Bay Tours

Two adults and upto three children.
OAPS, Students, Disabled people and Care Workers assisting other passengers.
Yes you can for Bay Tours as our boat Marianne has portable ramps that the crew can quickly set up for you.
For Bay Tours the boarding point is Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay or the Cardiff Barrage South landing stage which is on the Penarth side of the bay.

MERMAID QUAY BOAT LANDING

BARRAGE SOUTH BOAT LANDING AT PENARTH

Cardiff Bay is a typically calm and relaxing waterways, our boats are stable and unlikely to trouble you.
Certainly, provided they do not disturb other passengers and are kept on a lead.
No more than 15 minutes before the advertised time you have booked, but ensure you are early on busy days as we cannot allocate or reserve seats.
Sorry but we do not take deposits, we take full payment in advance using this website. Once full payment is made, you will receive notification of this & full details regarding your booking.
For daytime boat trips we sail between March – October, but our party boats are available for hire all year round.
The weather is our friend because it is what makes every cruise unique but, unfortunately, we cannot control it (no matter how hard we try!). This means sometimes, the Captain will cancel a cruise because the weather conditions are not safe to sail in. Our captains are all highly experienced and know if the weather conditions are safe to sail in. We are not allowed to question a captain’s judgment. This could be seen as pressurizing them to sail which could compromise safety. Our captains put your safety first at all time. When cancelling a cruise, either on the cruise line beforehand or occasionally on site, the captain will usually try to offer some explanation as to why. Our captains make their decision to sail based on the most relevant and up to date forecast available just before they set their cruise line message. Sometimes the actual conditions may be different to what was forecasted. There are also different forecasts and they can be interpreted in different ways. So, like all weather people, we do occasionally make mistakes but unfortunately we can only go by what the forecaster says and some forecasters are better than others. We can tell you some of the general reasons why a captain may cancel a cruise:
The wind at ground or gradient level, or the gust speed might have been too strong and outside operational limits. Heavy rain may have been forecasted in the area. We cannot sail in heavy rain as it means there will be poor visibility and it also makes the ship harder to manoeuvre. Thunderstorms or CB (Cumuli Nimbus) clouds may have been forecasted. These are dangerous and we would not sail in these conditions. If yours was a morning cruise, the visibility early in the morning during our cruise period could have been poorer than later in the day.
Our captain’s decision whether to sail is not related to what other sailors decide. Our captains consider all the weather factors and make their own decision, always putting your safety first. The other boats could have had better shelter where they are sailing and may not be going out to sea. It might be a private boat and they can legally sail in much poorer conditions than boats on public transport licences like ours. Private boat are also generally a lot smaller and therefore easier to handle.
Don’t worry, if your cruise is cancelled because of the weather or related factors, you can just book onto another date. Plus, if you have a cancellation near the end of your voucher validity period we will extend it free of charge, at our discretion, so you have another opportunity to sail.
Our Bay Tour cruises are non-refundable final sale, and you have up to 48 hours prior to the cruise to reschedule or receive a gift card. We do not compensate for any late arrivals or no-shows to a cruise.

Flatholm

OAPS, Students, Disabled people and Care Workers assisting other passengers.
Yes you can for Bay Tours as our boat Marianne has portable ramps that the crew can quickly set up for you, but for trips to Flatholm Island there are steps that must be overcome and you a person not able bodied must be able to take care of themselves in an emergency.
Barrage South Boat Landing, which is on the Penarth Side of Cardiff Bay. The postcode is CF64 1TQ.
This boat trip does involve sailing out into the Bristol Channel amongst the waves, if you have a light stomach this may not be the trip for you.
We allow dogs onboard our boats, however dogs are not allowed onto Flatholm Island.
Our cruises are non-refundable final sale, We do not offer transfer or refunds within 7 days of sailing to the island. Prior to this you may reschedule or receive a gift card. We do not compensate for any late arrivals or no-shows to a cruise.

