Even travelers with limited time can enjoy some of the best views in NYC with this quick Big Apple sightseeing cruise. Meet up at Pier 36 to set sail in the East River, where you can expect standout skyline views from the ship's deck. Relax and enjoy views of top area sights—like the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges—and make your way to see the iconic Statue of Liberty up close. You can also choose to explore at night for extra-special views.

See the sights from the New York Harbor during this Big Apple cruise
Cruise past area sights—South Street Seaport, Battery Park, and Ellis Island
Get fantastic photographs with unobstructed views
Easily fit this cruise into any itinerary with several daily departure times

What's Included

1-Hour New York City Sightseeing Cruise

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Pier 36 NYC
299 South St, New York, NY 10002, USA
Please go to the back of the pier toward the Hudson River and look for the Majestic Princess

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Statue of Liberty (Pass By)

Ellis Island (Pass By)

Manhattan Skyline (Pass By)

South Street Seaport Museum (Pass By)

Wall Street (Pass By)

Battery Park (Pass By)

One World Observatory (Pass By)

Liberty State Park (Pass By)

Hoboken Waterfront Walkway (Pass By)

Brooklyn Bridge (Pass By)

Manhattan Bridge (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed

Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 175 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Frequently Asked Questions

The answers provided below are based on answers previously given by the tour provider to customers’ questions.

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Q:Where is the departure point for the NYC Sightseeing cruise?

A:The NYC Sightseeing cruise departs from Pier 36 in the Lower East side of Manhattan.

Sep 2022

Q:Is there parking near the departure point for the NYC Sightseeing cruise?

A:Parking is available in the 55,000 sq ft parking lot located right at the pier. Parking rates apply and may vary. You may also take a ride share such as Uber or Lyft or the subway to either the East Broadway or the Delancey St. · Essex St. station (both require a short walk to the pier.)

Sep 2022

Q:Can I take the subway to get to the NYC Sightseeing cruise?

A:Take the F Train to East Broadway, Use the Rutgers St./Madison St. exit from the station, and walk east on Rutgers Street towards the water. Turn left on South Street heading north. Once you approach the Dept of Sanitation (on your right), Pier 36 is adjacent on the north side of Sanitation

Sep 2022

Q:What are the hours for the NYC Sightseeing cruise?

A:The cruise departs daily at 11am, 12:30pm, 2:30pm, 4:30pm, and 6pm. Be sure to select your desired departure time from the available options upon checkout.

Sep 2022

Q:How long is the NYC Sightseeing cruise?

A:The NYC Sightseeing is approximately 60 minutes long.

Sep 2022

Q:Does the NYC Sightseeing cruise visit Liberty or Ellis Island?

A:The NYC Sightseeing cruise is a sightseeing cruise that will take you up close and personal with Lady Liberty, however, it does not stop at either Liberty or Ellis Island. The cruise provides unique view points all around the Statue of Liberty and includes informative and entertaining audio narration.

Sep 2022

Q:What is there to see at the NYC Sightseeing cruise?

A:Departing from Pier 36, you will travel the East Side of Manhattan before sailing within close proximity to the Statue of Liberty. You will also enjoy views of the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, South Street Sea Port, Freedom Towers, Ellis Island, and other well-known landmarks.

Sep 2022

Q:How many people can I expect on the NYC Sightseeing cruise?

A:The Motor Yacht is 110′ and USCG certified to carry up to 300 passengers. She was designed for sightseeing/entertaining as her spacious decks and panoramic windows provide spectacular views of the New York City skyline. The vessel is climate-controlled for the comfort of her passengers. The vessel offers indoor and outside seating.

Sep 2022

Q:Is seating reserved during the sightseeing cruise?

A:The vessel offers air-conditioned indoor as well as outside seating. Seating is first come, first served, so if you'd prefer a specific seating area, please be sure to arrive early!

Sep 2022

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Alitza_T

A lovely experience. My niece and I had a wonderful time. Not a great weather, January. Yet it gave us an opportunity to chat with owners of the boat. Lady behind the bar is a friendly jovial gal and her husband is a captain. My niece had a chance to navigate (of course under the supervision and control of the captain). Maybe not a luxury vessel, but comfortable and offers nice selection of refreshments. We loved the size. Much nicer that large tourist boats of big companies. The time was perfect as well. This ride gives you a view of lower Manhattan and circles Statue of Liberty in a short time, in case you do not want or have time to spend hours cruising. Crew was friendly and attentive.

Reviews

3.5

49 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 49 reviews

A short, pleasant sail in a boutique sized, privately owned and captained boat. Very nice crew.

Alitza_T, Apr 2024

Only complaint would be...

Marc_F, Aug 2023

Only complaint would be that it was very hard to hear the tour guide audio over the loudspeakers from the very back of the boat. At that point the sound is drowned out by the water and wake. How hard would it be to add a couple loudspeakers at the very back of the ship? One shouldn’t have to strain to hear the audio for something like this.

