Advertisement
Hobart Tours
Derwent River Historic Harbour Cruise From Hobart
4.5

Derwent River Historic Harbour Cruise From Hobart

By Hobart Historic Cruises
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Make the most of Hobart’s waterfront position by admiring its sights in comfort during a River Derwent cruise. Choose from various departures and options—some with onboard lunch or dinner—to suit your preferences and schedule; and enjoy the unobstructed views that can only be had from the water. Pass sights such as the Botanical Gardens, and hear tales about them from the onboard commentary that you may otherwise miss.

Ages 0-99, max of 130 per group
Duration: 1–2 hours
Start time: Check availability
Mobile ticket
Live guide: English
More

Highlights
  • View Hobart and its surrounds from the water on a River Derwent cruise
  • Sit back and let the landmarks come to you rather than tour by foot or road
  • See and hear about sites such as the Tasman Bridge via onboard commentary
  • Choice of various timings and routes, some with lunch or dinner on board

  • 1 hour cruise on Morning and Afternoon cruise, Light refreshments available for purchasing
  • 1.5 hours cruise with 1-course lunch on Lunch Cruise (meal not included for kids under 5)
  • 2 hours cruise with 3-course dinner and one complimentary drink on Dinner cruise
  • Live commentary on board for all the cruises
What's not included
  • Transportation to/from hotels


Start:
  • Segway Tasmania, Morrison Street Pier, Murray St, Hobart TAS 7000, Australia
    Departure Point: Murray Street Pier, Hobart We locate opposite to the Parliament House and next to the Salamanca Place, Morrison St Parking. **You must exchange your voucher at the ticket counter before the tour begins. Look for a white and red shipping container. **
End:This activity ends back at the meeting point.

    • Not wheelchair accessible
    If you have questions about accessibility, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 70072P1

    • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
    • Infant meals not included
    • No dress code
    • Baby pram accessible
    • Most travellers can participate
    • There is a minimum of 6 persons required for the Dinner cruise to depart.
    • This experience requires good weather. If it’s cancelled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
    • This experience requires a minimum number of travellers. If it’s cancelled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund
    • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 130 travellers

    • For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.

    If you have questions about this tour or need help making your booking, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 70072P1

    Currently unavailable
    This product is unavailable to book via Tripadvisor.
    Explore other options
    Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.

