Case study

Chicago Boat Company · Boat rentals and cruises

A booking platform and staff tools for Chicago Boat Company

Customers book private cruises and public seats online, and the team runs schedules, reservations and payments from one dashboard. Rebuilt in 2024, the platform brings Chicago Electric Boat Company and Chicago Cycleboats into one booking system.

90 Minute Cycleboat Cruise page on the Chicago Boat Company website with a photo gallery and the booking panel
A boat page on the live site, with photos, cruise details and booking.
Challenge

What had to work better

Electric boat rentals and Cycleboat cruises had been running as separate projects, and Chicago Boat Company needed one reservation system for both that supports customer bookings and the team's daily operations. Different locations, boats and cruise types require their own availability and pricing rules, and staff need tools for managing reservations and payments.

Who uses it

Built for each role

Customers

Choose a boat and location, see available times and prices, add extras and book.

Staff

Manage reservations, boat schedules, availability exceptions, deposits and payments.

Managers

Follow bookings, promotions and reports across locations and boat groups.

Booking panel with a calendar of available days and time slots with prices
Booking panel: available days, time slots and prices for the selected cruise.
Solution

What we built

  • Online booking for private cruises and public cruises sold by the seat
  • Availability and pricing rules by location, boat group and time
  • Add-ons, promotions, discounts, gift cards and boat passes
  • Payments and security deposit holds
  • A staff dashboard with the cruise schedule, reservations and availability exceptions
  • Reports by boat group and period
  • Email and text message notifications and calendar synchronization
  • Hosting on AWS, with background email processed through a message queue
Integrations
  • Payments
  • Email and SMS
  • Calendars
  • Marketing tools
Technology
  • Next.js
  • React
  • PHP
  • Symfony
  • API Platform
  • PostgreSQL
  • AWS
Reservation detail in the staff dashboard with payment, security deposit, receipt and notes, shown with test data
Staff view of a reservation, shown with test data: payment, security deposit, receipt and customer notes.
Result

What changed

Customers book online, while staff manage reservations, schedules and payment information through the operational dashboard. Custom availability rules support the company's different boats and cruise formats within one platform, and since the 2024 rebuild Chicago Electric Boat Company and Chicago Cycleboats bookings run in a single platform instead of separate projects.

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