Rivership Romance in Sanford - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Attended a private event on the boat. My first time. Staff were super friendly and accommodating. Great views. They have a loaded calendar of events for all. Check it out!

We took a chartered cruise in the morning as a team building event. The ship ride was fine and was a total of 2 hours. The outside of the boat could use a deep cleaning and a paint job. The inside was nice but very dated. And dated not like a period piece to add to the ambiance, dated as just old. It has potential but could use an overhaul. The staff were very nice and very attentive. We did feel very welcome on the cruise. The food was a buffet style. There was fresh fruit, meats like bacon and sausage, bottled milk, muffins and bagels and what looked like scrambled eggs but not sure what they really were as the texture was certainly not real scrambled eggs, maybe powdered eggs? It was a nice time but nothing that would want me to book again without improvements

Food was good and the night time cruise did not disappoint.

I’m one of the Chef’s aboard this wonderful boat. I work with an amazing group of people. I love meeting the different people that come aboard and hearing them ask me are you the Chef and I say one of two, but they tell me how great the food was!!! I’ve chosen the right field to work in, and I’ve chosen an amazing company to work for!!!

Most beautiful High Tea for sister's day! Delicious, lovely presentations of desserts and savories. Wait staff was friendly and a harp player, Rene, enhanced the afternoon.

What a fabulous and fun river cruise! It had it all - great food, live music and excellent service by our waitress Ali while cruising along the beautiful St. John's river. We throughly enjoyed it and wanted to pass it along to all our central Florida neighbors who have been missing out on a really fun evening.

Food was okay. 3 of my party had the Prime Rib and one the Chickpea entrée (She wished she would have gone with the salmon). The entertainment, on the other hand was absolutely horrible. We sat in the mezzanine deck, and had to have the crew turn down the speaker above us because we couldn't even have a table conversation. The female singer couldn't find a pitch that was even close to what it should have been, and couldn't remember the words to the songs. The duo's name was something Venus. Any, their performance really was on par with some of the worst karaoke I've ever heard. The servers were great and very accommodating, and our bartender was phenomenal. If they just had better entertainment.

Still delicious shrimp scampi and flounder yum .crab legs. Cheddar bay biscuits. Yum hum don t leave us

Love the lazy river on a Sunday afternoon and the food is good too.

All the food was good and the service was great. The big problem was being on the second deck we froze. The air conditioners were directly over us and hitting us right in our necks plus condensation was dropping on us and the tables from above. Fire works were great.

July 4 2024. I don't know why the Barbara lee paddle boat has to have music blaring constantly. A band or music over speaker. I couldn't go outside and enjoy the cruise without hearing music blaring from speakers. For hours we were trying to have a conversation without much success. To make matters worse the whole room is yelling at each other trying to hear whom there talking to. Than there was dinner. Hours go by. Who knows what happen. That whole trip was painfull. We were eating when fireworks started. I've been on this boat many times. It seems that it has taken a nose dive. Blaring music and bad service. I know there are many older people on the dinner cruise but were all not hard of hearing. On mother's day 2023 It was the same. Our table ask to have the guitar player turn it down. Was told they couldn't do anything about it. I suggest you give it a try. I do have to say the menu an meal is super. Bar prices reasonable. Service there very slow.

Love the journey. The food was good but the dancing was even better. Highly recommend.

Cool historic trip on one of the St Johns riverships!

My husband booked this dinner while we were in the area. Exceeded our expectations! Service, food, views, and music were all excellent!

Such a fun short getaway for our anniversary and the cruise director is 5 + stars!

Very Awesome great time great food peaceful

Juneteenth and birthday were wonderful!

Everything regarding this riverboat cruise was exceptional. From the beginning of making reservations to departing the cruise was exceptional and perfect. Can't say enough about how much we enjoyed it. We will be back!

My wife and I recently booked a lunch tour with St. John's Rivership Co. I'm happy to say that our experience far exceeded our expectations. Just perfect. The staff are upbeat and obviously enjoy what they do. The entertainment was absolutely top-notch. Honestly, I never expected such a high-quality and elegantly-served lunch. My wife had salmon and I had prime rib. Both were cooked-to-order perfection! Travelers to this part of Florida should check this out. It's a great value and a great memory.

