My husband and I just returned from 2 weeks in Alaska. On the day we went on the Riverboat Discovery we were booked on a flight to the Arctic Circle. The weather was very rainy so it was cancelled. Needless to say we needed something to do so we went on the riverboat. We both just loved it. It was very informative. It was a great way to spend a rainy afternoon. We stopped at Susan Butcher's house - she had just passed away the weekend before - a fellow musher was there and we got to see all the dogs. The gift shop is very reasonably priced.

My husband and I with 2 teens took the Riverboat Discovery tour summer 2006. My first impression wasn't very good when they couldn't find our reservation. They sold us tickets anyway though. The trip starts and ends at a huge souvenier shop. Very commercial and touristy. Once the tour got underway, we started enjoying ourselves more. We took a seat on the very top deck which provided us with great views on both sides of the boat. The narrator was very informative. The best part of the trip was stopping at the mock Athabascan Village. There are several native displays and at each one, there were informative guides. My kids liked the dog sledding arena and getting to put the dogs the best. I must compliment the attentiveness of the boat staff. It started lightly raining while we were off the ship at the village. Within just a minute or two, the boat staff was onshore handing out free rain ponchos to everyone. When we got back onboard, we noticed that the jackets that we'd left in our seats had been covered with a plastic bag to keep them dry. Nice touch! So, although the tour overall was very commercial and touristy, we did learn a lot and we were treated well. Overall a good experience. Glad we used our Toursaver coupons otherwise I would have thought that it was a little too pricey.

I took the morning tour in the end of June. Although the boat was fully booked (900 people) the tour was great! The boat is very spacious, the views are good even if you don't get to sit by the window. Especially since they have a video system that broadcasts everything that is going on. The tour has numerous attractions besides enjoying nice views of the Chena and Tanana river banks. The narration gives an adequate mixture of history, sight explanation and modern facts of everyday life in Central Alaska. I was astonished at how well and quickly the crew managed to organize things from boarding to disembarkment. I could say this boat tour is a must for a tourist visiting Fairbanks and I strongly recommend it.

We four took the tour in July 2004. We expected it to be touristy but it was very nicely done. A variety of experiences from flying seaplanes, dog mushing, wedding of the waters, native fishwheels, recreation of a native village with smoked salmon hanging from the rafters, and native crafted parkas and beadwork. We throughly enjoyed the trip. The narration was expertly done and added to the experience. I would recommend this to anyone.