    Similar experiences

    Itinerary
    • Morrison Street Pier, Murray St, Hobart TAS 7000, Australia
      Departure Point: Murray Street Pier, Hobart We locate opposite to the Parliament House and next to the Salamanca Place, Morrison St Parking. **You must exchange your voucher at the ticket counter before the tour begins. Look for a white and red shipping container. **
    • Pass by
      Hobart
    About the operator
    Don’t take it from us – here’s what people have to say about this operator:
    • Hobart Historic Cruises
      315
      Australia
      Joined in November 2013
    • johnbE8598EX
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Amazingly surprised
      Don’t let first impressions count on this little beauty! Food was amazing - true blue steak and of course magnificent salmon for the wife.
      Written 7 March 2023
    • rogersE3248YG
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Great Hobart Harbour Cruise
      We did the lunch cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it. The food was good, the commentary excellent[ withe some local humour thrown in] and the weather was perfect. Great value for money. The meal was served on the main deck and the top deck is more like a longer. Plenty of room to walk about and take photos. Take the northern route as it goes up under the bridge.
      Written 23 May 2022
    • Vicky P
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Definitely worth a place in your itinerary
      We've seen this little red boat getting around the waterways and finally decided we'd take a cruise. It is deceptive in its size with a good sized dining area on the lower deck and a comfy lounge area on the top deck. You can stand out the front if you like but today it was a bit chilly and showery. We enjoyed standing out the back and listening to the captain's (a 5th generation Tasmanian) very informative and sometime humorous commentary. Most interesting was his comments on the Tasman Bridge tragedy detailing facts I hadn't heard before. He could be heard, no problems, all over the boat, wherever you were. We were served a delicious lunch fairly soon after we boarded. I chose the Atlantic salmon and hubs had the steak - for (the optional) dessert we had a hot chocolate pudding and a lemon tart both with yummy Tasmanian ice cream . We were both very pleased with our lunch. You can purchase alcohol (I guess soft drink too - I didn't notice). The hour and a half passed by very pleasantly. Our waiter / crew, captain and the lovely young lady in the ticket office were friendly and helpful. All in all very good value for money and I wouldn't hesitate to highly recommend this cruise.
      Written 9 December 2021
    • Auscoach
      0 contributions
      3.0 of 5 bubbles
      Nice cruise average food
      Took the Xmas lunch trip with family. Good commentary and cruise but very very average food for what was and expensive Xmas lunch. Probably better off just taking the tour and get some great fish and chips from the harbour when you get back
      Written 24 December 2019
    • reiveratsea
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      A relaxing afternoon and so much to see
      We went on the lunchtime cruise and saw all round the harbour and up the river, through the Hobart Bridge. Our skipper was really interesting with his anecdotes of the sites we were seeing. A great way to spend 90 minutes and learn about the history and sites around
      Written 8 December 2019
    • Rick63AU
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Meal afloat
      We booked the evening cruise with 3 course meal. The ship took us both up and down the harbour, travelling under the Tasman bridge twice. The meal was great as was the company. the ships captain gave a great commentary whilst traversing the river
      Written 6 December 2019
    • harriet1034
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Dinner cruise
      Wonderful staff, amazing three course meal, and amazing views. A two hour boat trip around Hobart. I would highly recommend this. Very cheap for what you get!
      Written 24 November 2019
    • June B
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      "SPIRIT OF HOBART"
      We were a group of 27 who travelled on "Spirit of Hobart) - the Red & White boat, for a 1.5 hrs lunch cruise. It was fantastic, very friendly staff, quick service and the food was excellent. Would thoroughly recommend this cruise.
      Written 24 July 2019
    • eliserhiannon
      0 contributions
      4.0 of 5 bubbles
      Great
      It was the best way to see the harbour. My Aunty and I just loved it. Very informative crew and lovely.
      Written 9 July 2019
    • Janelle V
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Dinner cruise
      We booked the 6 o'clock 2 hour dinner cruise and were not dissapointed. The food was great value , including x2 drinks each. Commentary eas very imformative. Great value for money. Would recommend to all to book this tour.
      Written 10 March 2019
    • D2244NUrebeccar
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Absolutely Recommend
      My husband and I took the one hour cruise this morning. We boarded at 11am and oh my gosh I have to mention how beautiful this vessel is! Keeping the authenticity of the boat makes the experience feel like a real piece of Hobart. The history and commentary from the captain was very informative and entertaining - I just wish I saw more passengers as I fear business may be struggling. For $28 per person I felt this was cheap for the experience we had. Love it and will do another of your cruises in the near future!
      Written 8 March 2019
    • Gtrjt
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Magnificent
      Absolutely magnificent cruise and well worth the $38 spent including lunch .Your staff are a credit to themselves,hard working and very friendly.Will definitely be recommending to all our friends back in Adelaide heading to Tassie.
      Written 2 February 2019
    • BHodge39
      0 contributions
      1.0 of 5 bubbles
      Christmas Eve Dinner Cruise- Failure!
      We sent the cruise this exact message, and never heard back. Would NOT recommend. “Hello- my friend and I went on the dinner cruise tonight (24/12). We booked this a couple days ago as a special night out for Christmas Eve, but had several issues. First, the expected arrival time listed multiple times on the email ticket, as well as the booking site, said 6pm. However, we arrived exactly at 6pm and the boat was about to pull away from the dock; we were abruptly rushed inside. Next, we were given instructions for different aspects of the meal (where to be, when). When we came down to the dining area, everyone around us had their first course, but we were never served. After waiting, we asked an employee about the situation and it came to light that the kitchen had ran out of food for the first course, though everyone else except us had been served. In addition, while we were waiting to be served, we missed about 30 minutes of the historical tour as the speakers on the dining level did not work. While the employees were apologetic, they seemed confused and unsure of how to handle the situation. We went home extremely disappointed in the organization and quality of both the food and venue, which was unbearably hot. Overall, we feel that the price we paid was not justified by the service we received; our expectations for this luxury dinner cruise were absolutely not met. We would like to be compensated for some, if not all of the price of this experience, especially as we never received a major portion of our meals.”
      Written 13 January 2019
    • 384wentingr
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Great experience at spirit of Hobart
      Everything is perfect. Have Enjoyed an afternoon cruising Dervent’s tranquil waters! Staffs are very friendly and they do have a bar where you can order coffee, tea (free) and wine!!! I will give 10/10 for captain’s live commentary. Love it xx
      Written 24 November 2018
    • Greg S
      0 contributions
      4.0 of 5 bubbles
      Good value for great service.
      The old boat is very serviceable, the commentary interesting and not overpowering, the meals basic but good and the drinks cold and reasonably priced. All staff were keen to go out of their way to make sure you were looked after. It is exactly what it says it is, which is quite refreshing.
      Written 8 November 2018
    See all 315 reviews
    These reviews are the subjective opinions of Tripadvisor members and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

    Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

    Popular mentions

    We perform checks on reviews.
    Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
    Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
    When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
    Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
    Learn more about our review moderation.
    4.5
    4.5 of 5 bubbles207 reviews
    Excellent
    123
    Very good
    61
    Average
    14
    Poor
    4
    Terrible
    5