Went for the first dinner show they had on Sunday 6/9/24. The show was good but the food was horrible. Got food poisoning from the chicken Marsala and the food takes like it came out of a can.

First timer and I really enjoyed the entire experience. Great food and entertainment! Drink selections were exceptional. The view is amazing! Enjoy the natural beauty of Florida while it lasts!

On June 2nd went on the 3 hour trip. Journey was very nice. Departed at noon and told dinner will be served about 1:15pm did not arrive until 2:15pm. Trip is over at 3pm. Ordered the prime rib medium rare it was cooked perfectly but when it arrived it was cold, the green beans were cold, the mashed potato's cold, I was not the only one with a cold meal. Our whole table had a cold meal. They did announce that the ship was sold out with 150 passengers and upper deck served first and stern of ship served second and bottom deck served last. We were offered a second meal but time was against us tp prepare a second prime rib. The staff was very cordial.

OMG I must say our whole party had a absolute blast celebrating my dad Dutch's 90th birthday party and to top it off his cousin Robin Hopper Ventura and her husband Jimmy work on the ship as entertainment and sang while we were there and they are so good we all loved it so much.I know my husband David and I are definitely going to go on their other cruises that they offer and I can't wait, what a memorable day to celebrate my dad's 90th birthday.I want to thank Robin , Jimmy and the whole crew they were all so sweet.The food was so good too and the sticky buns well I never had better they were heavenly!! ❤️🚢🤗

so my husband and I did a thing last night. we boarded a very clean and spotless vessel called the Barbara Lee, which left out of Sanford Florida. The cruise director- Scoti- was very accommodating. last night was the first time they had a SEAFOOD BOIL- on board- unlimited crabs- alaskan king crab- shrimp- whiting- oysters- potato's- corn and beverages. the food was deeeeeellllisssh! the DJ got you moving- the place was spotless. i heard rumor they were doing this AGAIN this fourth of July... i highly highly recommend it.

We had a wonderful cruise, we were celebrating our 23rd wedding anniversary. The boat was very clean, the food was wonderful, we were very impressed. Only complaint was that we were in a corner, that in itself was fine, but we were often ignored by the staff, we needed more ice in our carafes and tried to get the servers attention, many servers passed by but never looked our way! My husband finally got up and got us some, also had to get up to get butter, (which was on another table) it would be better if servers had assigned stations. All in all this cruise was one of the best!

My husband and I went on the river cruise just last night on Friday May 24th. We were just wondering around the marina on his birthday the day before walking the dog and walked up on the Barbra Lee docked in the water we were quite curious and continued to walk upmto the ticket office where all the trips were advertised. Upon reading all the signage we saw that Friday nights offer a $25 per person cruise and the theme was Margaritaville/ live DJ from 7:30 - 9:30pm. We couldn't resist and immediately went online and bought two tickets. All day Friday we were so excited because we haven't been out as a couple alone for quite some time now being so busy with our sons senior year in highschool (he actually just graduated Thursday the 23rd mybhusbands bday) so this was a great way to celebrate hubbys birthday! Well I can tell you we were not disappointed! From the moment we checked in at the office ( the two ladies in the office were so polite and helpful) and boarded the boat our expectations were exceeded to say the least! We were so impressed with the size of the boat and how amazing the staff were. We firstet nick the bartender on the top deck and the first dining room we saw. He greeted us with a smile and answered all our questions politely and had our drink order made immediately. ( Btw drink prices are amazing! $2.99 bottled beers and inexpensive well liquor) the food menu was not only inexpensive but portions were great we had the beef nachos and cocktail shrimp and we were truly satisfied we then met Tara one of the servers and she was telling us about all the other cruises the boat has to offer recommended the food we ordered and was just so friendly and outgoing! We met some other staff ( don't remember those names sorry guys ! ) but they were all absolutely amazing! But what really made the trip memorable was SCOTIE! The cruise Director first impression when we saw her was when we were about to leave the dock and she made her introduction in front of the boat welcoming everyone and going over safety procedures smiling the whole time and so personable! But at the end of the cruise when she made her way over to my husband and I to thank us for coming aboard the boat for that evening and informing us of other events being held on the boat I thought to myself wow! I haven't experienced service like this in a very very long time she definitely put the cherry on top of our whole experience that evening! Thank you all for the wonderful romantic,fun and beautiful evening you all made for us! WE WILL DEFINITELY RETURN! and we will be bringing friends and family with us next time! You guys are AMAZING ! we loved every single moment! Scotie you made our night thank you so much!!!

