VEGAS MYTHS BUSTED: Gondoliers Propel The Venetian’s Gondolas

Posted on: April 6, 2026, 07:21h. 

Last updated on: April 5, 2026, 07:45h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Vegas Myths Busted.

Every so often, someone wanders into Las Vegas with enough childlike innocence to believe that the Venetian’s gondolas are really human-powered. Case in point: TripAdvisor user USHis2ry Teacher from Springdale, Ark., who recently wrote: “It is very romantic to have a real Italian dude from Rome, Italy serenade you with three songs as he paddles you up-and-down the man-made river in his gondola.”

Adorable. Just like his spelling of “USHis2ry.”

Don’t believe everything you see in this picture. (Image: Bilgin Sasmaz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

But no, your scrawny gondolier was not training for the Olympic sculling team. Your 19th-century romance canoe had an electric motor.

More Oar Less

Here are Melissa and Joan Rivers getting not rowed in 2011. Hey, what’s the sense of having a Getty Images subscription if you don’t use it? (Image: Sam Morris/Getty)

The fiberglass “gondolas” are manufactured by Treadway Industries of Leesburg, Florida to resemble the real things but not behave like them. The motors are hard-mounted and hidden from view like in any good theme-park illusion. And the oars are Ren Faire-grade cosplay accessories.

Oops, did you also think a “lazy river” really propelled you through “Pirates of the Caribbean”? You may need to sit the rest of this column out to process, USHis2ry Teacher.

At an average depth of two feet, the Venetian’s “canals” are too shallow for real rowing. But even if they weren’t, trying to power 700-800 lbs. of tourists in a 2,500-lb. boat for eight hours a shift would put a gondolier in traction.

OK, fine, 700-1,000 lbs. of tourists, we were being polite. Regardless, by the end of the day, the fake gondola probably wouldn’t move much faster than the line to buy your ticket for it.

Motors keep the attraction smooth, safe, and — most importantly — profitable, since humans are unpredictable machines who cannot be relied on to perform both heavy rowing and heavy singing in the prescribed 10-13 minutes.

Having the gondola all to yourself will cost you — though we somehow doubt that Melissa and Joan got charged. (Image: George Rose/Getty)

What the gondolier does control is the boat’s speed and steering, using throttle and rudder controls also hidden from view. But their very real operatic singing voices – and their ability not to crash an electric boat — are their only actual talents on display.

In fact, part of the reason they belt those songs out so loud is to cover up the faint sound of the motor.

Bonus Myth

Unless you cough up twice the regular price, your anniversary fantasy for two will be shared with two complete strangers who may or may not be arguing about where to eat dinner.

The current cost for a gondola ride is $39 per person for a shared four‑seater — either indoors (the Grand Canal Shoppes) or outdoors (the Las Vegas Strip) — or $156 if you want the whole boat to yourself like the royalty you pretend to be on Instagram.

Look for “Vegas Myths Busted” every Monday on Casino.org. Visit VegasMythsBusted.com to read previously busted Vegas myths. Got a suggestion for a Vegas myth that needs busting? Email corey@casino.org.