Why have New Year’s Eve dinner on the Thames
On 31 December, dinner in central London and the fireworks are hard to combine: the official viewing areas are ticketed and fenced, and the roads around them close hours before midnight.
A New Year’s Eve dinner cruise puts both in the same evening. Dinner is served as you cruise along the Thames, and at midnight the boat is already on the river for the display over the London Eye. With the restaurant formula the evening starts on land: dinner at a restaurant first, then the pier and the cruise for midnight.
Dinner on board or restaurant first: how to choose
Dinner served on board means the whole evening on the boat: you board in the evening, dinner is served during the cruise, and after the meal there is live music and dancing until the boat returns to its pier, after midnight. It suits anyone who wants a seated New Year’s Eve dinner and the fireworks without moving on, and it is the closest thing on the river to a dinner and dance.
Dinner at a restaurant, followed by the cruise starts with a table at a restaurant near the pier in the early evening; you then board for the fireworks cruise, with live music on the river. It suits anyone who prefers a restaurant meal before the night on the water.
In both cases one booking covers dinner and the cruise, and each boat’s page lists the courses, the drinks included and the age rule.
Will you see the fireworks?
Yes — the whole evening is built around them. The display is centred on the London Eye, and the boats head out on the river to watch it. The captain chooses the position on the night, reading the river traffic, the tide and the weather, so the exact spot is decided then rather than promised in advance, and the pier you board at doesn’t limit your view.
Midnight on the river
Dinner is served before midnight. In the last minutes before twelve the boats take up position on the river and the countdown starts on board. When the display ends, the music carries on until the boat returns to its pier.
