Gondola Adventures Reviews

Hubby and I had a great time celebrating our 3rd year anniversary with Gondola Adventures! Woody was the BEST!!! What a moment to remember!!

Absolutely LOVE working with this company! Great looking gondolas make our wedding photography look better! And they are so friendly too!

JB & DeEtte Sallee
Sallee Photography

This was an experience like no other.
The gentleman who gave us our gondola ride his name was Jimmy he was an amazing person. check it out. so worth it

I did this for my wife who was my girlfriend at the time!!!!! FELLAS DEFINITELY WORTH EVERY PENNY!!!!! FROM THE BOAT RIDE TO THE GUY SINGING ON THE BOAT. THE WHOLE SCENE IN ITS SELF IS JUST GORGEOUS! THE LITTLE TOWN HIGHLY SUGGEST TALK A WALK BEFORE THE GONDOLA!

My sister set this up for my birthday which was ruined because of the rain. I thought it would have been as simple as the company giving a credit and then letting us go on the ride on a separate day. But that did not happen. These thieves deducted $100 from the credit and gave us the remaining even though this was not our fault. When my sister did a chargeback, they lied and said that they came on time. They came 30 minutes late! They could have at the very least given my sister a full credit back or refund but they did not. Go with another company for Gondola rides because if things like bad weather happen, they will STEAL your money. I do not recommend! They even had us go on the boat when there was thunder and lightening which is against their policy! BEWARE!

This is a vibe.... It is the perfect atmosphere and a very nice relaxing boat ride and our host was the best. He played guitar as we drifted across lake Carolyn and at the end my wife and the host tricked me pretty good. So, there was a bottle floating by the waterfall around 45min into the ride. The host said can you reach that bottle in the water so I grabbed the bottle and it was corked with a scroll tied with a ribbon inside the bottle. I opened the bottle it was a prewritten note with a special message from my wife for my bday. I would definitely go back to end a date after dinner.

A gem of a find for me, I had the ride with family and it was worth every second of it. Look for good weather and plan one ride for sure for special occasions. The team was flexible to adjust the ride based in rain weather situations for me. The gondolier for me was a pro and very good singer and played guitar too.

If I could give them ZERO stars I would! I planned to propose to my girlfriend on a Saturday at 830 pm, had booked a photographer and invited family and friends as well. TWO HOURS before the gondola ride at 630 pm I got a phone call saying they had to cancel the ride KNOWING I was proposing, because on the form when it asked for a special occasion I noted I would be proposing. All I received from them in return was a apology, and a complementary bottle message (worth $10)! I declined that and was refunded my money! If you are planning something special BEWARE!!

Very romantic ride around Lake Carolyn. Our Gondolier was very knowledgeable of the area and he also had a great singing voice. This is a must do if you want to impress your partner.

The gondolier was amazing singing for us while rowing us through the canals. Though the cruise was a little bit expensive, the friendliness of the gondolier and his singing and tale telling is all worth it. Also it wasn t a crowded time and so we got our own private time.

The Gondola ride was GREAT and made the perfect evening for a proposal. The food was also really good. If you re trying to find something different for date night or looking for a great place to propose this is it, don t hesitate.

I proposed to my girlfriend s daughter and my girlfriend this weekend! Everything was amazing and worked out perfectly as planned. I would highly recommend this company for anyone considering, and if you re doing it in Irving I would highly recommend using Melissa from Allison Images (their recommended photographer). I did a dessert cruise from the Marriott, and the desserts they made were top notch! We had cheesecake and chocolate bundt cakes. The message in the bottle was a great touch as well! As for other services, I opted to not use Gondola Adventures again because I wasn t too sure of the quality. If you don t care about the marketing an public image you portray to potential customers, you can assume they ll go with other professionals. I choose to have champagne, sparking juice, and roses from a florist placed in our room, by the hotel, and the Marriott more than took care of us. Our gondolier was absolutely amazing, and he was 5 stars!! We did the upgrade to the rowing gondola.

