Statue Cruises Review

Loved it.Fast,with trips every half hour.Relaxing after a lot of walking

They don't tell you that when you get out there your screwed because you have to have advanced tickets you buy online a day or two ahead! Dirty trick very upset!!

Great for seeing the New York skyline and the ferry is free

Line up can be long but ot goes quite fast. So don t give up

Good service but very limited schedule, some queues quite understandable by the magnitude of the monument they serve, but close at 17:00 at least in winter.

I have not been on this tour yet, but I have been trying for a week to get in touch with this company in order to change the date of my tickets. I have tried emailing (3 times), calling (3 times, and never got through to anyone, despite over 15 min. wait times), and online chat (didn't work on either of my browsers). My originally scheduled date is a month away, and according to the website they accept changes and refund this far in advance. But I don't think I'll ever be able to get in touch with them.

Extremely frustrated!

We booked tickets for the first round two months ago; arrived boarding, we expect the opening, like many others, in the rain and in the cold; passed forward to even boarding anything until a security man comes out to say: "Today we are closed, please contact the agencies to change dates" (available in a few weeks); shame I could not do the tour; Insufficient much organization (at least a sign attached to the door) and respect for the visitor completely absent! !!!!

Seamless way to take a day trip to a national monument! It's just as fun getting there as it is being there!

Superb experience! Especially the museum on Ellis Island! I still recommend a day to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
It is possible to buy food on the spot.
Access to the statue is limited and sometimes you have to wait for months so it is necessary to do it in advance, especially if it's in a group.

Definitely a must experience. Don t go unless you have time though. You get your tickets inside the little castle place that is to the left of the line. The line looks not that big. It is. Make sure you plan accordingly. Once you get through the doors there is another line for security. The security is not basic security it s airport grade security. They make sure to point that out because you ll have to take everything off and pass a metal detector. A pain but it is safer. The next thing is getting down to the boat. They just take people in herds, sort of. First come first served so make sure to plan ahead like I said and leave time for the wait. The entire trip takes about 1-1.25 hours. If you don t get off the boat.

From the boat you get great views. But obviously if you go up to the crown and inside the museum it is a different experience and takes a lot longer. Are you checking it off the list or getting the full immersion into the history?

Your choice. Enjoy!!!

Used to take cruise to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

A stunning view to and from the islands.Snacks on boat, plenty of seating, restrooms too! A must see/experience attraction! - Definitely a must go when you're in NYC. I strongly recommend - buy the tickets online well in advance and pick it up from cash desk. There are 2 security check points. One prior to boarding the ferry and the next one on the island if you have crown or pedestal tickets. It all takes time however at the end of the day its definitely worth it.

The company is fine but the whole trip there and back isn't worth waiting in line and missing your whole day

If I could give them 0 stars I would.

We pre-booked tickets to the Statue of Liberty via Statue Cruises (SC) before our trip in December. I have taken this trip before around the same time and there were no issues.

However, this time, we arrived 30 minutes before our allotted check in time to be told there was a 3.5 hour wait to go through security. The queue was all the way round battery park and we could not even see the end. It was obvious that statue cruises had over booked their service. They were quick however the let us know there was an express trip that would have us over to the statue within the hour!! This would cost and extra $30 per adult and $20 per child (we had already paid $62 for 3 adults and a child).

There we no apologies from SC staff and it seemed obvious they had over sold their tickets and could not meet the demand (unless we were willing to pay an extra $110 (nearly twice as much as the original cost))

When we emailed SC all they could say is that their line was running regularly so could not issue a refund. There was no acknowledgement of the queue or any reasoning for it.

I would not recommend SC to anyone. It seems all they are interested in is making as much money as possible at the expense of hard working individuals. We were on a trip of a lifetime to New York and this incident put a dampener on it.

Statue Cruises should be ashamed of themselves and their greed.

Really a MUST when you are in New York ... we did the short tour, to the Lady Liberty, briefly to the museum there and back again. We recommend...

Tip: Unofficial guys in purple jackets are running around on the street in front of the jetty and want to turn something on, just ignore them and go to the official counter of the Statue Cruises ...

