Private Dinner Cruise St. Petersburg, FL
A private dinner cruise in St. Petersburg costs $2,000 on weeknights or $2,400 Friday through Sunday for four hours aboard our 52ft Marquis Flybridge, with dinner added at restaurant cost. One table, up to 13 guests, timed to the sunset.
One Table, No Strangers
The big dinner boats that run out of the bay area seat a few hundred people at once, on a fixed schedule, with a buffet or a set menu chosen for the whole ship. That is a fine night out. It is not a private one. Dinner on Deck is the other version: the entire yacht is yours, the only people aboard are the ones you invited, and the food is whatever you ordered.
Captain Josh Wilson runs the boat while you eat. There is no dining room, because the dining room is the flybridge with the Skyway on one side and the downtown skyline on the other. Music is yours to pick, the bar is whatever you carried aboard, and the route bends around your evening rather than the other way round.
How a Dinner Cruise Night Unfolds
Dinner on Deck is the Golden Hour Sunset Cruise with a meal built into it, so the timing runs backward from sunset. Here is a typical four-hour evening in October, when the sun goes down a little after 7 pm.
4:30 pm: Boarding at Maximo Marina
You arrive at 38th Way S, on the southern edge of St. Petersburg near the Skyway approach. The crew has already brought your dinner order aboard and stowed it, cold items in the galley fridge and anything hot in insulated carriers. Your drinks go into the coolers we ice down before you arrive. Any glass gets poured into plastic at the dock, a Coast Guard rule we follow on every trip.
4:45 pm: Casting Off Toward the Skyway
The first stretch is a slow run south past Fort De Soto with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge growing in front of you. Most groups spend this hour on the bow or the flybridge with a first drink, and this is when the dolphins usually show up in the wake. If someone wants a specific photo spot, tell the captain now.
6:00 pm: Anchoring for the Show
About an hour before sunset we pick an anchorage with a clear western horizon, usually inside the mouth of the bay where the water stays flat. The engines go quiet. This is when dinner comes up to the flybridge table, plated and served by the crew while the light turns gold and then orange over the Gulf.
7:10 pm: Sunset
Nobody is checking a watch. The captain keeps the bow pointed so the whole table has the view, and you eat through the last of the light. Proposals, anniversary toasts and birthday speeches all tend to land in this half hour, which is why we ask about them beforehand so the crew knows when to step away or when to have a phone ready.
7:45 pm: The Lights Run Home
After dark the run back is a different cruise. The Skyway cables light up, downtown St. Pete glows across the water, and the salon becomes the place for dessert and a last round. We tie up at Maximo around 8:30 pm, four hours after you stepped aboard.
How Restaurant Pickup Works
We are not a floating restaurant and do not pretend to be one. Instead, when you book Dinner on Deck we send you a short list of St. Pete restaurants we recommend, places whose food travels well and whose kitchens are used to timing a large order for pickup. You choose the restaurant, build your own menu, and pay them directly at their normal menu prices. There is no markup from us and no per-head catering fee.
Tell us the pickup time the restaurant gives you and we take it from there. The order is collected and brought dockside before your boarding time, so when you walk down the pier the galley is already loaded. Our crew plates and serves on the flybridge table at the moment you choose, normally just as we drop anchor for the sunset. Plates, drinkware in plastic, ice, napkins and cooler space are all covered by the charter.
Groups usually go one of three ways: a family-style spread of shareable dishes, a per-person plated order where each guest has picked their own main, or a raw bar and charcuterie run that keeps the table grazing across the whole cruise. Dessert and a birthday cake can be added to the same order or brought separately.
Everything drinkable is BYOB with no corkage. Bring the wine you actually want to drink; just know that bottles are transferred out of glass at the dock. If you would rather hand the whole evening to us, mention it on the booking form and we will arrange the restaurant order on your behalf and add it to your invoice at cost.