A couple suggestions. This website is in need a major overhaul with professional photography and/or marketing. Majority of the images you see do not do any justice, and I almost did not use their services because of the shotty imagery. I believe a website overhaul would gain y all a lot more business and convince those who are on the fence. I was on the fence for doing a dinner cruise, but the food did not look that great and pictures didn t seem that great, so I opted to go to a steakhouse pre cruise. Second, if you are doing professional photography (which I was worried about given the website images) I would get the photographers recommendation for a time before booking. We went by what Gondola Adventures said and were not able to change (unlike they told me) and the sun and light were already gone by the time the cruise ended, so that was a bummer that they chose to not listen to the photographer, especially when you re spending more money for photos than the cruise itself. Because they are located in California in or by the beach, I don t think they understand the sunset in Texas is different especially when you re in a city surrounded by buildings. Even though the sun may not be completely set all the sunlight was hidden due to the buildings.

With that being said, we had an amazing experience! However Gondola Adventures has a little work to do to be perfect and receive perfect ratings.

Woody was an excellent gondolier who made our night very special.

We used Gondola Adventures for our wedding.

Very easy to work with and set up. They already have a relationship with the venues, so there is no need to do much here. It was a unique and fun way to leave the party, and a nice, leisurely trip to our hotel room. Very romantic and memorable. We left from La Cima Club to the Omni Mandalay Bay.

It was me & my husbands first time & we loved it! Very peaceful & romantic! Our gondolier Jimmy was excellent!

Had the best experience. One of the best date nights that I have ever had my fiance had been planning this for quite some time and has nothing but positive things to say. Jimmy was great he was super professional and attentive.

I loved this experience. Definitely going to do this again. The views and my gondolier (Caleb) sung the most amazing song. Not gonna lie, I thought he was going to sound horrible but he was the complete opposite. Cruising up the canal to see some of the waterfalls was awesome.

MEN: Take your lady on this experience and she will love you forever afterwards

Fantastic experience Jimmy has a sublime singing voice. Wonderful service end to end.

The ride was amazing. I wish i could remember my gondolier's name but she was great and sound amazing. When she starting sing "My Funny Valentine", i couldnt hold back my emotions. It was truly beautiful.
The reason for the four star is due to the dozen roses and rose pedals. I thought i was going to get some really good looking roses but no. For that price i was expecting a nice bouquet and more rose pedals on the boat. As for the message in the bottle, it was perfect for my proposal. I must admit it did feel like you were no longer in texas. Thats how beautiful it was. Thank you for the great unforgettable and she said YES!!!!

It was nice relaxing however I didn t like how they didn t bring any ice for the wine but had a bucket
Also if it s bad weather and you have to reschedule 60$ fee to change date the guy played good music on his speaker

My husband surprised me with a gondola ride for valentines day and it was the best night ever! Our gondolier Tyson was awesome! He sang to us in Italian and told us cool facts about Lake Carolyn. We got to see the sunset and enjoy our evening with some sparkling cider. Such a romantic experience I highly recommend!

Awesome adventure! We had a wonderful time for my Love's birthday! Our gondolier was friendly, informative, and did an AMAZING job with the "message in a bottle"! Bravo!

Just got off the gondola and MAN, it was GREAT !!! Celebrating our 25th anniversary with a little dessert. I recommend "Jimmy Carpenter" if you are in the area of the Omni Mandalay hotel at Las Colinas in Irving TX. Jimmy is very talented, serenading, and playing the guitar. Thanks Jimmy !! He will make your evening wonderful !! You will not be disappointed !!! A GREAT AND ROMANTIC EVENING !!!

Woody did a great job, and I will never forget the great atmosphere, hospitality, and Woody can sing too... Yes, its very pricey, but
does it matter... When you are having a blast....

It was a great birthday gift. The person navigating was more interested in a wedding party he needed to get to so I felt rushed but I didn't let it ruin my birthday.

We went to the gondola this week to celebrate our 2nd anniversary and it was AMAZING!! From the weather to the sights to the sky to our awesome host Mr. Jimmy (highly recommend) his serenade was the cherry on top of our experience!!! Memorable moments galore...

