The small wooden boats are quaint, sturdy, and have plastic flaps that can be pulled down if it is raining. The sun came out just enough to have an enjoyable hour on the water. Tour lasts about an hour and costs 18 euros. The staff was nice and friendly. The commentary provided was a recording in English - worked just fine for me, I learned some things about Riga. You spend most of the time in the canal, and then head out to the river to make a complete circle around.
We used the Riga Sightseeing Hop on - Hop-off Bus Tour which was probably not essential as most places are easily reached on foot but it was good to orientate yourself and excellent for anyone with reduced mobility. The best part of that tour was the 50% reduction in tickets for either the River Cruise or the Canal Cruise.
The River Cruise is on a large boat with seating on upper deck whilst the Canal Cruise is on a small boat which was excellent and actually takes one hour to cruise up the river and enter the top of the canal system , then go right though Riga , then back up the river - so you get the best of both worlds.
A good one hour trip with half the time on canal and being half hour on river Daugava. Seeing lots of interesting places. English audio comments has been offered.