What to Expect on a 1000 Islands Cruise
Boarding, onboard facilities, dress code, and accessibility for a Kingston 1000 Islands cruise — what a first-timer should know before departure.
Booking a 1000 Islands cruise is straightforward, but the logistics of the day itself — where to actually pick up your ticket, what’s on board, what to wear — vary more than you’d expect between operators. Here’s what a first-time visitor should know before showing up at the dock.
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Before you board: exchanging your voucher
Most cruises booked online require you to exchange your voucher for a physical ticket before boarding — you don’t just walk up and scan a phone at the gangway. Kingston’s cruises, for example, require picking up tickets at the ticket office at 1 Brock Street (or the Waterfront Gifts & Apparel storefront at 248 Ontario Street) before joining the boarding line at Crawford Wharf dock next door. Operators generally ask you to arrive 30 minutes before departure to allow time for this exchange plus boarding — cutting it closer risks missing the sailing, since these are scheduled departures, not on-demand.
Parking is a separate consideration at every port. Kingston’s downtown dock has no dockside parking — nearby options like the Hanson Memorial Parking Garage are the standard recommendation. Gananoque and Ivy Lea both have on-site parking (paid at Gananoque, free at Ivy Lea, though Ivy Lea’s free lot can fill during peak times).
Onboard: food, drinks, and washrooms
What’s included varies significantly by cruise type, so it’s worth checking before you assume:
| Cruise type | Food included? | Bar/snacks |
|---|---|---|
| 1-hour sightseeing (Gananoque/Ivy Lea) | No | Cash bar and snacks available for purchase on most routes |
| 3-hour sightseeing (Kingston) | No | Full-service canteen and bar onboard |
| Lunch or Brunch Cruise (Kingston) | Yes — appetizer, entrée, dessert | Bar available at extra cost |
| Sunset Dinner Cruise (Kingston) | Yes — 3-course meal, choice of 4 entrées | Full bar at extra cost |
| 5-hour Gananoque cruise | No (though Boldt Castle grounds have a restaurant) | Onboard snack bar; restaurant/gift shop/washrooms at the Gananoque port |
Washrooms are available on the main deck of every cruise in this comparison. On multi-deck vessels like Kingston’s Island Queen, dining seating on the upper deck can require climbing a flight of stairs, so if mobility is a concern, confirm with the operator when booking.
Outside food and drink policies also differ — Ivy Lea’s cruises explicitly don’t permit outside food or beverages, while the meal-included Kingston cruises obviously build the food into the ticket. When unsure, plan to buy from the onboard bar rather than pack your own.
What to wear
There’s no dress code on any of these cruises — casual, comfortable clothing is the norm. A few practical notes apply across the board: decks are open to the water, so bring a layer even in summer (river breezes run cooler than inland temperatures), and if you’re on a sunset or evening cruise, the temperature drop after dark is more noticeable than during a daytime sailing. Sunglasses and sunscreen matter more than most visitors expect — reflected light off the water is intense on a clear day.
Accessibility
The main or first deck is wheelchair accessible on every cruise covered here, though the specifics vary — Kingston’s Island Queen has an 88 cm-wide boarding gangway but a washroom that isn’t fully accessible on the first deck; other vessels describe themselves as “fully accessible” on the main deck without further detail. If wheelchair access or assistance is a requirement, the safest approach is to flag it directly with the operator at the time of booking rather than assuming based on a general accessibility statement.
Cancellation and rebooking
Most cruises in this comparison offer free cancellation, typically up to 24 hours before departure — worth checking on the specific listing, since it varies. A few of the Kingston cruises (lunch, sunset dinner) note that tickets are “final sale and non-refundable” once booked, so it’s worth reading the specific cancellation terms for your chosen cruise rather than assuming the policy is identical across all of them.
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See the full comparison of Kingston 1000 Islands cruises — including which ones include a meal, which require a passport, and current availability — before you choose.
See the Thousand Islands From the Water
Join 5,300+ travelers who rated this cruise 4.5/5. Narrated sightseeing through the Admiralty Islands, past Boldt Castle and Millionaires' Row — free cancellation included.
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