Had a great time. Music and lunch were very good. Recommend the lunchtime cruise.

Edit: the way management responded was insulting and shows a complete lack of customer service skills. How could someone be so foolish that they don't know the difference between a scratched and bleeding scab and spilled wine? Notice how instead of addressing legitimate concerns, they come up with absurd excuses that don't make sense. FYI - I know what a scratched and bleeding scab looks like. I also know what spilled wine looks like. The two are not the same. Get your eyes checked if you think these two things are even remotely close. Most people know the difference between the two. Anyone who has any experience in food handling ought to know there is a huge difference. Instead of calling the customer a liar, why not address and rectify the situation with the two bad employees? Why ignore my other concerns? All they have to do is look at Nick's arm and they will see the open wound on his left arm and hand. They admit they won't even do that. They are lazy and incompetent if they refuse to do something so simple. The diesel smell was really awful where we were sitting. My spouse has asthma and could hardly breathe. The servers should only handle the clean glasses by the stem, not the rim where people put their mouths. We really enjoyed the charcuterie and wine offerings on last night's cruise, however, the cruise director and one of the servers are incredibly unsanitary when it comes to food. Neither one of them has any business handling or being around food for that reason. I really hope that you find a cruise director that cares about hygiene and sanitation. I witnessed a server named Nick handle clean wine glasses and pour wine while he had a bloody scab on his left arm and across his knuckles that he scratched and didn't wash afterward. He was literally bleeding down his arm! The dead skin from the scab was still hanging off of his arm as he was pouring wine for people! When I brought this to the attention of the cruise director, she was not alarmed in the least and did nothing to rectify the situation. She said he probably didn't know he was bleeding. I believe that is possible, so I waited patiently while she addressed the situation with Nick. She spoke to him briefly but didn't tell him to clean himself up. She came back to our table and told me he wasn't bleeding when I just saw that he was. So rather than tell Nick to wash his arm and put a bandage on his bloody wound, she lied to me about the blood and did nothing to reassure me that this is not typical of their servers and staff. I found it humorous that she made an announcement to let her know if there's anything she can do to make our trip pleasant, yet she did absolutely nothing when I made my request. So that woman's presence is completely useless and quite dangerous. It would be wise if they kept her away from food for the customers. She is a very filthy person and so is Nick. I'm sure the health department will be very interested to know what is going on. It's quite appalling that a server is literally bleeding down his arm and no one cares enough about hygiene or sanitation to say something to him about it. Why was no one trained on proper food handling procedures? Nichlaus, on the other hand was a fantastic server. We absolutely loved him, and the rest of the hard working staff. Please put the cruise director that worked on 5/22/24 at 6 pm in a position that doesn't involve food or dealing with customers. She is not qualified to work with either. Nick definitely should not be working around food either. His customer service skills could use some work as well. This is a great cruise, but it only takes two bad employees to ruin it for everyone. Once the health department gets involved that hurts everybody's paycheck, including the owner. Please, educate all of the staff on proper food handling procedures and cleanliness. Everybody should be washing their hands regularly. Nobody should have blood and open wounds on their hands and arms whilst handling food. This is basic common sense.

HELLO WOW THIS IS A GREAT TRIP PLEASE LETS SUPPORT!!!USN TONY

They required a credit card to hold for drinks while on the boat. When I was ready to leave they couldn't find my credit card.

Dinner was okay. Live band was amazing only play old songs though which is okay if you're like that kind of music. Mixed drinks were atrocious any mixed beverage make sure it comes in a bottle and they don't make it themselves, their tea was disgusting, get a mixologist on that boat ASAP.

