Are you looking for a magical night out in London? Consider a dinner cruise with City Cruises for an alternative view of the city.
I’ll never tire of London, the city that is always home to historic buildings, stunning sights and rich culture. I’ve seen the London skyline in a plethora of different ways. From guided tours walking around the city, up high with the London Eye and even by TukTuk on many (many) drunken nights, I’ve done many!
I had never, up until recently, seen the city by boat, however! Therefore I was so excited to be invited to an evening dinner cruise with City Cruises, just before Christmas. In fact, my boyfriend and I were already in London that day. We celebrating my birthday by seeing Derren Brown’s Showman, so this was the perfect way to end the evening.
All about City Cruises
City Cruises are part of the City Experiences Group that offers fantastic experiences worldwide, from New York and San Francisco to Rome and Paris. In London, you’ll find them hosting a plethora of walking, dining, cruising and even food tours.
If you want to see London by water, however, you can do this in many different ways. We boarded an evening dinner cruise, but other options include speedboats, lunch cruises and even murder mystery dinner cruises.
Our Experience of City Cruises’ London Dinner Cruise
Our cruise took place on the Millennium of London. We boarded at Westminster Millennium Pier, for a sailing time of 7:45 PM. I was impressed as soon as we arrived. The staff were very friendly welcoming us on board and took us directly to our seats. We had a two-seater table right by the window, where a welcome drink (Prosecco) was already waiting for us.
Inside the boat, it was very cosy and decorated very festive. Especially with garlands above us and the lights of London outside. One small downside (on our behalf!) is that we had dressed pretty casually and had wrapped up warm as we were in London all day beforehand. As people boarded, however, I quickly noticed that some groups were very dressed up and looked amazing!
Our first course was served promptly – very delicious Scottish Smoked Salmon Mousse served with king prawns, a small side salad and a bread roll. Throughout our four-course meal, we were also served tomato, roast pepper and basil soup with roasted supreme chicken for the main. If it wasn’t for the Dauphinois potato, it would have felt like a pre-Christmas dinner. But my god, the Dauphinois potato was delicious and probably my favourite part of this course!
We then decided to explore the boat whilst the singer took a short break. It was chilly and windy on the top deck, but lovely. We were the only ones up there most of the time. We had amazing panoramic views of the London skyline. What made it even more special was that it was Christmas and we spotted lots of festive displays as we sailed.
It would have been nice to have a little overview of what we were passing and when, but I don’t think that would have worked on this particular cruise. It definitely had more of a grown-up fun party vibe than sitting on the top deck cold listening to a tour!
Each dinner cruise comes with entertainment, and we had an amazing singer on board. She sang classic party hits and Christmas songs. It really was lovely and festive and I’m so happy that people actually got up to dance. We hit the dancefloor a couple of times too and it felt just like a fun Christmas party.
After some dancing, we returned to our seats for dessert: a luxurious chocolate truffle cake served with a raspberry coulis. Though tasty, I was so full up that I was only able to eat half!
By the time we’d finished eating, we were nearing the end of our three-hour experience. So we danced some more before settling down to watch the view from our seats. The cruise was so much fun but I felt that three hours passed by so quickly!
My Review of City Cruises’ London Dinner Cruise
We had so much fun. The food was really tasty and the entertainment was perfect. I also loved that between courses we had free reign of the boat to dance or just head up to the top deck to catch the views. It was such a great way to see London in a different light – particularly at Christmas.
It’s also worth noting that inside the boat was always really warm (you could barely tell it was winter). And there were toilets on board! We also had the option of choosing a vegetarian dinner whilst filling in our dietary requirements.
Once we docked, I left the boat feeling so happy and festive. It really was a lovely way to celebrate my birthday and indulge in some Christmas celebrations.
If you’re spending any time in London in the near future, I would recommend booking an experience with City Cruises. I think it may well be the best dinner cruise in London! We loved the evening dinner cruise but there are so many to choose from that sound amazing. The London dinner cruise costs £79 (which includes the four-course meal and welcome drink). This makes it the perfect option for a celebration like a birthday, anniversary or Christmas party (packages are available). There are also other experiences if you’d like something that costs less.
City Cruises are currently offering some great January deals such as 50% off sightseeing cruises with promo code JAN50.
Would you like to see London by boat? Which of City Cruises’ experiences would you love to take? Let me know in the comments!
*Please note, this experience was gifted but I am under no obligation to write a positive review and have, as always, shared my honest thoughts.Â
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