Get Quotes Contact Us Sign In
Website
Call
Vista Fleet While looking for things to do in Duluth MN be sure you Choose Your Cruise; from our sensational sunset dinner cruises catered by Bellisio's Italian Restaurant in Canal Park, exciting narrated sightseeing tours, relaxing cocktail cruises, and pizza cruises with entertainment for the whole family. Experience the wonders of Lake Superior as we cruise next to 1,000-foot lake freighters and oceangoing vessels to take in the activities of the Twin Ports harbor.See lighthouses, ships, beautiful waters and more during your narrated tour aboard the Vista Fleet.
Services
The Harbor Excursion business was founded in 1959 by Ted Gozanski, Hyman Kaner, and Jimmy Oreck. Ted Gozanski and Hyman Kaner were both operators of Bum boats within the harbor. Jimmy Oreck owned the Flame restaurant which is now part of Bayfront Park. Mr. Oreck furnished the original dock sited at the Flame and Gozanski and Kaner supplied the nautical know-how.
Enjoy the best sightseeing on Lake Superior and the Duluth Superior Harbor with the Northland's longest and only running harbor cruise company. Choose between our 75 minute Duluth Waterfront Tour or the full 1 hour and 45 minute Grand Sightseeing Cruise. All cruises are professionally narrated and offer an abundance of interactive fun and information.
Enjoy the best sightseeing on Lake Superior and the Duluth Superior Harbor with the Northland's longest and only running harbor cruise company. All sightseeing cruises are professionally narrated and offer an abundance of interactive fun and information. Comfortable indoor and outdoor seating is available.
Explore the wonders of the Duluth Harbor and Lake Superior with ease through our unique experience bundles. From family sightseeing outings to Sunset date nights, there is truly something for everyone. Bundles do not guarantee a reservation and tickets must be booked with pass or package information separately.
Reviews (28)
Write a Review
Olivia Huston
Jun 22, 2022
I would not recommend the dinner cruise. Pros: - learned more about the shipping industry - got out on the water - some nice views. Cons: - the food. My cheesecake was still frozen. The steaks were all over done. We were placed at a table with another couple and they said, "well it's not the worst food I've ever had." My review is strongly affected by the lacking food quality. I would not use this review to judge their other offerings.
Tanner Tollefson
Jun 22, 2022
I go every time I'm up in Duluth and it's always a relaxing treat! I recommend bringing a jacket as the open lake can get quite breezy!
Harry Plendl
Jun 15, 2022
Absolutely a family friendly tour that was long enough to get your money's worth but not take up an entire day. Loads of history! Highly recommend for anyone going to Duluth to set aside the time to get out on the water.
Debbie Goepfert
May 09, 2022
Courteous and helpful crew made the experience fun for all ages. Lots of facts about the local area and Lake Superior kept the 3rs grades engaged.
Diane B.
Dec 30, 2021
Vista Fleet is a staple activity whenever visiting Duluth. Just getting out on the lake is a treat. The narrative is good. Outdoor seating is available. Love to bring my camera and capture some Great Lake shots of the city. They have a good bar and basic food available. Getting on and off is quite efficient. We will continue to buy various tickets on Vista. Their brunch cruises are also really nice. Anytime you can combine food, drinks and boating, it will be a good day!
Leslie Diaz
Oct 31, 2021
The Grand Sightseeing Tour on Lake Superior by Vista Fleet is a must-do when visiting Duluth. To fully appreciate the beauty of the city, I feel it's important to take and learn from this tour. We took the last tour of the season which had the leaves at prime fall colors. Sam was our tour guide and he was cracking dad jokes the whole time. You can park by the Convention Center for $10. Please take this lake cruise!
Lady S.
Sep 19, 2021
Very fun cruise around Lake Superior! Learned a lot of knowledge I never knew before, so was well worth our time. We were on a family vacation with my two foreign exchange girls from Switzerland and Spain, so it was very neat for them to get the experience. The tour guide did a wonderful job of keeping it interesting the entire time and explaining what we were seeing.
Gail Jones
Sep 09, 2021
Nice tour & commentary by Sam. Disliked the VERY long line to board. Location is convenient to Canal Park area. Tip: Try for free street parking between DECC & the lake.
Nancy Listenberger
Aug 30, 2021
This cruise was so much fun. We loved the seeing all the different things. Sam was so good telling everything about Duluth and the water. I would definitely take the cruise again
Shayla Husmann
Aug 13, 2021
Had a great time crew was very friendly & professional! Most the crew were kids (young) but you couldn't tell. Captain was great he did a fantastic job. Thank you very much we loved it!
Devin Ganka
Jul 12, 2021
This cruise was great! The food was amazing, however, I wanted more! The boat situation was sad though. The night of our cruise a private party rented out the boat they use for dinner cruises and my cruise got moved to a smaller boat. It was very crowded and we had to sit with random people. I also feel like if we still paid the same thing, we should have got something in return. The service was good and I loved where we actually cruised. The drinks were awesome. I would do this again, and their other tours.
Rj D.
Jul 09, 2021
Dinner cruise was fun and informative and it was really cool to go under the Lift Bridge. The food was pretty good but the highlight was the sights and scenery. The chicken and ravioli dishes were quite good but the steak was disappointing. Sam was a great tour guide. Fun for all ages and families.
F. U.
Jun 28, 2021
This is a must in duluth, it's cheaper on Tuesday and you can do hour and 45 minutes tour. I live in duluthmn and do this once a year. The ticket girl was very helpful when ordering on the phone.
Wendy M.
Apr 03, 2021
Store has great unique merchandise and superb staff. Pet friendly and the pricing was extremely affordable. We bought 3 items and would have went back for more had time permitted.
Eli C.
Sep 10, 2020
Vista fleet cruises is a must if your in Duluth. Aside from the wonderful views and relaxing time on the cruise the tour guide Sam was great. He gave a lot of good info on the tour and the jokes he threw in there were funny. Would definitely recommend even through covid it seemed safe and they were enforcing rules.
Ann O.
Sep 22, 2019
I brought 20 ladies from work here for a ladies night out. We went on the dinner cruise. Food was good, staff was great, good time.
Abigail B.
Aug 10, 2018
It was what we expected. We did the brunch cruise with food provided by Duluth Grill. We were fortunately seated on the second deck, not as crowded as it seemed to be on the first. Top deck was pretty empty so it was nice up there to look at the views. Tour guide was punny, servers were great and attentive. Because of the timing of getting buffet, we missed parts of the beginning of tour, the more picturesque part (but we were glad to get food).