The Central Florida Corvette Club Celebrated 50 year Anniversary on the Barbara-Lee . The Trip the Food the service, and the ride were all top shelf.

Neat boat ride. Enjoyed the views and the food. Service was also very good.

Fun time with great friends, not bad food, but during the celebration time, they did not announce our friends release from prison, the whole reason we were celebrating.

Awesome service and a great experience overall will book again soon!!!!!

Excellent tour and the guide John was so knowledgeable and personable. Highly recommend.

Went on paddle boat today with my mother-in-law as a fun thing to do and it included lunch. Well, to my surprise, this was one of the best dinners I’ve ever had. My MIL is handicap and they accommodated her on first floor and table next to big window. When you get to your table there is already teas and water available to you and a gorgeous vegetable/fruit plate to share. Then they bring out sticky buns that were good they melted in your mouth. You tell your waiter what entrees you want and there are about 10-11 choices. I picked salmon and MIL prime beef. Dinners are cooked on board to order. After sticky buns you get to explore ship, lake, views, or sit and listen to live music. And then the call to dinner….well, as I hoped, the meals were as wonderful as the buns. So, if you’re looking for a relaxing thing to do in Sanford I highly recommend this day cruise. It’s just north of Orlando area and absolutely beautiful area around the boat. If I have opportunity again, I will be back. Staff, crew, entertainment all very friendly and felt like family. They have a cash bar as well.

Such a relaxing cruise. The musical bingo was very fun. The girl who ran the game was polite, funny, and very entertaining. Highly recommended.

My husband and I went yesterday for his birthday. The staff were amazing and very kind. The food was absolutely delicious! This was our first time on a cruise and it did not disappoint. 10 out of 10 would absolutely recommend!

Fantastic experience and wonderful food,( I could eat a whole tray of those sticky buns) . The staff was fantastic and very attentive to our needs. The cruise was wonderful and very relaxing. I am looking forward to doing it again.

Wonderful experience, great food.

Low rating only because we never left the dock. We bought our tickets at the office on a Thursday around 5pm-5:15pm. We live near by, we arrived ready to board. Once on we were told we were sitting on the dock for a few mins due to weather, because earlier, the boat barely went out. So we didn’t sail out once 730p Came around. I was highly disappointed by that because we obviously boarded for a sunset cruise. The cruise director gave us the news after being on board and hopefully We’d leave if the winds calm down Another couple told us they were informed we wouldn’t take off at all and given tickets for another times.I feel lied to and bambozoblled. We bought tickers on the same time as the other couple, they were good options. Meanwhile, I felt like we were never informed or told about this. No one told us that everyone else on board got second tickets from the time since we did not depart..

Plan to go back there someday if I want to have a cruise moment again

Was great just wish they had more food options during the rock and roll cruise

Good dining experience, friendly staff, tasty food and fun river cruise.

We went on a Sunday afternoon trip and it was relaxing enjoyable experience. Food was excellent. Servers personable and pleasant. I highly recommend.

Was a neat little trip with family from up north.

Great time excellent food fun time very interesting cruise. Knowledgeable hostess

It was a very nice boat ride, but dinner is served very late. The bathrooms needed cleaned. Would not do a dinner cruise again on this boat.

Attended a group dinner with 26 people last night. It was an exceptional evening. Beautiful boat - dining room area is exquisite. Food was wonderful! Service was extraordinary! Our main server Sarah was unbelievably attentive, gracious, patient and fun. The music was the cherry on top! They were awesome.

Everything was great, until the Prime Rib came out. It was dry, cold and was very apparent it wasn't cooked in Au ju. I heard other people around me complaing also. So it wasn't a one time thing.

Great food, not bad price..wonderful drinks. Try the shrimp. Or the fish and chips

Nothing but good times! Food was outstanding and not over priced! It rained and stormed so the boat couldn't leave the dock... However, we were given passes for another time! We enjoyed entertainment by Voodoo Gypsies which is a classic rock group and well worth seeing! There is a dance floor in the main dining room... And adequate seating upstairs and outside for those more intimate experiences!! Five stars and more on this on!!