Waste of money and time. I booked them (dessert cruise) for my sisters birthday and was told to arrive on time. All of her friends and I waited for 15 minutes until the gondola showed up and waited even longer for the gondola attendant to get our desserts. The weather was bad and it ended up raining so we had to sit under the bridge for 30 minutes to salvage anything left of the adventure. The desserts were OFFERED to us (which were cheap pieces of cheesecake from Walmart) and we ate while we had nothing else to do. Eventually the weather was so bad we left early and I contacted corporate for a refund. For an almost $300 gondola ride, I was only offered $160 in credit to reschedule. Although $30 or so of the $300 was used for online booking fees, the rest was solely for the ride. We were told our credit was so low because we ate the desserts that THEY OFFERED TO US. So desserts now cost $110? Scam! They refused to give our money back and have now snatched $300 from me and my sister had an awful birthday. The location was not cute and looked sketchy. Save yourself the trouble and book in Rockwall!

Best experience I've had. This was our first time and it went very smooth. Our host was Woody, who would at random sing and made the experience more enjoyable. We took our ride and enjoyed the sights and felt like we had left the country! I will do this again for sure. Very romantic and beautiful music for the atmosphere.

I had planned a surprise and everything went perfectly! Wonderful experience

Tom made our ride a romantic and amazing experience.

Well worth the money! We had an excellent time! Gondola John is the best! He even sings to you. We will be back with friends soon!!

This was the most fun and romantic event in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. We had the three course dinner package with an hour and a half ride on the gondola. I was worried because my fiance gets sea sick but this was no problem on these boats. The scenery was beautiful, especially at sunset! Now my fiance has a wonderful story of how I asked her to marry me. We will cherish the memory for our lifetime and definitely do it again. Would not have been the same if it weren't for our Gondalier named Tyson. He sang italian love songs and it just really capped off the entire experience.

I dont think this has enough room for me to describe how a mazing and romantic this was. My wife planned this because we needed a night to ourselves. I love the las colinas area and it was the perfect night. Right temp right breeze and right host. Woody was singing and driving and literally put on a concert on the water. I figured we'd spin around a small portion and back in after 20 mins or so. This was a full hour and it was perfect. We witnessed a guy propose to an extremely happy lady on the shore. We had great conversation and couldnt wait to get back to our room. Well definitely be doing this again.

My family member set this up for my birthday which was destroyed in light of the rain. I figured it would have been as straightforward as the organization giving a credit and afterward releasing us on the ride on a different day. In any case, that did not occur. These hoodlums deducted $100 from the credit and gave us the staying despite the fact that this was not our blame. At the point when my sister completed a chargeback, they lied and said that they went ahead time. They came 30 minutes late! They could have in any event given my sister a full credit back or discount yet they didn't. Run with another organization for Gondola rides in such a case that things like terrible climate occur, they will STEAL your cash. I don't prescribe! They even had us go on the watercraft when there was thunder and helping which is against their approach! Be careful!

Brandon is the best!! Loved this ride, what a great surprise from my husband!

The Gondola Adventure organization offers water trikes, pedal boats and paddle boards... on their website and others stating "first come, first serve." With the heavy construction on Las Colinas Blvd, we called to find out where to park since street parking was not an option. The first representative we spoke to did not know her head from a hole in the ground. Could not tell me the address to park, where the hut was to rent... apparently her first day on earth as customer service skill set was not present either. Once she transferred me to a number that only led to a voice mail... I called back and got a slightly better representative. She was able to tell us that parking was allowed at the Omni hotel garage to walk along the sidewalk and down on the canal was the hut. Once we park and get to the canal (got past the sewer smell too) the hut was closed... like a school building in the summer. No-one for miles. So, to say it was a cluster F, with the construction and poor customer service was the best we could say. ~This was supposed to be "the" event for my birthday. Thanks, Gondola Adventures.

I highly highly highly recommend this place for a proposal, romantic evening, or just a night out. I had made reservations for the sunset cruise on a Wednesday to propose to my girlfriend. Our gondolier was super nice and friendly and made sure we had the best time! Everything was setup perfectly and the gondola ride itself was very relaxing and romantic. It was a perfect night. Thank you to Gondola Adventures and our gondolier for making this a very special evening!

