Hornblower Niagara Cruises Reviews

Have lived in the area many years and have been on this once as a child and twice as an adult. I would recommend this as an experience of a lifetime.

Such a great experience! Shorter lines and less wait time than Maid of the Mist yet the same wonderful cruise and Falls experience. The Bridal Falls and Horseshoe Falls close-up and personal. Even with the ponchos provided, you'll get wet up on the deck and it's well worth it. Not to be missed!!

Love it! Excellent way to have a real Niagara falls' experience!

Hour wait for a 20 minute boat right on a Friday at 9am so I can only imagine how bad it could be on a busy day. Nice ride though, kids loved it.

First let me say that seeing the falls from the boat is wonderful. But be warned... Folks are crammed in line and onboard like sardines. You will wait in a long cramped line no matter what time you go - anywhere from 30 mins minimum to 3 hours or more. Go early (before 9am) to reduce the wait. Also, there are no seats on board, but there are a few slippery places to sit on top of the life vest boxes. That being said, it is still worth it to get that close to the falls!

A one time kind of experience. On hot weather def bring umbrella or any type of shade esp for kids as there's not a lot of shaded areas. Line up was long in the weekend so prepare for it.

Wheelchair/stroller accessible tho they prefer you leaving the stroller.

There's an area pregnant women and seniors can sit.

If you dont want to get wet you can stay at the bottom.

Definitely bring a poncho for toddlers as i find the one they give is really big.

Great experience. I would not do it again tho.

Great views of all 3 falls. A little rough standing the closer you get to the falls
Inside seating is available if needed. Also a lot of walking.

Honestly, I think taking the Hornblower cruise is the best thing to do if you want to fully experience the views of the Falls. It is the best way to get a closer look.
I'm sure you'll have lots of fun.

Awesome boat experience up close Niagara Falls. Would highly recommend to anyone.

Totally worth going on the boat ride. You do get wet but the give you ponchos. It s so fun to get up close. Seems like the American side boat ride is just the same. Seems light less crowds if you go early in the morning.

Very unique experience, lots of fun and the sights down at the falls are really nice. However, I paid for funicular tickets online and did not receive any sort of heads up that on the day I was going, it was actually broken. I would've given 4 or 5 stars but the lack of communication on the website about the funicular is disappointing.

The Falls are amazing. Great way to see them up close. Will do it again.

A memorable and wonderful experience, especially at night! Thank you, Hornblower, for hosting us after the 'launch' of the 2019 OPG Winter Festival of Lights. The reception was also a 'tasty' event!

Image courtesy of Tom Gaasenbeek

Fantastic experience - a must do if you visit Niagara Falls! Tickets are approximately 24$ and id recommend buying it online + visiting here early.

This was the highlight of our trip to the falls. There's a boatload (pun intended) of crappy tourist traps here but this is worth the money. Get up close and get drenched and experience the falls as much as you can.

One of the best experiences of our Niagara falls hotel ... only went on the day ride which was worth every penny ... going back less than a week after the trip ended to go on the night ride. .. if you're visiting Niagara from a far away city this is a must !!

With the Groupon price of around $25 usd per person, this was a must-go and cannot be beat experience. If it were possibly, they d deserve a 6/5 stars

One of the best Experience one can have of Niagara falls. You can really feel the power of the falls. Must visit at least one time.

Beautiful.You should visit this place.
YouTube@Sabas vlogs

Beautiful views and efficiently run. Got very close with heavy spray. Poncho was included and we were quickly on and at the falls. Gets close to both the American and Horseshoe (Canadian) falls. Would highly recommend. Go early during high season for less crowds.

Amazing Adventure so much fun... Loved this Attraction... must do...

A closer look at the falls is a long shower through the mists that descend on you. Waterproof cameras are recommended. You also get a poncho for a reason. Very nice experience to experience at a fair price.

Very cool perspective on the falls. Definitely worth the $20 cost of admission. We stayed on the lower deck so we could pop back inside if it started getting really wet on the outer deck, and it certainly did!

Good morning Facebook friends an family this is a beautiful site to see.My mom always said when you work hard for yourself have something to show for it an i thank God for blessing me to do it

Great experience seeing the falls. They practically drive you into them, so the complimentary ponchos are a must !!! Great way to see the falls.

Amazing Experience. Be prepared to wait for an hour or two. Totally worth the wait.

Interesting place, we all enjoyed it especially my kids

A must do , great experience, goes close to the falls amazing experience.

Great ride, the line was at the top of the hill but moves very fast. Kids loved it when we hit right by the falls.

I absolutely love it. The fireworks from the cruise was amazing.

Just go. Nothing to ask and check. You feel more than you expected

Buy tickets online - it makes the experience much faster/smoother... Just need to show the tickets on the phone and you're in.
They've improved it a lot. I last went back in 2014 and most recently in 2019. The Funicular ride up/down from/to the base makes it a more pleasant and less tiring experience. Specially if you're doing it with kids. Also, if you're a parent to 3 to 4 year olds, this is a good place to go as kids 4 and under are free but they're kind of old enough to enjoy the ride. You do have to hold on to them tight or carry them when the boat is close to the horseshoe falls.

My favorite part of my trip. Amazing view with no wait time! Everything went smoothly. The boat ride was great! You do get wet so be aware if you are on the top. Great experience and could not stop smiling.

Great experience. Cruise takes you right into the Falls. You will get wet even with the Ponchos. It's all worth it.

The best way to experience the power and beauty of Niagara Falls is to get up close and personal (by that I mean wet) aboard the Hornblower cruise. Like USA s famous Maid of the Mist these boats take you close to the face of the falls where you can get to see hear and feel their power. Well worth it.