Very entertaining experience. Service was on point. Food was surprisingly good. At least for the cruise I was on, they could have used 2 bartenders f/t, instead of 1 f/t and 1 occasional. All in all a great trip that we would do again.

It was great fun, food was awesome, crew very friendly we will do this again I think

For our party, too much talking to the crowd ....and mic was too loud. Music was nice, but also too loud. We wanted to talk to each other... but that was our group. Food was pretty good. Service was excellent!

Decided to do something different for my wife on her on birthday, so I decided to take her on a lunch cruise. The experience was different and great the only reason for 4stars is due to the lunch portion and also a little bland sides. Cinnamon buns were great and salmon was good. The experience is worth the money nice trip if the weather is good the way it was for us.

Great Valentines lunch cruise. Food ^ service both excellent.

Had a great time playing music bingo!

Food was exceptional and the trip was interesting and informative

A nice riverboat ride with meal provided. Good food good service , interesting tour.. live music too. A must do for tourists

Had a great time. The food was delicious. The music and band were excellent (Derek Trull & EasyStreet). Very courteous employees. Recommend going.

The Barbara Lee was great for The American Legion Post 53. The fund raising event went off without any problems. Did not hear of any complaints from the travelers. Food, Drink, Staff were on point.

amazing service!! Jennifer was our server and she was awesome catered to my wants when it came to my food ordering which was great!!! 10/10 recommend!! and if you get jennifer you are truly lucky!!!

So much fun! Very happy we went!

What wonderful experience we had. The boats are high class richly appointed modern lighting large windows even window dressings. Linen tablecloths and napkins set with real tableware not the cheap plastic stuff. Each table was set with appetizers which included a pasta salad and a fruit and veggie plate. Waiters and waitresses wheeled around a beverage cart and served each table with water, ice tea sweetened / unsweetened and other beverage choices. The bartender took drink orders and brought them to the your table. The entertainment was professional and loud enough to heard without being overpowering and interrupting conversation. Each guest was provided with a menu and meal orders were taken. There was a shrimp cocktail course, a salad and breakfast course and then the main entree. Everything was prepared cooked to order and brought to you like in a 5 star restaurant . The sailing was serene and beautiful with 3 decks to view the river from.

Spent New Years Eve on the boat. It was so much fun! The band was great, food good and service fantastic! Jen took great care of our party of 24. Check out the awesome river cruise.

Booked dinner cruise for dec 22. Was called two days prior to inform me they were cancelling due to my wife and I were the only ones booked. Hard to believe. Have taken the dinner cruise every year for past several years with no problems. Not sure if the new owners are capable of the same great service we were used to. Also they have changed the dinner cruise to a later time frame. Not sure we will ever return. Beware! They get one star because there are no minus stars.

Had a great experience on the river cruise. Ship is clean, had great staff and entertainment.

Great food and great company will go again

The staff was knowledgeable, friendly and very accommodating. The boat was exceptionally clean and the food was well prepared. The cruise was entertaining with fantastic sights. Al and all it was a very delightful afternoon.

We went today, and it was a great day. The food was excellent. The staff was outstanding the crew was the best under the new management. Great job. Thank you.

Awesome dinner and cruise deff going again this season!!!

Great food and ride on the river.

Staff was super friendly and accommodating, good was good, and they had 5 star entertainment with a band named "Naughty Naughty".

Too pricy from what it used to be. Food not as good or plentiful as it was. Not sure if we'll ever take friends back.

Love this easy going fun boat ride.

Eh, it's ok. Certainly not worth an 80$ price tag. Prime rib was served cold. And I don't just mean 'room temp' it felt like it had been taken out of the fridge. The views are great!

What a lovely evening with good food accompanied by a great singer/music. Kid friendly too! Go and have yourself an adventure!

Had a great time! Cashed in my father's day gift & took the ride. Staff was very friendly, food was great & so were the drinks. Can't beat the view of the paddle wheels.

