Lake Mead Cruises

Lake Mead Cruises is a relaxed sightseeing boat trip aboard the Desert Princess, an authentic three-level, Mississippi-style paddle-wheeler that is US Coast Guard certified and carries up to about 300 passengers. Sailings leave from Hemenway Harbor near Boulder City, roughly a 40-minute drive southeast of the Strip, and come in three formats: a narrated sightseeing cruise of around 90 minutes, a champagne-brunch sailing, and a longer dinner cruise.

Once on the water you glide across the reservoir past red-and-gold canyon walls while onboard narration covers the lake, the surrounding desert and the dam. The route heads down-lake toward the Hoover Dam for distant views before turning back. The vessel has two enclosed, climate-controlled decks plus an open promenade for photos; brunch and dinner sailings add a plated meal (dinner offers prime rib, salmon, chicken or a vegetarian option) and there is a bar on board.

It is a mellow outing rather than a thrill ride, and worth knowing the honest catches: boats are not allowed right up to the dam wall, so you see it from a distance; years of drought have dropped the water and left pale "bathtub-ring" shorelines, shifting the marina back from its old spot; and summer afternoons are brutally hot, though the enclosed decks stay cool. Verdict: a genuinely pleasant half-day escape from the Strip, best booked as a sunset dinner cruise or paired with a Hoover Dam stop.