au sable river queen

The River Boat was a great place to be on a rainy, chilly day. The staff was exceptionally friendly and helpful. We enjoyed drinks from the bar, snacks from the snack bar and live entertainment. We plan a return visit!

I was a little worried when we arrived for our reserved boat ride. The gift shop seemed a little chintzy, so I worried the ride would be the same. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. The staff were all very friendly-from the captain greeting you and wishing you a goodbye, to the bartender and snack bar worker-everyone seemed to want to do a good job and make our experience an enjoyable one. The ride itself was a relaxing and informative 2 hours. Other reviewers noted that the captain made inappropriate jokes, but on our tour I didn't notice any. The musical entertainment wasn't too "in your face", it was a guy singing mostly country songs; though I will say he wasn't exactly kid friendly-almost all of his songs had curse words in them. I didn't have any kids on board, but I might've been upset if I had. He sings on the top, so go to the bottom if you don't want to be too close. All in all, we had a nice time, bring some friends and get some drinks and you'll have yourself a nice couple of hours.

We were in Oscoda for our anniversary and thought we would give this 'Love Boat' a chance. I was glad we did. We sat on the lower level in front. Got us away from the engine noise, and out of the direct sound of the One Man Band. Were still were able to hear the jokes from the captain, and the band doing oldies over local speakers at a more comfortable level. The two hour trip is mostly uneventful. Enjoyed hearing about the area and seeing scenery. The boat moves painfully slow, and is quite stable. Was very relaxing, and enjoyable. The cost was very reasonable, especially for seniors ($10). They have a drink bar, snack bar and restrooms available. We will most likely do this again if in the area. Be sure to call ahead and make reservations. And, check back. They have a minimum before they sail, and they will cancel if the minimum is not available.

Beautiful AuSable River cruise with great folks running it! Snack, drinks,entertainment ...invite friends or make new ones on this 2 hour tour. I even got our new puppy from these fine people!

The River Queen is a must do when in the Oscoda area. It is nice to have a pleasant relaxing 2 hour ride on the AuSable river. Any time is good but it is especially nice during the fall color season in Sep-Oct.

I was very pleased with the cruise as I wanted to cruise along the river looking at the fall colors. The staff was very helpful and I had no problem finding the location with my GPS (Verizon navigator). I was traveling with my dog and asked if I could take her on the cruise and surprisingly they agreed as long has she behaved. The captain does tell many semi funny jokes but it goes with the territory. The ride is 2 hours and it goes really slow up the river but I did learn a lot of interesting things on the boat ride. They serve snacks and drinks on the cruise. The boat ride goes very slow but this provides an opportunity to really enjoy the beautiful scenery.

It's difficult to think of anything positive about our experience so here it is.The GPS doesn't know how to find the location but the man on the phone was friendly & helpful and we found it easily after speaking with him. The people in the gift shop were nice.While waiting for boarding we noticed that there was live entertainment with amplified instruments so we decided to sit near the stern where we could still hear them but not so loudly. That was a mistake as we soon learned, the engine noise is deafening back there. Even though the Captain was willing to wait for each & every last straggler, the boat left the dock only a few minutes after the scheduled time. And in less than a minute we were back where we started with a broken starboard steering cable. I overheard people commenting about if the River Queen's people know anything about maintenance and I had thought that myself. You see, stranded wire rope doesn't just go from OK to broken in one step. I had a pretty good view of the repairs and when they had the old cable out it was clearly badly worn & thin. At one point the Skipper found that the port cable was stuck in a pulley and he had difficulty freeing it. This would only happen with badly worn components. Again, maintenance is needed but for the time being he used electrical tape to thicken it. We got underway an hour late and some people disembarked before then.The live act was pretty good with an interesting selection of 60's & 70's songs in their repertoire. The other side of the coin was the fellow who gave commentary during the musical breaks. I think his selection of religious / political "jokes" was in bad taste considering that he did not know who his audience was. I can't comment on the drink bar and snack bar because we were reluctant to eat or drink anything served by the same people who almost took us far from shore with a ready-to-fail cable.The tour was nice and the commentator had some interesting things to share about the local area when he wasn't slamming the politicians he dislikes. I agree with a previous commenter in that the trip was more than long enough by the time we were done.

Have been coming to Oscoda for years and the Riverboat has always been a part of it! It is an enjoyable trip with a fun and friendly crew!

I have taken this cruise a few times. It's a relaxing ride on the river. The captain narrates the sights as well as tells corny jokes. How can you not like that? There is also a snack bar and a drink bar on board. They have the best Bloody Mary! This trip is exceptional in the fall with the trees turning color.

We decided to do the scenic tour in the fall which we did see beautiful fall colors! It got a little boring though...by the end of the trip we were so ready to get off. They did have good entertainment on the boat though! If you like sitting on a boat for two hours and looking at the scenery, then I recommend this tour.

