The cruise started out well enough. It was a cool, windy evening with some scattered showers and we got there at 6PM for what was advertised as a 6:30 load time and 7PM departure. No one was getting on when we arrived so we sat on the steps of the building across the way without a direct view of the boat. We really wanted a seat up top by the rail so that was our plan with getting there early. At 6:30PM we walked back across the street to find the boat was full of people everywhere (more on that later). We got on and only through luck got a couple of seats up top in the middle - the rest were taken. We started out seeing beautiful homes/lights and heard a little light history. Very enjoyable. As the cruise went on it was apparent we were in the middle of a very large group that was apparently having their neighborhood Christmas party aboard the boat. What was unfortunate was the fact that they were far more interested in socializing with each other and were always on the move walking around, moving up and down the aisle, switching seats, laughing, talking, kids running, etc. This made it not very enjoyable for the people who actually paid to see the sites and hear the commentary. When we came to a drawbridge the narrator of the excursion would come back to chat with friends who were on board. He would have seen all of the people congregating everywhere but yet nothing was done to discourage their behavior. It really doesn't take a customer service genius to realize not everyone wants to have to listen to kids running and playing, groups of three, four, five and more chatting it up standing in the aisle ways. If he had just happened to mention a time or two that everyone should be seated so everyone could see and hear that would have made a big difference. Instead he was very preoccupied (each and every time we were at a drawbridge which was many) with impressing and or entertaining his buds on board. To wrap it up, the tour really should have stuck to the 1.5 hour mark as the regular tour is in the day (which I have been on and had a lovely time). The extra 1/2 hour was basically an add on of not much interest and just seemed to fill time. There is only so much to see in the dark and I don't think the extra 1/2 hour added to the cruise or was necessary. I also think it would have been great if the party had been confined to the lower deck and the customers who were there for the actual cruise could have then had the upper areas without the distract of this gathering. Also, no souvenir pictures (as advertised) were taken of any of the people around us neither when they were boarding nor while on the boat and the holiday music (as advertised) couldn't even be heard over the noise of the group. Pretty disappointed this time around.