The venue sets the tone for a corporate event before a word is spoken. A private cruise on the bay signals that you’ve put thought in — and it gives clients and teams a genuine experience, not another night in a function room.

Why choose a floating venue

A cruise is the rare corporate venue that impresses clients and rewards teams at once. It’s private, all-inclusive, and — unlike a land venue — it comes with a constantly changing view of the Melbourne skyline. It’s a floating function venue with 20+ years’ experience behind it.

What’s included

Corporate events it suits

Where you board: Docklands, minutes from the CBD

Corporate guests arrive at Sunset Point, 179 Harbour Esplanade in Docklands. It is a short walk or a few minutes in a cab from the Melbourne CBD and Southern Cross Station, which matters more than it sounds: a venue your team can reach on foot after work removes the single most common reason people skip a function. There is parking in the precinct for anyone driving in, and the boarding point is flat and step-free from the promenade.

Docklands also gives the cruise its route. You leave the harbour, take in the city skyline from the water, and pass the Bolte Bridge and the Yarra’s working edge before heading out toward Port Phillip Bay. Guests who have only seen Melbourne from street level tend to spend the first twenty minutes at the rail. If you want to build a longer day around it, our guide to what else is on around the waterfront covers the precinct itself.

Hosting a larger corporate group

The Kingfisher II is a twin-level catamaran, and a corporate charter is exclusive use of the whole vessel for up to 150 guests. The twin-level layout is what makes larger numbers work: two decks means two atmospheres at once, so you can run speeches, a presentation or an awards segment on one level while the bar and the conversation carry on upstairs. Smaller groups are welcome too, and a group of thirty does not rattle around, because the upper deck can be used as the main space.

For a large corporate event the practical advantages over a function room are capacity certainty and no room-hire juggling. The guest list is the guest list, the space is yours for the whole charter, and nobody else is booked into the room next door. Catering runs to canapés, buffet or a sit-down service, the bar is fully licensed, and the cruise runs three to four hours.

Business functions, client days and small conferences

Not every corporate booking is a party. A charter works just as well as a venue for a business function, a client day, a partner briefing or a small conference, and it is often chosen for exactly that reason: it is a room nobody can leave early, with no other bookings running alongside it. If you need to present, the vessel gives you a defined space and a captive audience without the sterility of a hotel conference room.

Practical points worth raising when you enquire: the running order you want, whether you need a microphone or a screen for a presentation, and how you want the catering timed around the speaking. Coordinators Natasha and Angelo work the detail through with you before the day, so the crew know when to serve and when to hold. The result is a business function that people actually turn up to, and remember afterwards.