I'm conflicted on giving a rating for this one. My bestie purchased two tickets for us to go on a dinner cruise. From what we read on their website, which was a bit difficult to navigate, we were looking forward to a salmon dinner, glass of wine, and a leisurely trip up the river. It wasn't until we'd been on board for nearly an hour, without a single server to even greet us, that we realized this was actually a party cruise, with loud music, and only a bar-type food menu. While this was NOT the evening cruise we thought it was, we still had fun! Hopefully we can come back for a future visit which will be better. 🤞😬🤞 Also, whoever manages and designs their website needs to give it another look over.

My best friend mentioned how she wanted to go on the Rivership. I went to the website and looked at the menu and it looked good, so I then looked at rates. The only rates I could find were for event nights, the rate was only $25 per person, I thought that was reasonable considering the food that was included. So I bought 2 tickets for Nov 3rd and surprised my bestie for her upcoming birthday. We arrived at the ship just after 6:30. It was pretty full! We found a table and waited for a server to come to us. No one ever came! We went upstairs and found another seat, and I called a server over. He introduced himself, and asked what he could get us. I told him we had never been before so we weren't sure how it all worked. He then explained to us that it was a bar menu that night, not the menu we saw online! No where when I booked these tickets did it state there was a different menu or what that menu was. Also, the ship only went to the bridge and turned around. Not at all what we expected and I wouldn't be back again.

My third time riding on the river boat and still had ball as if it was my first time.

Great river to travel,it flows north.

The ride starts off in a large lake and it takes quite a while to get to the river. The lake is very boring...nothing to see. The river part is more interesting. Saw an alligator. The food was good. Starting with a fruit, veggie tray and sticky buns at 10:30. They call you back to the table at 12:00 and you get a salad and your entree and rolls. I didn't really feel like they appreciated our group, demanding a minimum $2 tip for only group members.

The Pirates and Mermaids event was absolutely worth the time and dough, especially if y'all have kiddos attending. My daughter and our friends' kids had an absolute blast.... they went on a Treasure Hunt, participated in a coloring contest, danced, and met Pirates and a Mermaid. The Staff catered to everyone, going above and beyond by assisting my daughter in finding some treasures. All participants were given some cool prizes, but the show stealer was the aforementioned Mermaid. She was beautiful, and did an awesome job connecting with the children. We'll be back!!!

I had a wonderful time on the dinner cruise. We went for a birthday party in the afternoon, the food was great, the drinks were delicious (i had the mermaid punch) and we took some great photos on the top deck. It was very memorable. The staff onboard were attentive and friendly. I’ve recommended it to several friends ☺️

We hosted our son and daughter in law's wedding rehearsal here. Can not begin to think of a more beautiful, magical way to enhance a wedding. The staff, the food, the band, the bartender and obviously, the setting can not be beat. Absolutely perfect!

small crowd, very good food and experience!!

From there first river boat ,,, The Star of Sanford,,, till now every River boat has been 200 percent perfect,,,

We all had a pretty good time, staff was exceptional!

Great boat should have more wheelchair options for getting on the second floor and should have a way of serving hot rolls not Luke warm

Excelente lugar para disfrutar en familia

Very nice cruise staff and other guest guests were friendly.

We celebrated mom's 80th birthday with a Sunday lunch Cruise. The service was fantastic. We really enjoyed the on board entertainment. The food was so good! We enjoyed going "upstairs" to enjoy the river views. It is definitely worth it! I plan on going more.

5 STAR Paddle Boat Cruise 🚢 🛳 ✨️ with Pleasant Live Entertainment and delicious menu/lunch items. I had Chicken Piccata, sides and dessert. Hot, prepared on the boat deliciousness. Many other tasty menu options. The servers, bar mixologist, host, Captain and crew all deserve 👏 a big hand and big tips. THANKS FOR THE SPECIAL EXPERIENCE for our bus of Travel Is Fun (St Pete, Fl) day trippers!!!

Loved IT, Everyone was So nice.

Nice lunch, good service. Tour guide was informative. River scenery is beautiful.

Great service had a group of eight celebrating a 60th and 76 birthday. Staff was warm and friendly. The music was great everyone was was sociable the dance floor stayed fill so much fun

Had a wonderful time on the Barbaralee for the Rocking on the River Cruise 🛳 😎 😀 👌 🙌