The Valley Gem Sternwheeler

The Valley Gem Sternwheeler and Major/Riviera operate as excursion and event riverboats on the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers, docked at 601 Front Street in Marietta, Ohio. Built in 1989 by the Sands family, the Valley Gem is a genuine sternwheel paddleboat now carrying up to 290 passengers, while the Major/Riviera pairs a historic 1928 vessel with the Riviera's two-deck, 149-passenger capacity for dinner cruises, sightseeing tours, and private events. Private charters, weddings, corporate events, and reunions are hosted aboard both vessels, with catering packages built around a two-hour cruise that includes dinner, linens, and china. The boats' climate-controlled lower deck offers an enclosed cafe, restrooms, a sound system with microphone access, and handicap-accessible ramp boarding. A full-service bar operates on Ohio River cruises, and couples can be married on board by their own clergy or by Captain Sands. In-house entertainers, established in 2021, also stage cabarets, murder mysteries, and dinner theater productions aboard the boats throughout the May-through-December season.