Moderately expensive but worth the money, staff was extremely nice and accommodating. Our gondolier had an amazing voice! Really loved it. Definitely going to do it again.

What a wonderful experience! Totally surprised my wife and she loved it! Also, our gondolier, Tyson, was a FANTASTIC guide and even sang some beautiful tunes for us! I highly recommend asking for him!

Our gondolier was a little late, but i understand things happen. This was one of the best experiences ever! It was so relaxing and Beautiful view. Ted was such a great singer and also a wonderful man! I Recommend Ted, he's the best!

A great romantic experience which gives you the Venice feel right in the middle of DFW area. We went there for our anniversary which comes in December, so it was chilly and a bit windy. But that adds to the charm of it. We were provided with blankets, some hot cocoa and chocolate!

Our gondolier was woody who was amazing and boy he could sing!

Our guide was Tyson, and he is without a doubt the best. Great singing voice, great sense of humor, just great everything. Fantastic job!!! Fantastic tour!!! Everything was perfect!!! Worth every dollar, we will be going again!!!! Thank you again Tyson, you made a great night perfect!

Motorized, but quiet tour along the canals and both sides of Lake Carolyn. A half hour before sunset is perfect. Chocolates, sparkling cider, a mini waterfall and photo ops. Pick a night with a breeze and you're set. Very romantic after dinner & drinks at Trevi's. Pickup at Omni Mandalay Bay.

Celebrated my anniversary and it was a romantic ride. Great godolier, sang Italian romantic music! ! Loved it.

Joe took us on our gondola cruise and let me just say he was fantastic. Not only is he knowledgeable about the area and the history of the gondolas, but he also has a fantastic voice. I closed my eyes as he sang and played his instrument. The whole experience was one and only.

Romantic experience. Would recommend the sunset time slot if available. Request Nowell, she is a great singer and host.

Perfect. Couldn't ask for more perfect way to celebrate our anniversary. Our gondolier sang beautifully and the weather couldn't have been any better.

Second time coming and we love it! Service is amazing and the tour so relaxing!

We went on the dessert ride for our 1 year anniversary. It was absolutely amazing!! Our Gondelier was Jimmy and I'm just going to say... I don't know if they do request for a specific person, but if they do, you HAVE to request him! This dude can sing! The ride was perfect, not to chilly, but Jimmy is what made it all the more romantic! Overly pleased with this and we will definitely be coming back!

My first gondola experience, great for groups that want special outing. Management and staff very customer centric. Provide rides, catering any time of day, paddleboards and dragon boats for the more active and adventurous.

From setting everything up till the end of the tour .... it was just great ! Thank you!

We walked up to this location and walked down to the dock only to be met by a rude employee /owner. We just wanted to get information on doing a ride but after having this brief encounter with the owner, decided to bail because someone like that doesn't deserve our money.

The driver was drunk (drinking right in front of us) and kept repeating himself. Otherwise it was cool.

Please DO NOT BOOK this unless YOU are totally sure the weather will be okay. The Gondola Adventures canceled on us because of the weather and they do not want to Refund us the money. We are from out of town and flying out tomorrow. DO NOT BOOK this unless everything is perfect.

Fabulous experience! Tom, our gondolier, was great and sang beautifully. The sparkling cider and chocolates were a nice touch.

Only giving 1 star because 0 isn't an option. We walked down the path and towards the dock, and were immediately verbally assaulted and threatened. We were told very aggressively by the extremely rude owner that gondola rides are only by appointment. He yelled at us so we left immediately.

Experience was amazing. The gondalier Joe was very friendly and sang as we cruised. His voice is great! Perfect date night!

Ride is new and area is new as well. When this whole area is finished this gondola ride will be primed for romantic nights and fun days. Our driver was too cool. Thanks for the great visit.

It was the best experience! We had an amazing time. I highly recommend them! And best customer service.

My now husband proposed to me on this gondola ride. It was at sunset and it was the most adorable thing ever. If you re looking for a place to propose, here it is. Its been a while so i don t remember which driver we had, but he sang for us and it was amazing. He actually sang one of my favorite love songs by mere coincidence (i asked after if he requested the song but he didnt)

Great experience and Woody was an excellent gondolier.

