assisted in bringing our favors on board prior to sailing. Now how special is that? Will I have my next major event on the Odyssey? Absolutely I will! Thank you for making my God daughter's shower so memorable event that she will never forget it.

sure that i got what i needed.

sent a letter to them and to their corporate offices. One of the things that appealed to me was the idea of one-stop shop, where everything could be done from one venue. From the beginning when we attended the open house, the accounts manager and everyone we contacted worked with us to accommodate us in every way, even when our guest list jumped from 64 to 104! The food was over-the-top fantastic, with variety for every guest. The service staff aboard went out of their way to make sure that people had proper refills and that no plates piled up. Words can't express how special our day was, and everyone had a great time aboard! I have recommended the cruise to everyone I know for their next event. We can't wait to book our next cruise!