Dinner, brunch or sightseeing cruise?

Three ways to use the same river

The Yarra is sold on GetYourGuide in three formats by the same operator, Melbourne River Cruises: a four-course dinner cruise, a two-hour bottomless brunch cruise and a two-hour city highlights cruise. All three start at Southgate on the Southbank bank, and all three run on the same stretch of river, but they ask different things of you. The dinner is a long seated evening, the brunch is a daytime party with food, and the highlights cruise is a trip for people who want to be told what they are seeing. The tickets also differ in cancellation: the dinner and brunch tickets allow free cancellation up to three days before, and the highlights ticket up to 24 hours before.

The dinner cruise

The dinner cruise lasts three hours. It serves a tasting platter, a main course, a dessert platter and a cheese platter, then coffee or tea, with wine, beer, spirits, soft drinks and orange juice included. The boat is fully enclosed, guests must be 18 or over, and the cruise is not wheelchair accessible. The main course is chosen when you book. It boards at Berth 1 at Southgate, at the rear of the Langham Hotel, and the booking calendar shows the starting times for each date. Reviewers describe it as relaxing and praise the meals.

The brunch cruise

The bottomless brunch cruise lasts two hours and offers a bottomless selection of beer, wine and Prosecco mimosas, a range of sweet and savoury food, and tea and coffee. The ticket describes views of the city and the vessel's glass viewing areas, and it checks guests in at Berth 1 at Southgate. Reviewers praise the attentive staff, the drink top-ups and the food, and some say clearer menu details would help set expectations. It suits a daytime outing where the drinks, not the sights, are the point. Because it is a daytime cruise, the city is seen in daylight.

The city highlights cruise

The city highlights cruise lasts two hours and travels both downstream and upstream with GPS-triggered audio commentary in English. The ticket names Docklands, the Crown Entertainment Complex, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Polly Woodside, Southgate, Princes Bridge, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Olympic Park, Herring Island and the Royal Botanic Gardens. Tea and coffee are included, and other drinks and snacks can be bought. It boards at Berth 2 at Southgate. The ticket says the cruise may pause between the two tours and may require switching boats, and that the downriver leg depends on the tide, with an upriver-only cruise and a partial refund if river levels do not allow it.

Which to choose

Match the cruise to the day you have in mind, because the three are not interchangeable. The dinner cruise gives the lit-up city and a full meal, the brunch cruise gives a long daytime drink, and the highlights cruise gives the most information about the river. If you can only do one and it is your first time in Melbourne, the highlights cruise tells you most about the river, and the dinner cruise gives you the evening.

• Dinner: an evening meal and the lit-up city, guests 18 and over
• Brunch: two daytime hours with food and unlimited drinks
• Highlights: commentary, both directions on the river, the widest range of sights

What the three share

All three start from the Southgate landing, are run by the same company on the same stretch of river, so the first rule is the same for each: check the berth on your confirmation, because the dinner cruise and the highlights cruise do not board at the same one. Peak-season pricing surcharges apply on various dates between November and January on the dinner and brunch tickets. Free cancellation windows differ, so read the one on the ticket you choose. The brunch ticket and the dinner ticket both carry the peak-season note, and the highlights ticket carries a note about tidal conditions instead.

Booking the right ticket

Each cruise is a separate GetYourGuide ticket with its own calendar, so compare them side by side before you pay. On the dinner ticket you choose your main course at booking. On the brunch ticket the bottomless drinks and food are part of the price. On the highlights ticket the commentary is in English. Choose the ticket whose terms you can meet: the age rule, the berth and the date all matter. Each booking page lists the departure hours for your date.