About Us

First Lady offers Chicago’s finest fleet of cruising vessels, accommodating groups ranging from 2 to 250. We’re one of the most unique Chicago private party locations for special events, outdoor wedding ceremonies and receptions, networking events, private corporate events, birthday party cruises, chartered Chicago boat tours and much more. Whether you choose to cruise on the Chicago River, Lake Michigan or both, we promise your party will be a night to remember.

First Lady is the official cruise line of the Chicago Architecture Center and is proud to present the official Chicago Architecture Center River Cruise aboard First Lady.

The safety of our guests and crew is our number one priority. After more than 80 years providing memorable cruises of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan for millions of guests, we are proud to say we have a perfect safety record.

All of our vessels are regulated, licensed and inspected by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) every year, and have undergone stability testing to ensure our guests are safe on their waterway experience. Our captains and deckhands go through an extensive training and drilling program that goes above and beyond the standards set by the USCG. Because we are committed to continuing education, we provide extra training every day to our crew.

If you have any questions on our safety training protocols or additional concerns, please contact us at info@FirstLady.com.

First Lady is deeply committed to bettering the city we love. We’re excited to support Blessings in a Backpack as our 2024 corporate social responsibility partner. Did you know nearly 300,000 kids living in Chicagoland are food insecure? That is one in seven kids who eat meals at school during the week but are without affordable, healthy food on the weekends. The consequences are much more than a growling stomach. Hunger can cause physical health problems, shorten a child’s attention span, lower their IQ, and keep them from making good grades. As a leader in the movement to end childhood hunger, Blessings in a Backpack strives to ensure children do not go hungry on the weekends by empowering individuals and communities to take action. During the 2022/23 school year, they distributed 211,200 bags of ready-to-eat food to 5,389 school-aged children at 68 program locations across Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties. At First Lady, we know food insecurity is a large and complex issue that will take the entire community coming together in order to solve. We hope our partnership can make a small difference in Blessings in a Backpack’s important, ongoing work.