Afternoon Tea

We have options for gluten free, vegetarian and vegans. Any other dietary requirements we try our best but often cannot due to our limited catering facilities.
Sorry this is not possible at this time, there is however a bar onboard.
We do not provide refunds or allow change of dates within 7 days of the event date for this service.
Lower Boardwalk, Mermaid Quay, CF10 5BZ https://w3w.co/human.tune.they
Possibly as we have limited small tables (9 tables for 2 people, 6 tables that can seat 6-8 people), we do what we can but on busy days you may be sat on a table shared with others.
YES, please email us in advance and let us know the names of the bookings so we can seat you together.
We do not cater for children and this service is orientated towards adults, we do not have any objection to children coming along but would prefer they did not.
You certainly can! We offer this service on Tuesdays and Thursdays to private groups provided there is a minimum of 20, the boat capacity is 50 but we reduce this to make some extra space for individual bookings.

Parties

Since 2020 we changed to card payments only and no longer take cash for any transactions.
Prices and what is included depend on the time of year, our calendar has dates that are available or if you would like the boat to yourself check out the Private Charter details.
Drink prices are subject to change, but our recent published prices can be found here.
Our mixed parties are for over 21s only. Private hire parties are for any ages provided a responsible adult is onboard.
All drinks are charged at the bar (card payment only), no drinks are allowed to be brought onboard. You’ll need to arrange your own transport and somewhere to sleep if remaining in Cardiff. Given the unpredictable weather patterns the UK experiences we always recommend bringing a coat or jacket. Also, be at the departure point on time and get ready for a party to remember!!!
Sorry but we do not take deposits, we take full payment in advance using this website and are unable to accept bookings on the day.
To help with your fundraising we offer a standard 10% discount on boat hire provided it is on a weeknight (usually a Friday), please take a look at our private charter page for more information before contacting us. This discount does not apply to student discounted charters.
Vegetarians receive a Quorn hot dog in place of a BBQ item – make sure you pre-order these, and our muffins are suitable for vegetarians.
Unfortunately we are not a big enough business to cater for individual diets and catering for one person is not something we can do.
By Law, we have to give time for ‘drinking up’, in order for us to comply with these regulations, last orders announcement is 30 minutes towards the end, the bar will CLOSE 20 minutes before the end and the music will finish 10 minutes before the end of your trip, leaving 10 minutes for you all to find your things and head to the after-party.
Discount is available for private bookings. Details can be found here on our Private Charter page
Oh-no! not to worry we can do this for you, but because it has to be done manually it incurs a £10 fee, please send us an email and we will take care of this for you.
Yes, however an administration fee of £10 will be deducted, if the value of the transaction to be refunded is over £100 then there is also a charge of 10%. Within a 60 day period before the cruise a refund will not be possible. In order to process the refund we need an email confirming the date and number of places to refund from the person who made the original booking to be sent to accounts@cardiffcruises.com.
Mixed parties depart from the Lower Boardwalk, Mermaid Quays. For private charters it is possible to embark at Taffs Mead Embankment, Penarth/Barrage South and Pier 64 subject to prior arrangement and approval from the Harbour Authority.
Under 18s (including toddlers and babies) are only allowed onboard if it is a private party, not for mixed parties listed on our website.
During 2009 only 3 cruises were cancelled. The first was due to there being less than 9 people onboard (its a large boat to fill with only a handful of people onboard), the other two were due to the extremely high winds we experienced during November 2009 where it was decided that for passenger comfort and safety we should not sail. In all of these circumstances an alternative date was offered not a full refund or booking fees.
Party / dance / dance floor / current chart / sing-along. We have music onboard with a vast selection of tunes and requests can be made on the night, if you have any specific tunes please bring a USB stick with your music on and we will happily play them.
Every cruise lasts for 3 hours
ID is required by everyone. You will need to make arrangements for transport to and from Cardiff City centre. Please also bring the good times!
We do have 2 plasma screens which are used to show the rugby and are available to be used when our vessel is hired exclusively. The screens are connected to our computer allowing you to use powerpoint (version 2003) or play a home movie.
You can, but only on the Top Deck of the boat which is open to the elements.
That’s no problem as long as you don’t mind sharing with other like-minded people on a mixed party.
All our vessels comply fully with the appropriate safety regulations and licenses as set out by Cardiff Harbour Authority, The Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and of course our staff have training in Fire Safety and First Aid.
Sure, no problem at all, it will be sent when full payment has been made.
To confirm the booking we have to pay costs upfront too, book early to avoid disappointment.
We no longer post out tickets, we operate a guest list for each night, don’t forget to bring your booking confirmation with you!
We accept most major credit cards (using this website only) and BACS transfers (for transactions of £700 or more).