CPBS: Party Boats for Private Hire on London's River Thames

Capital Pleasure Boats was born in London in March 2002 with the purchase of our flagship party boat Golden Jubilee. Less than 4 weeks after making the trip from the Solent to the city she was pressed into service on her first private hire function on the Thames, and has since catered constantly for private cruises as diverse as birthdays, club nights, office discos, weddings, student parties and conferences. Our clients have often told us she is the ultimate London party boat however we realised fairly quickly that Golden Jubilee’s main strength - her size - was also her one drawback, as we were unable to cater for smaller private charter functions.

So began the search for a second riverboat, and we were lucky enough in February 2003 to find the Brunel already on the River Thames.  With a capacity of just 50 passengers she perfectly filled the niche the Golden Jubilee was just too big for. Ideal for clients looking for a smaller boat to hire for their parties, she successfully caters for more intimate family functions, London hen and stag parties, discos and team building corporate events and has proved herself more than once over the years as an excellent party venue.

Our largest riverboat to date, Sundance, capacity 120-300, arrived on the River Thames in March 2005 and like Golden Jubilee has proved herself extremely popular, gathering a posse of loyal devotees who love the different levels including the massive open sun deck. Primarily suited to leisure events such as club nights and office disco parties, Sundance's flexibility as a party venue means she is also regularly hired to successfully host student functions, family cruises and corporate charters.

Completing our fleet (for the time being!) we bought the luxury Golden Star to the River Thames in December 2005. She came to London already beautifully fitted out, and with a capacity of 40-120 is absolutely perfect as our mid-range riverboat. Catering mainly for private hire such as disco parties, family cruises, office functions, corporate entertainment and sightseeing trips on the Thames she has already proved herself a superb London party boat.

Sadly the arrival of the Golden Star meant that the Brunel was used less and less and in October 2006 she left the fleet to begin a new career in Oxfordshire. We wish her and her new owners many happy river boat parties.

In January 2007 we once again increased our fleet to 4 with the purchase of the Golden Flame. The Flame came to us as a two decked boat with a large internal saloon below and a full length sundeck above and in need of modernisation and so she immediatly headed to the ship yard to have a roof put on and a full internal and external refit. We have great plans for her, and hope that she will fill the gap between the Golden Star and Golden Jubilee.

Never ones to rest on our laurels, whilst buying, maintaining and chartering the pleasure boats we have also cultivated a fleet of work and safety boats which are hired to the commercial marine industry on the Thames in London.  For information on these please visit our Marine Services site.

From craft to crew...

The Capital Pleasure Boats team has expanded greatly from the original starting point of two hard working couples with a dream of running their own Thames leisure boat company. Nowadays the two hardworking couples still work hard, but also employ a wonderful staff to assist them in offering the best in luxury charters on the Thames.  

In the office Jo and Claire work tirelessly as our eyes and ears, ensuring that all clients are treated as personal friends and hopefully leave one party already planning the next one. On board the boats at Temple pier in Westminster our team of crew and bar staff beaver away in the background making sure that every party runs like clockwork. We really couldn't do it without them...

Although we have grown relatively quickly we are still a small family run business at heart. We believe word of mouth is the most valuable form of advertising and like to go the extra mile for our clients if possible. Please feel free to use the links at the side of the page to explore our site, or for more details or to make a booking please contact Jo or Claire directly by e-mail or freephone 0800 019 15 16.

We hope to see you on board soon,

Nina, Scott, Judy and Matt,
Capital Pleasure Boats