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.
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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)
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
Harry Plendl
Jun 15, 2022
Debbie Goepfert
May 09, 2022
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
Nancy Listenberger
Aug 30, 2021
Shayla Husmann
Aug 13, 2021
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
F. U.
Jun 28, 2021
Wendy M.
Apr 03, 2021
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
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.
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
Alexa D.
Jun 21, 2018
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
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.
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
Erin H.
Sep 01, 2015
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.