The Statue of Liberty and...

donnatowle, Jul 2023

The Statue of Liberty and the crew members ! Very organized! Professional crew! Safety information was well communicate

It was a very relaxing...

Brenda_C, Jul 2023

It was a very relaxing experience, loved the ride. Enjoyed everything about the tour. We got to see the Statue of Liberty up close and take great pictures.

Not the best boat trip to take

carol_o, May 2023

Badly organised to board the correct boat. No shade when queuing. There was a lack of outside seating to see the skyline advertised. The commentary was out if sync with the boats location. Costly to see the Statue of Liberty when you can see the same view free of charge via Staten island Ferry. Over priced for the service provided.

Average tour

Ruth_G, Mar 2023

Tour guide was a recording and not very good. I’d recommend spending more$ for a tour that lands at that statue.

One of my best tours in...

Zekrullah_A, Mar 2023

One of my best tours in my life since now. Very good price as well. You can see the great views of Manhattan, NJ, Brooklyn and Statue of Liberty.

Response from Host, Apr 2023

Thank you for taking the time to write this review it is greatly appreciated. We hope to see you again soon

I would not do this again.

stejana_F, Mar 2023

Not a good way to see the Statue of Liberty. I’ve seen it 3 times and this was the worst experience of the 3. Boat was way too crowded, and the boat wasn’t very nice either.

Was nice boat ride and...

Laura_S, Dec 2022

Was nice boat ride and tour. Crew was friendly. Would go back again. Had snacks and drinks on boat..

DO NOT GO ON THIS CRUISE

Marie_K, Oct 2022

do not go on this cruise. the boat crashed times and had engine failure. crew did not have training. very unsafe.

Don’t waste your money on this boat.

Adriana_B, Oct 2022

“Magestic princess”. Was a rickety dirty boat that let out black cloud fumes the whole time SO if you wanted to experience the ferry in the beautiful weather you had smog in your face and lungs. Or you could go inside and view outside through the dirty scratched up windows. I did a cruise once before but it was on a better boat and it left off of Pier 78 which gave you a better skyline view. Would NOT recommend on on this boat or pier

Fun

thomas_i, Apr 2022

Had a great time in nyc in the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island The Brooklyn bridge and etc. the ride was fun

Response from Host, May 2022

Thank you for taking the time to write this review and we hope to see you again.

Old and dirty boat

Nicole_B, Apr 2022

The boat was old and stinky. It did not feel clean. There was no space to sit outside and it was really rocky so we felt safer sitting inside but the windows were super dirty and did not allow a clear view and the tables and chairs looked and felt dirty.

Amazing

Michael_L, Feb 2022

Best Experience in My Life. My First Time in New York and The Employees Were Nice.We Was Right in Front Of The Statue Of Liberty.

Narration should be to...

Wmarie_M, Nov 2021

Narration should be to and from statute of liberty. Boat was pretty full and so you could really see out one side of boat

We took this trip before...

gary_l, Oct 2021

We took this trip before it was the first time for our grandkids they really enjoyed it it was the first time they saw the Statue of Liberty this close

I did it. See your review board.

Suzanne_S, Sep 2021

Actually my review is zero. A woman named Julie from Circle Line” left me a voicemail message saying she needed to reschedule the cruise because the boat was not operating. She also said there would be a refund involved. I live 4 hours away from NYC. There was no chance of me rescheduling. I have called her back and left voicemail messages 7 times. Spoke with an actual employee and asked him if I could speak to her. He was of no help…..”uhhh she’ll be her tomorrow…uhhh” I am disputing the charge of the tickets on my credit. SOMEONE needs to make this right. Suzanne Sardella

Response from Host, Oct 2021

We are not Circle Line you posted this to the wrong business.

Terrible

Virginie_A, Aug 2021

We were in NYC for 4 Days and the canceled twice on us due to weather… the second time it was beautiful and sunny. Extremely disappointed, it was my daughter’s birthday and it was her dream to do that little cruise.

Please don't waste your money

Francine_J, Nov 2019

The boat was easy to find but is old and worn. It used to be a dinner cruise boat (and maybe still is but I wouldn't eat on it) so there are only seats and tables inside the boat - and nothing to sit on outside. Additionally, the boat was packed with Chinese tourists (who I'm sure are lovely people) but as a result the boat left a full hour later than scheduled since we had to wait on the tour buses (in fairness, the operator texted me and told me about the hour delay so we arrived later, but then it conflicted with our other plans). As such, there was no English narration - it was entirely in Chinese. Which would have been fine, if we had booked a Chinese cruise. In the end, we laughed about it and it makes a great story. And the limited interaction I had with the crew was good - they seem to be nice people. But please, go elsewhere.

Response from Host, Oct 2020

Sounds like you joined the wrong boat there are other boats for our pier thank you for writing the review

Affordable and quick

mariam_R, Oct 2019

Quick yet informative, specially with a family with kids and not enough time to visit every attraction location.

Response from Host, Oct 2020

Thank you for taking the time to write this review and we hope to see you again