Great experience. It gets very close to the falls. Be ready to get wet. Panchos are provided by the boat for free.

The Niagara Falls boat tour is a fun experience that you should not miss if you're at the Falls.

We purchased out tickets from the concierge at the hotel where we were staying and it's pretty much the same price as the kiosk, $25 Canadian dollar.

The line was long but moves very fast. The boats leave every 15 minutes in high season and supposedly they can hold up to 700 people. They do provide a poncho, which helps with not getting totally wet as the boat gets close to the horseshoe Falls and the mist is heavy. If you're on the Canadian side you get red color poncho. The American side boats use blue color poncho.

The entire boat tour is about 30 minutes and it's worth every penny.

I would 100% recommned this experience. It was absolutely amazing and it really allows you to appreciate and enjoy the true power and beauty of the falls. The 5 stars is truly deserved because of how accessible and caring staff was towards my grandmother with her walker and they even offered wheel chairs. She even had a great view from sitting inside the ship.

A must do... Skip the night trip and do it during daytime.

Very cool ride. Expect long waits, but worth it. They give you a poncho which is pretty effective. You spend about 5 minutes getting into the horshoe falls but will spend about 10 minutes in the basin. Great views of both falls. Nice rest area after the ride to get drinks and food. Total time on boat was about 25 minutes.

Beautiful afternoon in the structure and by boat from where it is possible to get up under the horseshoe touching the American waterfalls.

Couldn't take a better view but is so nice to see it

Great experience but not to do on a weekend or a public holiday. The wait in line can be an hour long.

The staff was incredibly friendly and even took extra time to give our kids little rain ponchos for their stuffed animals!

Take the night fireworks cruise if you are visiting on a fireworks night...you will not be disappointed. It was a once in a lifetime experience!!!!

Thank you!

What an amazing way to experience Niagara Falls! Affordable price makes it something everyone can do.

It was wonderful . One of my best experiences . I did the day and night tour .

Amazing experience! Well-run, and not too expensive.

On July 5th 2019 we tried to take the cruise "Hornblower" at Niagara Falls but it seems they were not well prepared: they have probably only two boats and the are selling more tickets than they take on the board. The consequence is a long line of customers with tickets already paid waiting 2 hours or more to embark. You understand that if you scheduled to stay one day at Niagara and if you can not use your ticket in that day then you have a problem.

Another comment is about the staff. On july 5th I was waiting aside the tickets booth at the shadow (it was a very hot and humide day, feeling 38-40 Celsius, or 100-104 Fahrenheit) and a guy, probably superviser for this company, asked to the people to move out. Well, for this guy ("Lou" marked on his batch): according to a policeman that spot is a public place and we can stay there. I belive the behaviour of our "Lou" was impolite, abusive and not in Canadian manner. Our "Lou" stoped his request and disaperead after two people fainted during one hour (that was at 2.00 pm, July 5th).

If you don't want to risk to lose you time and ruin your stay at Niagara better to think to other options than Hornblower.

Great veiws! The line moved fast and we had great spots for an awesome veiws.

not suitable for people with disabilities. The literature and tourist information may try and sell you an excursion. However it will only prove to be alarming for anyone in a wheelchair who seeks to navigate the crowds/ ramps / boat. .

This was fun. The price wasn't bad, the wait was decent though we definitely beat the crowds. It's so cool how close you get to the horseshoe falls, the mist literally hits you head-on. The ride lasted about 25 minutes and the views are great. They give you a free poncho to help stay somewhat dry though if you're near the edge of the boat (which is where you want to be!) there'll be some waves and the mist from the falls will soak you.

We did both the day and the night cruise. Though the boat is crowded on the day cruise, it's still possible to get good views of the falls up close, and we found we actually got a better view from downstairs where it is less crowded. From downstairs you are much closer to the white water when the boat really gets into the base of the falls. We got out feet wet from waves mashing into the bow. On the night cruise there is generally less water going over the falls, so we got less wet, but the falls looked very pretty by the lights, and we got the best view of the fireworks. It's completely worth the price of admission, and will give you a different perspective on the falls.

You must go to enjoy Niagara falls very close and take shower from the falls mist.

In winter and early spring, amusements connected directly to the waterfall do not work (boat, helicopter, zipline)
But you walk along the embankment, watching the surrounding beauties from all angles and a lot of entertainment in the town

we did the falls tour before things closed. It was such a wonderful experience. I was really worried about the waiting and the line ups and the space on the boat. Yes there is a lot of traffic and lines to get onto the boat but they move everything along so smoothly it was amazing. I never thought I would get that close to the falls. I actually had a good time everywhere we went in Niagara Falls

Booked online before we went so were told to miss the line up for tickets. Very well organized, like a well oiled machine, good time at the falls, excellent experience, very professional company

Loved it. If you are in Niagra, this is one thing that you should surely try. Good place to get pictures. When they take you to the point where you can feel that you are beneath the fall is a great feeling. Sunglasses or goggles are must for this, not compulsory though.

Amazing trip and experience for the entire family and kids love it!!!!

Awesome. That was an extraordinary experience that I will never forget.

I thought it would be very troublesome to come in late. In fact, I followed the team and waited for an hour, so I went straight in. Canada's scenery is much more beautiful than the United States. Night lighting and fireworks show are more points, simply because of the difference between the direction of the waterfall and the angle. This can be listed on the list of "It s enough once in a lifetime." The shock of watching the waterfall on the boat is very strong, but it is a short stay. The fireworks time should be checked in advance, not every holiday.

I Truly enjoyed this boattrip..... too mee Its the best way to see the Falls.....20 years ago i took the american side, it was also a Nice experiance..... all enjoy