Dinner Cruise Price Per Couple and Per Group
The charter is a flat price for the yacht, not a ticket. The math gets kinder as the table gets bigger.
| Party | Mon-Thu charter | Per person | Fri-Sun charter | Per person |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A couple | $2,000 | $1,000 | $2,400 | $1,200 |
| Four guests | $2,000 | $500 | $2,400 | $600 |
| Group of eight | $2,000 | $250 | $2,400 | $300 |
| Full table of 13 | $2,000 | $154 | $2,400 | $185 |
Add your restaurant bill on top, whatever it comes to, and a captain gratuity of 10 to 15 percent of the charter price if the crew earned it; on a weeknight that is $200 to $300. A group of eight on a Wednesday therefore lands at roughly $250 a head for the yacht plus dinner at cost, which is close to what a private room downtown charges before anyone has seen the water.
Want a longer night? The cruise is built on the four-hour minimum, and extra hours are billed at the standard rate of $500 Mon-Thu or $600 Fri-Sun. Full hourly rates and every signature charter are on the pricing page.
Pick the Right Dining Room
Most dinner cruises run on our 52ft Marquis Flybridge: three decks, a 1,200 square foot climate-controlled cabin for when the evening turns humid, and an open flybridge that seats the full party of 13 around one view. It is the right boat for a birthday table, a client dinner or an anniversary with the kids and grandparents along.
For a dinner for two, or a dinner that turns into a night aboard, ask about Sly Fox, the second yacht in our St. Petersburg fleet. She charters at $650 an hour Mon-Thu and $750 Fri-Sun with the same four-hour minimum, sleeps six across three private staterooms, and can anchor out overnight so the cruise home happens after breakfast instead.
Booking, Deposits and Weather
A 50 percent deposit holds your evening, and the balance is due seven days before departure. Sunset dinner slots on Fridays and Saturdays are the first to go from March through October, so two to four weeks of notice is sensible; a Tuesday in January can often be booked the same week.
If a named storm is forecast within 72 hours of your date, you pick any open future date and your booking stays valid for 12 months, with no fee. Ordinary summer thunderstorms are handled on the day: the captain reads the radar and will shift departure earlier or later to get you a dry sunset whenever the forecast allows.
Dinner on Deck departs only from St. Petersburg. If you are weighing it against the other things you can do from our dock, the St. Petersburg yacht charter page covers the daytime routes, and our guides on date night on the water and planning a yacht proposal walk through the two most common reasons people book this cruise.
Common Questions
How much is a private dinner cruise in St. Petersburg?
Dinner on Deck is $2,000 Monday to Thursday and $2,400 Friday to Sunday for four hours on the 52ft Marquis Flybridge, with captain, crew, fuel and ice included. Dinner is ordered from a St. Pete restaurant we recommend and paid at the restaurant's normal menu prices, with no markup. A 10 to 15 percent captain gratuity is customary.
Is the food cooked on the yacht?
No. The yacht has a galley for keeping things cold and hot, but the meal itself comes from a local restaurant. You pick the restaurant from our list, order the dishes you want, and the food is brought dockside before boarding. Our crew plates and serves it on the flybridge when we anchor for sunset.
How many people can join a dinner cruise?
Up to 13 guests on the Marquis, all at one table on the flybridge. Two people can book the whole yacht for the same price. For an intimate dinner that becomes an overnight, Sly Fox sleeps six across three staterooms at $650 an hour weekdays and $750 weekends.
Can we bring our own wine?
Yes. Every charter is BYOB with no corkage fee. Bring wine, beer, cocktails or champagne; the only rule is that glass bottles are transferred to plastic at the dock before departure, which is a Coast Guard requirement. We ice the coolers before you arrive.
What time does the dinner cruise leave?
Departure is set about two and a half hours before sunset so dinner lands at golden hour, which means roughly 5 pm in winter and 6 pm in midsummer. Every cruise leaves from Maximo Marina at 38th Way S, St. Petersburg 33711. If a named storm is forecast within 72 hours we reschedule at no charge, valid for 12 months.
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