It was awesome. I surprised my wife with this & a bottle message, she cried like a baby. Fellas ya'll have to bring the love of your life at least once & request Jimmy as your gondolier. Trust me you want regret it

This was a very laid back and relaxing experience. I would recommend to anyone visiting the area to take a ride. Romantic but also good for groups.

Amazing experience! Gandaller was awesome, beautiful singing! Perfect date night! And recommend the personal message in a bottle fellas! Heart felt message is the way to do it!

Beautiful area around the entrance to Gondola Adventure

Really enjoyed our gondola ride with Jimmy! Perfect date night idea.

While sitting on a small dock behind our hotel, a gondola was passing with a couple. The gondolier yelled across the canal to us, " Excuse, me, but I'm going to have to ask you to get off the dock. It does not belong to the hotel. It is private property." My husband and I were trying to make sense of the situation as we did not know we were not on hotel property. We said okay and started to put on our shoes to leave. The gondolier started screaming at us to move, yelling that we were TRESPASSING and to "get off of that dock NOW!" I yelled back to give us time. This exchange took place in less than 30 seconds. He was extremely rude. I felt sorry for the couple on the gondola ride. This company needs to put signage on the dock stating about private property and add a chain to block the entrance to the dock. It would also help to train their gondoliers how to handle situations like that more professionally.

FANTASTIC service, unique idea for date/anniversary.

Also a beautiful area to walk around!

My husband and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary today. We ended the night with a great gondola experience. Our gondolier was Jimmie. His voice was simply angelic. He sung songs that made the night even more special. I would recommend this a 100 times over. You owe it to yourself or your significant other to come and and experience a gondolier adventure.

Their website booking system doesn t accurately reflect availability, so things it shows as available times are not actually open. If it says call to book that means not available but they prefer to tell you over the phone.

Very nice and romantic, the message in the bottle was a pleasant surprise! It's a date to remember

I'm here to tell you that if you have never been on a gondola ride...you must try Gondola Adventures!!! Ask for Tom...he's the best!!!

Since we did not actually do the Gondola Experience and we only walked down and around the lake area I felt it would be unfair to give them a low star rating. On the other hand the dock area was in need of some updating/repairs the boats themselves were nothing really special and could've used some work also. The lake wasn't bad but it wasn't very special either. Also I recommend doing what we did which was to go check it out before purchasing a package. I would have been extremely disappointed had we purchased an outing prior to visiting the lake (which we almost did). You should look into renting a boat at Lake Ray Hubbard instead. Nothing we saw there was really bad or concerning but what we saw was not in line with what they charge in my opinion.

Very beautiful setting. Excellent romantic adventure.

The best valentine's day present ever! Conner was amazing!

While visiting the Omni Hotel my boyfriend and I saw the boat rides and waited to inquire about it. We stopped the First Lady by a red pier to ask about how much a boat ride was and she rudely threw up her hand and stated I don t have time for that right now and turned around on us!! We later saw a second boat with a guy steering and tried inquiring again and he rudely and shortly stayed gondola.com and turned around. These people obviously hate their jobs and don t want business. After that I wouldn t pay this company my money if they paid me to!! Butts!

Loved it! This is how I proposed and I wouldn't have changed it! The website was a little hard to navigate around with all the information, but not impossible. It gave me an idea for what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do things. I called the number and the lady who helped me was so informative. We talked through how long I wanted the ride to be, to what kind of gondola I wanted to ride on. We even discussed what time I wanted it, because in May Texas is HOT! I didn't want the ride to be earlier in the afternoon, but I didn't want it at night because I had hired a professional photographer to follow us!(The photographer is partnered with Gondola Adventures) I chose a dessert ride, on the classic man paddled gondola. We were able to bring our own champagne along, and they provided a bucket with ice! The gondola driver kept up conversation and was very informative of the area and the business, but he was never interrupting or over talkative. They even had a option to put a customized message in a bottle, for a surprise! 10/10 loved the experience! As did my now fiancee! The only thing that maybe would have made me rate it lower would be the restaurant that you go through to exit the back to get to the gondola dock. It wasn't the nicest lol but other than that, it was great.