Charleston Harbor Tours

We enjoyed the tour. It was just long enough. The tour operator spoke pretty much 85% of the time, which was good and bad. We learned a lot and he pointed out things we wouldn't have known, but, it was loud. That's the only thing that was slightly annoying. His anecdotes and comedic tie-ins were great, though. We got to see a lot that you obviously don't get to see from land. :) The tour around Fort Sumter was cool. I definitely got a better perspective of how the whole area surrounding Charleston is laid out. I think the best part of the trip was going under the Arthur Ravenal bridge twice. Got to see it up close and got some handy tidbits of information from the tour operator. Beware - it is HOT on deck upstairs. Downstairs is enclosed with A/C, but it is still warm, not cold. So, dress comfortably and purchase some drinks on board.

very pleasant

I was disappointed in the tour. I didn't care for the narrator at all. Didn't really see a whole lot.

It was a pleasant tour.

It was my first time to Charleston and this was a nice way to find out about the area. While the harbor tour was scheduled, having the flexibility to take the carriage tour whenever I wanted to was a nice option in scheduling.

I would recommend this cruise if it were not for the boat being way overcrowded and very hot on the lower deck. The barbecue and music were excellent but difficult for everyone to enjoy because there were not enough places to sit and eat and no one wanted to sit on the lower deck which was sweltering. There were also no safety announcements - I did not know where the lifejackets were located.

The cruise was nice, the food was tasty, but there were so many people crammed onto this boat that we could not sit our group together, and once we were seated, we could not move around the boat without bumping into people. The band would have been fun if we could have danced but like I said, we could barely move. The downstairs enclosure was extremely hot (very happy we were not seated there) and if it had rained, there would have been no place to move to to get out of the rain. This could have been a fun event and instead was just an overpriced boat ride.

Definitely arrive early to claim your spot below for dinner, as well as on the upper deck for the music. Wouldn't recommend it for older seniors or very young children; very rocky waters on a few occasions and it was difficult to stand on the upper deck. Food was great, but would've loved to have two lines going because it was really crammed and people were cutting to get ahead of the long lines! Music was great, too, and the route through the waters was really neat as well. Lucked out an got a nice evening weather-wise!

Most of the tour was conducted from a distance too far from shore to be interesting. The only site that was close enough to enjoy was Fort Sumpter. We found the tour to be very boring. I think that there should be a comfortable place for people to wait for the tour to begin. We were there during extremely hot weather, and had to wait in a laundry area designated for local boaters. Seating in the building consisted of 4 chairs, as I recall. We had to sit on some sort of cart that was in the room. I felt that the tour company was very inconsiderate of the tourists. John U

the boat ride was extremely hot. there was only a little shade on the top of the boat. downstairs was enclosed with ac but it was not very cold at all. I had to stand underneath the vent to cool off. I would have enjoyed it much more if it wasn't so hot. The Boone Hall Plantation was nice. Even though it was hot there too, there was a lot of shade from the trees. The tour of the home was nice. It was nicely cooled inside. The tour is only of the first floor and it would have been nice to see the bedrooms upstairs. The slave homes were interesting. Really enjoyed Joseph the Gullah storyteller. He was good. We didn't get a chance to go on the coach tour. We did however go to the cafe and had the best ice cream float I have had in a long time. It was huge and the price was great. Only $2.75. There is also a little butterfly area but we didn't see too many butterflies. Overall I liked the plantation because we learned a lot.

We booked the early harbor cruise & then went to the plantation in the afternoon on the same day. There were a few things we did not get a chance to see at the plantation, which we would have liked to see and wished we had more time there. Both the harbor cruise & Boone Hall Plantation were wonderful, except for the heat. There was no breeze on the cruise & although there is an air conditioned downstairs, where pretty much everyone on the cruise ended up, if you want to take unobstructed pictures, you need to be outside, which is upstairs in the heat. Don't miss the Plantation house tour and the gullah talk at Boone Hall. They are both worth the price of admission. I felt like I was on the set of Gone with the Wind.

This is a great way to learn about Charleston. Never knew there was so much history in this city. Take the carriage and harbor tour combo, very enjoyable!

The tour was ok, not what I expected.

harbour tour was great. Saw much of coast line, informative. Boone Hall was a little disappointing at the house. You can only see 3 rooms downstairs. The open bus tour was very good.

My family and I had a great time on the tour and the carriage ride. The people over the tours were friendly and very nice to us all. I would definitely recommend this tour for other families. Jamie Brown