Gordon River Cruises: Your Questions
Four tours make up this roster: two lunch cruises and two dinner cruises, each roughly six hours and all with free cancellation. Below, the answers cover both operators, what the sailings include, from-prices starting at A$160, and how booking works.
Before You Book
Who operates the boats?
Two companies run everything on this page. World Heritage Cruises, a family-owned business based in Strahan, sails the World Heritage Cruise with lunch plus an afternoon dinner departure. NRMA Tasmania operates under the Gordon River Cruises name and runs its own lunch sailing and an evening dinner cruise. This site owns no vessels and takes no bookings of its own. Its job is comparison: the four tours sit side by side, and each reservation finishes on the tour's live booking page.
Which sailing rates highest?
Prices run from $160 to $165 per person, and ratings sit between 4.5 and 4.9. World Heritage Cruises carries 4.8 from 1255 reviews on its lunch cruise. NRMA Tasmania matches that 4.8 across 1635 reviews. Dinner tells a different story: the evening sailing holds 4.5 from 12 reviews, while the afternoon run sits at 4.9 from 23. Each tour sells under its own listing, which is why the review counts vary so much. From-prices run from A$160 to A$165 per person, and your date plus any extras move the final amount, so the listing shows the real total.
Are all four tours bookable?
The roster holds four tours, two Gordon River lunch cruises and two dinner sailings, all departing Strahan (see the worth-it breakdown). No operator buys placement here, and no tour is listed to pad numbers. The two lunch cruises run year-round; dinner dates are limited.
Costs, Times And Departures
What does it cost?
Lunch on the water starts at A$160 per person with World Heritage Cruises and A$165 with NRMA Tasmania, while both dinner cruises open at A$160. All four tours publish a from-price, so there is no missing pricing to chase down. What you finally pay depends on your travel date and anything you add on, and the live booking page spells out the full amount before you confirm. Free cancellation applies to every tour on the roster. The cutoff windows differ between the two operators, so read the terms on your own booking instead of assuming a shared deadline.
How long is the trip?
Plan on about 6 hours for whichever tour you pick. The World Heritage Cruises lunch trip, the NRMA Tasmania sailing and both dinner options follow a similar rhythm out of the Strahan wharf (pricing detail sits in our cost guide). That block of time covers the Macquarie Harbour crossing, the run up the Gordon River and the meal served on board. Exact departure times sit with each operator, so confirm yours on the listing before you set out.
Where do cruises start?
All four tours leave from the Strahan waterfront, where the wharves run along the Esplanade beside Macquarie Harbour. That positions Strahan as the working gateway for Gordon River trips on Tasmania's West Coast. Most visitors arrive by car, and the drive from Hobart or Launceston takes a full day, so plan accordingly. Your booking confirmation names the exact berth, and the departure map shows where each operator ties up.
Do you stay on board the whole time?
You do go ashore: guided walks on Sarah Island and at Heritage Landing, then back aboard the vessel. Crew provide commentary across the harbour and the river while the meal is served, and no boating experience is expected. The Gordon River stretch is sheltered. Macquarie Harbour can get choppy in wind, so travellers prone to seasickness often pack tablets. Anything specific to your tour appears on its page.
Is cancelling free?
Yes, on every tour listed. All four carry free cancellation. Cutoffs differ by operator, so check the deadline on the live booking page before you confirm.
What are the times?
Sailing schedules belong to the operators, so treat the live booking page as the source of truth when you plan your day. The two lunch cruises are daytime trips that leave from wharves along the Strahan Esplanade. Dinner options differ in timing: one leaves in the afternoon, the other later in the evening, and each is built around the meal served on board. Plan for about 6 hours door to door, and check our hours guide for the details.
Durations Compared
Six hours, every trip?
Every cruise on this page is billed at roughly six hours, and the operators mean it. Both lunch sailings and both dinner options sit at that same mark, give or take a little. Time on the water will not separate them. What does differ is the operator behind the boat, the food served on board and the hour you eat it. Free cancellation applies across all four listings.
Do the lunch and dinner cruises run the same length?
Duration barely matters when choosing here. All four tours run to about six hours, lunch and dinner alike. The two lunch cruises, one from each operator, are built around a midday meal on the Gordon River. Dinner works on a different rhythm. One option sails in the afternoon, the other runs only on limited summer evenings, and both put dinner on the table while you are on the water. Because every listing can be cancelled free of charge, the real decision comes down to operator, menu and sailing window.
How do the four from-prices compare?
The from-prices here sit within a few dollars of each other. Three tours start at A$160 per person: the World Heritage Cruises lunch sailing and both dinner cruises. The NRMA Tasmania lunch cruise opens at A$165. Treat a from-price as a floor rather than a final quote, since deck selection and travel dates can push the fare above it. Check the live booking page for the exact price on your date. Whichever way you go, cancellation is free on all four tours.