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All About the Ship
Mystic Blue Cruises is the newest dinner cruise ship at Navy Pier. A 500-passenger vessel built specifically for cruising the Chicago skyline, Mystic Blue Cruises offers three enclosed decks plus a relaxing open-air deck. Newly remodeled, sleek, silvery-blue interiors. And unbeatable views from every table.
Launched January 2003
Cost $4.5 million
Passenger/ Crew Capacity 650
Length 160 feet
Beam: 36 feet
Draft 6.5 feet
Height 50 feet
Weight 349 tons
Engine Two 504-hp 12v71 Detroit Diesel
One DC electric bow thruster
Top Speed 10.5 knots (12mph)
Cruising Speed 7.5 knots (8.6 mph)
Marine Crew Up to 15
Galley Crew Up to 25
Service Crew Up to 125
Decks 3 enclosed, plus open-air "Observation Deck"
Heads 6
(3 women's & 3 men's bathrooms)
Bars 3
Dance Floor 2
World-Famous Architecture
1. Navy Pier¡V1916¡VBuilt originally as a port facility for commercial
shipping and Great Lakes excursion boats, Navy Pier sits on a 25 acre
peninsula. In 1995, the pier re-opened to the public after a
150-million-dollar rehabilitation.
2. Lake Point Tower¡V1968¡VThe unique shape of this residential building was designed to let strong lake winds more easily slip around its edges, reducing their direct effects on the structure.
3. The Adler Planetarium¡V1931¡VThe planetarium is named for its donor, Max Adler, the Former vice president of the Sears, Roebuck and Company. A daily sky show reproduces the natural night sky.
4. The John G. Shedd Aquarium¡V1929¡VIt is one of the world's largest displays of aquatic life, with some 7,500 living specimens. The Oceanarium contains a 3-million gallon habitat for beluga whales and dolphins.
5. Sears Tower¡V1974¡VAt 1,454 feet, it is the world's second tallest building.
6. The Smurfit-Stone Container Building¡V1983¡VThe sloping top provides two-story atrium offices on the top ten floors with unobstructed views of Grant Park and Lake Michigan.
7. One Prudential Plaza¡V1955¡VThe first building constructed after World War II. It houses a 65-ton sculpture of the Rock of Gibraltar.
8. Two Prudential Plaza¡V1988¡VThis 64-story building is Chicago's fourth largest.
9. The Aon Center¡V1974-designed by Edward Durell Stone, was built in 1974 and had been the tallest marble-clad structure in the world. Unable to withstand Chicago's extreme temperatures and high winds, the white marble panels have recently been replaced by speckled granite.
10. The John Hancock Center¡V1969¡V1,127 feet, the giant "X" beams which criss-cross the structure help the building cope with Chicago's high-wind conditions.
