Amsterdam canal dinner cruise prices, and what each one buys
Three of the four dinner cruises on this site charge per person, from ~$39 for a pizza boat to ~$134 for three courses on a saloon boat. The fourth is priced for a whole private boat. Below, all four sit in one table, followed by the costs the headline figure leaves out.
Four dinner cruises in one table
The table shows the regular "from" price on each cruise's main listing. All four sail the canals of Amsterdam after dark for part of the year, yet the food, the drinks and the size of the boat change a lot between them.
| Cruise | From | Length | Food | Drinks | Boarding point | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOVERS, 4-course dinner (our pick) | ~$99 per person | 2 h | Four courses, meat, fish or vegetarian | Unlimited beer and wine, plus soft drinks | LOVERS café, Prins Hendrikkade 25 | 4.4 from 1,800+ (GetYourGuide) |
| Rederij Aemstelland, 3-course saloon dinner | ~$134 per person | 2 h 15 min | Small bites, then three courses from Le Hollandais | One Prosecco, then bought on board | Zwanenburgwal 20 | 4.7 from 300+ (GetYourGuide) |
| Stromma, pizza dinner cruise | ~$39 per person | 1.5 h | One New York Pizza each, nuts | Unlimited wine and beer, plus soft drinks | Damrak Pier 4 (Damrak 22) | 4.5 from 3,100+ (GetYourGuide) |
| Boat Boys, private dinner cruise | ~$432 for the boat | 2 h (GetYourGuide also 3 h) | Two courses à la carte from a restaurant you pick | Differs between the two listings | Oosterdokskade 8 | 5.0 from 73 (Viator) |
The gap between the pizza boat and the saloon boat looks huge, but they are not the same evening. One is a 90-minute supper with refills, the other a slow restaurant dinner where every glass after the first goes on a tab.
Same cruise, two prices
GetYourGuide and Viator set their own figures for the same boat. The LOVERS cruise is ~$99 on GetYourGuide and a little more on Viator, and the pizza cruise follows the same pattern.
Aemstelland and Stromma often show a reduced "from" price on GetYourGuide beside a higher struck-through one. Those discounts come and go without warning, so open both sites for your date before you pay.
What ~$99 buys on our pick
The LOVERS cruise at ~$99 is our pick because one fare covers nearly the whole evening. Four courses and the captain's commentary are in the price, with beer and wine poured freely for 2 hours from opposite Centraal Station.
It is sold as Tours & Tickets on both sites and rates 4.4 from 1,800+ reviews on GetYourGuide, 4.2 from 500+ on Viator. The weak spot is the boat itself, a big shared one with no promise of a window table.
Dinner and drinks for one fare
LOVERS' four-course canal cruise from Prins Hendrikkade, with beer and wine poured through dinner. You pick the meat, fish or vegetarian menu when you book.
Gratuities are optional and not included on the Viator listing. Some reviewers found their dishes lukewarm, which our guide to the menus covers course by course.
The real cost of an evening
The listed price is the whole bill on only two of the four cruises. LOVERS and Stromma pour drinks at no extra charge, so the fare is what you spend unless you leave a tip.
Aemstelland at ~$134 includes a welcome glass of Prosecco, and after that drinks are bought on board. Add a bottle of wine for two and the gap to LOVERS grows, as our drinks guide shows.
Reviewers on that boat asked for clearer drink prices, bottled water included. Ask for the list when you sit down, so the final figure holds no surprises.
Stromma's pizza cruise at ~$39 is the cheapest seat by a wide margin. You get one pizza, nuts and unlimited drinks over 1.5 hours, which suits a light supper better than a long dinner.
A boat price, split by heads
Boat Boys at ~$432 is a price for the whole private boat, Viator's base figure for the smallest group. Divide it by the number in your party to compare it with the per-person fares above.
The two listings disagree on drinks. Viator includes wine and beer, while GetYourGuide lists a welcome drink plus coffee or tea and water, with everything else from a paid minibar.
Read the inclusions on the listing you actually book. Our private or shared guide works through the sums for groups of different sizes.
Tips and the small print
Tipping rules differ by cruise and even by booking site. These are the lines we found on the listings, and they can change, so check the one you book.
- Gratuities are optional and not included on the LOVERS Viator listing
- Gratuities are included on the Boat Boys GetYourGuide listing
- Gratuities are included on the Stromma Viator listing
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the cruise on every listing we read
- No hotel pickup on any of the four, so add your tram or taxi
Getting to the dock costs little, since three of the four boarding points are a short walk from Centraal Station. Our page on where the boats board has the addresses.
Which price fits your evening
For a full dinner with drinks at a fixed cost, the LOVERS cruise is the safest sum. For a quieter table and the best scores of the shared boats, Aemstelland costs more once the wine is added.
Families and anyone on a budget do well on the pizza boat, as our page on cruising with children explains. Groups of six or more should price the private boat, and couples can weigh all three options in our dinner cruise for two.