Traveling to the Oscoda area is an annual event for my family and every time we go, if we do nothing else, we have to go on the Au Sable River Queen. The scenery is beautiful and Captain Roger and his crew provide an entertaining and informative tour of the river. The music is good, the jokes are groaners but funny and the Bloody Mary is the best on the River! My favorite spot is to sit upstairs (you will have to climb stairs to get there) in the front, close to the music.The tour does require a minimum number of people to head out, which is understandable. This is a two hour tour on a very large boat with a full crew. I know there have been times where they have had to cancel the trip due to the minimum requirement, which would be very disappointing, but it has never happened to me in the last 8 years. I think it is really the exception that a trip is cancelled and not a decision the captain enjoys making. Reservations are recommended for the fall color tours, as the boat does fill up. During the summer months they are busy, but most of the time (they were fully booked twice, but I was able to get on the next tour a couple hours later) I have been able to get on board without a reservation, so if you didn't make a reservation you should give it a shot. There is a nice park with a swimming beach and fishing right near the boat, so it isn't bad if you get there early or have to wait a few hours for the next trip out (there is also a restaurant nearby).This is a definate recommend in my book.

My daughter and I stopped here on July 15th and I was going to purchase tickets for a 3 PM tour...we were there about 2:30 PM. There was a tiny Shih Tzu running loose in the parking lot and my daughter picked it up because we thought she'd get hit...or stolen. We walked over and asked a man on the beach area if it was his dog as he was the closest. He said "No, and that he thought the dog might be with the people running the River Queen as it seemed to get excited when the boat came in to dock. We walked in the gift shop ticket sales office and asked the ready to burst, pregnant woman behind the register if it was their dog. My daughter put the dog down and she really didn't say to much about it. She was hot and irritated for sure. No air conditioning in the gift shop and it was hot inside despite all doors being open. Apparently there were 2 Shih Tzu's, the other one was in the back room of the gift shop...more shy and both were hot and looked thirsty. It was a 90 degree day. The boat docked and the "Captain" got ticked off when both dogs greeted the boat and came on board. I saw him pick up by the front legs, and drop the white one twice roughly in the sales office back room...then he man handled both, took them and threw them literally in the trailer next to the shop and slammed the door. I was watching him the whole time and also heard him and his wife exchange a few ugly words to each other over the dogs being out as he passed her by.I also noted a approximately 3 YO little girl swinging on the door handles of a back door off the dock unsupervised...I assumed she was a daughter of the people running the River Queen. I asked the Captain as he came back around the trailer if he was the one running the paddle boat tours. He said yes. I told him that I was going to buy tickets for my daughter and myself but after watching him treat his animals the way he did I wouldn't give him my money, I told him that was animal abuse. He said he was sorry, I told him he was not. I was a bit upset as was my daughter to see him rough those small, maybe 7-8 lb dogs up and there was no way that I wanted anything to do with him or his operation....and I told him I was going to write about him also so here is my write up. Not to mention his insensitivity to the woman who I assumed was his pregnant wife.I later found out that they had 11 people for the next tour and said they needed 15 so he cancelled the tour. Some people who told me that said they drove 2 hours for this with their grand kids. They were well over with 30 some people on the last tour that just ended so they weren't losing money to make these 11 people happy...it didn't matter. My daughter and I would have been 13 and they probably still would have cancelled...it was a hot day and beautiful for a boat tour...Business must be good...I would never return to this poorly run operation. If you go, don't do it on a hot summer day...don't rely on web sites to give you information about this either...they will deny the info is valid...per another disappointed customer...

They tell you to make a reservation and even if you do they may not go......so you will not know until it's time to leave....if you are not up to maybe being disappointed then don't go....if you don't care then take a chance.....blurting me it was a HUGE disappointment.....planned this trip with the grand kids and they were so excited then the let down....to me go somewhere else where you know they run no matter what.......

My sister and I took my Mom on this trip during the Fall of 2012. What a fantastic trip this was for all of us. It was raining on the morning we were to go, I thought for sure they would cancel the trip but NOPE, thank goodness these guys aren't afraid of a little rain, it was so fun! What a perfect way to spend a couple hours on a rainy Sunday. Too bad so many people chickened out just because of a little rain, how did people get to be such babies, I mean seriously it's just rain people and the boat is inclosed, it's not like you were out in it. Anyway, the bloody mary's were the absolute best I ever had, the gentleman playing the guitar and singing was great, sang a beautiful song about our fallen heroes that should be heard by everyone in the world. What a great piece of history this is, take the kids (leave the techno gadgets in the car), get real and enjoy each others company and the beauty that is Michigan, it's all here take the time to come see it! So, make your reservation, come to the boat (even if it's raining), have a bloody mary or two, enjoy the company of those around you, tip the bartender and the entertainer, take it all in, enjoy it, photograph it and tell your friends (like I'm doing now), this is something that needs to be preserved and continue for generations! Thank you to the staff of the River Queen, you guys ROCK (even if you did kick me off the boat for boarding too early :). PS: The gift shop is great! Really good quality shirts, jackets, etc and the prices were great! Those souveniers were a big hit and believe me we bought a lot of them! Don't let a little bad weather scare you off, it's Michigan for the love of Pete, enjoy it!

I was the brides maid of a wedding this past weekend. We had the reception on the boat. We needed to decorate the boat and ran out of time before the wedding ceremony. So after the ceremony we had to have someone run back to finish up the decorating. The staff was so nice they helped them set up and get everything done. The captain was on the first floor of the boat the kids could all go down and chat with him and ask questions. The trip down the river was beautiful. Absolutely perfect. I would recommend this to anyone.