River City Star, Omaha Nebraska

My family loves to cruise, whether it be on the ocean or a river, we are all about a cruise! When I was browsing the internet looking for fun, family friendly activities I came across the River City Star river cruise. I immediately emailed them asking if they would like a little promotion on Making of a Mom and they agreed! Thank you so much for hosting my family.

We arrived 30 minutes early for our cruise. While waiting to board the boat we waited in the shade of this snack shack. There is a nice outdoor area around the gift shop of the River City Star. They have a large covered patio with tables and chairs and some other fun nautical decor.

We boarded the River City Star on a Sunday afternoon for an hour long sightseeing river cruise on the Missouri River. We tried to sit on the top deck but it was full so we headed downstairs to the inside cabin. Here there were tables and chairs and a snack bar. Be sure to bring cash so you can get a snack or a drink. We didn’t have any cash, but they will take a credit card- the only catch is they hold onto it until the cruise is over and they run it through at the gift shop. Also if you go on a warm summer day like we did it is very warm inside the boat. They have fans blowing to help with the heat.

On board with us was a park ranger. As the cruise commenced she began talking about Lewis and Clark and some of the history of the area. We were sitting down below and couldn’t really understand her whole talk. I had to sit at one of the tables for a few minutes to feed my baby so my husband went and stood by the back doors and he was able to understand what she was saying. After being in the inside cabin for about 20 minutes the kids wanted to explore so we stood outside on the bow of the ship for a while and then headed back to the top deck.

We passed some interesting things on our journey. This “park” houses old military items. Since I didn’t hear the park ranger I don’t know the full story, but I later did ask if you could visit that park and the ranger said it was closed due to the flood a couple years prior.

This old railroad bridge is no longer in service but they decided to keep it there as a backup in case anything ever happens to the main railroad bridge. It is really neat looking. Even though it is a rusty old bridge, it is beautiful. It swings to allow larger boats to get through the river.

After we reached the swinging bridge we turned around and started heading south. This is the pedestrian bridge to Iowa. We had just walked over this bridge the night before so it was a lot of fun for the kids to be going under it. Baby photo bomb! My family had so much fun on this excursion. It was the perfect Sunday afternoon activity. The staff was very friendly and helpful. We had an unfortunate event with my baby’s hat, but they were nice and retrieved it for us. River City Star also offers dinner cruises as well. Check their website for a calendar of events and prices. Also for other ideas of Omaha activities be sure to read about our trips to the Omaha Children’s Museum, The Durham Museum, Lauritzen Gardens and the Henry Doorly Zoo.