Halloween Family Fun Cruise

Gateway Clipper Fleet is running a Halloween Family Fun Cruise on Saturday, October 24, from 1:30 to 3:30 PM, with boarding starting at 12:45 PM. It's part of their Kids & Family range, which takes a standard three-rivers ride and turns it into a themed afternoon of music, movement, and characters. For this one, the theme is ghosts, ghouls, and goblins, and the main features are a DJ dance party and character friends on board for the kids to hang out with.

If you aren't familiar with the fleet, they're a family-owned riverboat company that's been sailing the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers since 1958, carrying more than 25 million passengers over the years. Their fleet of paddlewheelers includes the Empress (1966), Three Rivers Queen (2013), Princess (1999), Duchess (1975), and Countess (1979)—the Countess is the open-air, fastest boat in the bunch. They all depart from Station Square, across the Monongahela from downtown, and the company runs everything from sightseeing, dinner, dance, family, and holiday cruises to game-day shuttles for Acrisure Stadium and PNC Park, as well as private events for up to 400 guests.

This particular cruise falls into the Kids & Family category, where they take a classic three-rivers trip and build a theme around it with music, movement, and characters. Depending on the cruise, that might mean a DJ dance party, a visit with Santa, or a special show and games. For this one, you've got the DJ and the ghosts, ghouls, and goblins. It's an afternoon on the water, so it works as a low-stress way to get the kids into the Halloween spirit without having to leave the city.

Tickets are $36.66 per adult, all-in. The boat departs from the Station Square Dock at 350 W. Station Square Dr., Pittsburgh, PA 15219, and children 16 and younger must be accompanied by an adult.