Food was really filling and pretty good. Would recommend to others, just know what you're getting into, because you also tour the industrial side of the aerial lift bridge.
Jennifer G.
Jul 08, 2018
If you consider floating by industrial shipping containers a scenic experience- this is your tour! Bring cash for adult beverages to help pass the time.
Alexa D.
Jun 21, 2018
Sam is amazing tour guide! We started at 9:55 am and went around the watery shores of Duluth and back in the harbor. He's knowledgeable and funny! The tour was really great, and the view is picturesque! Totally worth the $25/person. It was 1hr 45mins.
Andrew C.
Jun 12, 2018
We had a nice tour of the harbor as well as the area of Lake Superior just upside of the Lift Bridge. Sam, our tour guide, was great, knowledgeable and very engaging. The seats on the top deck were hard and uncomfortable but it the view was good. Compared to the North Shore Scenic Railroad (which we also did as part of a package deal) this was a nice experience that I would recommend. A word of advice, dress warm, it gets cold out on the water, even in June.
Neil B.
Sep 20, 2017
They get one star for the conversation I had right before I bought tickets. Me: Can I bring food and eat on the boat? Ticket guy: Yeah, and they have full service, with nachos for example. Me: ok, I'll buy some tickets. Ticket guy: ok they are non refundable. Guy at boat: you can't eat that food on here.
Nate G.
May 25, 2017
A bunch of annoying kids running around, but the big old buzzkill employee running around yelling at them was almost more annoying. Kids will Be kids, come on it's 2017. Didn't let me smoke cigs on the deck, 3 stars
Stacie C.
Sep 16, 2016
Whenever the possibility of exploring the local scene by boat presents itself, my friend and I are going to make it a priority. Who could pass up a tour of Lake Superior from Duluth? On a lovely spring day, we enjoyed a wonderful Vista Fleet boat tour. Our guide was an energetic young lady (a theater major she was happy to point out), sadly I forget her name.

She kept us laughing and entertained the entire time. Sure, it may have been a bit cold out on the water but the tour was fun and informative. The tour offers great views of the harbor and it goes under the awesome lift bridge as well. Tickets were reasonably priced. If you are in Duluth, I'd definitely recommend boarding a tour with Vista Fleet.

In reading other reviews it sounds like the guide can make the difference but it's just as easy to tune them out and listen to the soft hum of the boat engines as you drift along the water taking in the sights.
The Lance C.
Sep 04, 2016
Cruise was 30 minutes shorter than they said. Not interesting at all, just named the landmarks that we could see on land. Very arrogant and rude crew, always yelled and sounded very angry.
Erin H.
Sep 01, 2015
Tuesday has $5 cruises. But get there early to make it to the top deck as they can get crowded and cut off capacity. 2 hours in a stuffy boat is no fun, 2 hours on a boat feeling the breeze and the sunshine abc being able to see the sights is amazing.
Jason K.
Aug 11, 2014
A trip to Duluth isn't complete without a Vista cruise! Staff is always friendly, yes the food is not gourmet, but it never claimed to be! The pizza cruise is a great cruise for the kids. They take a nice cruise around the harbor and then go to the lake for a few minutes. Overall it's a fantastic tourist site.
Candace V.
Aug 29, 2013
Waste of time & money. Spent $50 & 1.75 hrs on this crap outing. I've taken 12+ local boat tours / cruises around the country in cities large & small. Always a highlight. Always a fun time to kick back, snack & sight see. The host / narrator treated this cruise as his personal jokefest. One lame, sarcastic comment after another. Nothing informative or educational. 30 min into the cruise, my party was texting each other 'this is lame, we should have gone to the chocolate shop'.
Whitney C.
Jun 18, 2013
This was a pretty great deal I got from Crowd Cut, buy one get one for adult fares. When I called from the cities to make our reservations, the staff were friendly and answered all of my questions. We arrived 30 minutes before launch time, and quite the learning experience. I've never actually traveled by boat underneath the Aerial Lift Bridge, so that was pretty great! And we got to learn much more about the history of Duluth, the lake, the harbor, and the St. Louis River than I imagined.