    Peter W
    Adelaide, Australia20 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    Apr 2022
    The cruise is a good way to see Hobart from the river and a must do whilst in Hobart. The commentary was informative and interesting, However the food was very ordinary and was a let-down to the overall experience. Didn't expect anywhere near 5 star for the price, but the steak was very small, fatty and tough, actually inedible, went away hungry. The salmon didn't look very appealing although it was supposedly Tasmanian Salmon, it tasted 'OK'. Based on the quality and quantity of the food we would not recommend doing the lunch cruise, but would instead suggest the morning or afternoon cruise.
    Written 10 April 2022
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    JoM
    1 contribution
    1.0 of 5 bubbles
    So disappointing that in a 90 minute cruise the commentary made not a single mention of the Aboriginal people whose land it always has been, always will be. In 2020 this is not good enough. Apparently it is not the first time this has been mentioned to the captain/commentator but nothing has changed. He also needs to give some careful thought to the appropriateness of his misogynistic comments.
    Such a shame because the cruise itself was lovely and all other staff members on land and onboard were wonderful
    Written 30 December 2020
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    JohnnyGoldcoast
    Cambodia368 contributions
    1.0 of 5 bubbles
    Feb 2021
    I had about 5 hours to kill in Hobart before getting my flight back to the Gold Coast. So I booked the afternoon one hour cruise instead of a bus trip, then went for lunch before getting on the boat about 1 1/2 hours later. When I arrived they said they won't run the cruise because I was the only passenger. They should have warned me of the possibility of it being canceled when I booked it.

    I would have used the time to do the 2 hour Mt Wellington bus trip instead. The girl at the ticket box told me this happens a lot lately so other people are probably put out as well. Take your money then refund you when you could be exploring other parts of the area.

    They totally wasted my time.

    Don't bother with them.
    Written 8 February 2021
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Sarah J
    Ballarat, Australia209 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    We did the 2 hour dinner cruise on my partners birthday. Firstly, the food was very tasty and of good size. It isn’t a fine dining experience but the food was simple, fresh and tasty. My only feedback would be that it is served too quickly between courses- all three courses served in the first 45 minutes of the cruise. It includes a free drink which was a full sized can or glass of wine. Further drinks were extremely cheap! We cruised north and south of Hobart on the harbour, with a fantastic informative commentary from our captain. I would definitely come back and do it again maybe during the day for a different experience.
    Written 15 May 2022
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    SueJS
    Knightwick, UK112 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Feb 2020 • Couples
    We booked the evening 2hr dinner cruise but were not sure it was going ahead until the afternoon as the minimum numbers were 6. Communication was good and we were informed at 3pm that it would be running. We left promptly at 6pm and our starter arrived within a few minutes. No information given about drinks. We had finished our main course before we were asked to go to the bar if we wanted a drink. The food was fine and hot but it all felt rushed. An interesting cruise and commentary. At 7.20 we got another drink but docked 30 mins early at 7.30
    so did not have time to finish it. Just disappointed that a 2hr cruise was only 1 1/2 hrs. Could have been more leisurely but maybe that was because of the small numbers?
    Written 17 February 2020
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    mankoman
    Deloraine, Australia342 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    Sept 2021
    If the guide had any knowledge about Aboriginal history of the area he kept it to himself, unlike his opinions on a range of topics like development and government policy. And he definitely knew about the median house prices in each suburb we passed - sometimes it felt like we were on a nautical real estate tour.

    The best thing about the lunchtime cruise we did was you got to see the coast from the water. The vegetarian lunch was ok, I wasn't expecting much (and was advised that I was the first male to ever order one, so that made me feel special).

    So... 50/50 in my book, depends on what you're looking for as to whether it's worth it, but in regards to the 'historical' part of the tour - year zero (as Pol Pot refers to it) is 1803.
    Written 21 September 2021
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    christmascrazy002
    Albury, Australia39 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Feb 2020
    What a great trip, enjoyed with another couple. Fantastic meal - steak cooked to perfection, and not something pre-heated as on other trips I have been with other company's.
    A delightful trip around the foreshores, would definitely do it again.
    Written 28 August 2020
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    jmfish63
    Tamworth, Australia98 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Feb 2022 • Couples
    What a great, informative cruise. We did the Dinner cruise. Meal was generous, well cooked and presented nicely.
    Would suit all weather conditions as there are a number of areas over 2 decks
    Big thumbs up to the Captain and Crew
    Written 14 February 2022
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Trevor S
    Toowoomba, Australia19 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Dec 2019
    After 10 days in Hobart we both regarded this as the best value for money thing we did .
    $ 38 for lunch and 1 1/2 hour cruise of the harbour . Steak was reasonable and in comparison to most pub meals . Drinks at reasonable prices and a great way to see Hobart from the water without spending a fortune
    Written 2 January 2020
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    BonnyBeliever
    Greater Sydney, Australia120 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    May 2022 • Solo
    Commentary was informative, cruise was relaxing.
    The detail given by the ship’s captain who was also giving the commentary was really good.
    There weren’t many people aboard my cruise so I could move around to get a better look as we did the cruise, even right outside the captain’s deck at the bow.
    Written 17 May 2022
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Showing results 1-10 of 202
    *Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.

    Derwent River Historic Harbour Cruise From Hobart provided by Hobart Historic Cruises

    All Hobart HotelsHobart Hotel DealsLast Minute Hotels in Hobart
    All things to do in Hobart
    Day Trips in Hobart
    RestaurantsFlightsHoliday RentalsTravel StoriesCruisesRental Cars