If there s another way to access the Islands (Ellis and Liberty), take that. The employees at Statue Cruises are nothing short of rude, pushy, and downright disrespectful towards people (they need to be reminded that without these visitors, they would be unemployed). They were shouting at everyone, yelling at everyone to hurry up, and even joking amongst each other about people not moving fast enough. The lines were long and the Staff s attitude wasn t helping matters. It was quite an unpleasant experience. Again, find a different way to the Islands - this wasn t worth the hassle.

it is so time consuming; it would better to see status of liberty at brooklyn

This was an inexpensive yet lovely tour. The ticket at only $19 includes the ferry, the museum tour, but not the actual statue tour (we waited too late to get tickets for that added tour). The museum is fantastic and has a cool interactive photo kiosk where you take your pic and then they load eventually to this HUGE wall with all the others and then move slowly to create the outline of the statue with all these millions of photos. It also shows the number of international travelers on the screen since opening. The ferry leaves the Statue every 20+ minutes and goes to Ellis Island. If you don t/can t do Ellis Island as well, you simply stay on and it goes on to return to the shore. We had 12:00 tickets but got there, went through security (like an airport) early, stood in line and got on. The ferry gave FABULOUS views of the NYC skyline especially from the top level. There is food and drink on the ferry and both the Statue and Ellis Island had a cafeteria! We were there on a 36-degree WINDY day, we bundled up and braved it from the top.

NOTE: There are ticket tour scammers that line the perimeter of Battery Park AVOID! They have jackets/shirts that look like they work for the ferry/tour company and ask if you have tickets. If you say no, they try to sell you a ticket for less than the ticket office THEY ARE NOT THE OFFICIAL TOUR! It is for a different boat/tour that is not affiliated with the National Park Service. Always buy your tickets on-line at the right place or at the ticket booth. Also, if you want to go in/up the actual statue, you have to get the tickets way in advance to get that (we decided to go at the last minute so a ferry ticket was all we could get but it was still fabulous!!) Highly recommend.

Official company to visit the statue of liberty, the mother of exiles. It is the only one that stops at star and island. The ferry is far away, not worth it. Buy in advance, the visit is really cool. The statue is a symbol of what happened there. Worth the visit.

Very good service without any problems.
Statue Cruises is the company that transports you
from Battery Park on Ellis Island and at
Statue of Liberty.

It was nice. Ships sail until 5 pm to the island. At 6:15 pm they kick you off the island even though the boat arrives at 6:45 which is why it got 4 stars.

It s good way to see a Statue of Liberty I ve been here two times. Always good

The journey you can see Statue of Liberty and Ellis island. Also know US history well rather than book.

Staff is rude, yells at customers, and herds you along like cattle.

Bought tickets in advance. Was moved 3 times every time we reached the front of the line, to longer new lines. Completely disorganized and chaotic. Asked for a refund. Hire some industrial psychologists and fix your system. It's embarrassing that a national monument of ours is being run like a mediocre carnival.

Terrible company and experience, especially for families. I'll just hit the highlights that need improved to make this a decent experience. First, they have no direction on if you buy a ticket online that you can walk to the front of the half mile long line, they send people out randomly to let you know after you've been waiting for 20 minutes. Then none of the line is shaded, so hot sun or rain and you are not going to have a good experience The typical wait time is 1 hour from start to finish, so not very fun Lastly, the boats are extremely crowded as they pile everyone on. My point here is that if I'm going to pay the same price as six flags to go see the monuments then six flags at least gives shade and misters.... I mean this is one of the first experiences many tourist get of our country... And well... It's sad... It makes me embarrassed as an American. I hope the tour company reads this and makes some changes. Their loading process is also part of the problem They have several guys standing around and only one entrance/exit to the boat.... This makes for an incredibly long loading and unloading process. They have plenty of dock space, the manning and space on the other end of the ship they could load with .. Lastly, the security personnel are extremely rude . I completely understand that dealing with people who can't follow simple directions all day to get through security can be frustrating but they are representing our country to millions of others from around the world... Simply be professional and do it with a smile. I love my country have served for 20 years, and will continue to put my life on the line for others, and I do so with a smile.

So many people on the boat. It's safe and legit but so many people.

The essential and official company to visit the Statue of Liberty in NYC. Online booking preferable before, with pre-defined timetables to be chosen, and dematerialized tickets on mobile possible. A crazy world between Christmas / New Year, but the grounded organization still allows fluidity and relatively little expectation: for us it was in freezing windy cold. Professional staff, easy boarding and disembarking. Visit to do without necessarily taking the formula that allows you to climb to the starue, as it is from the outside that the magic operates, with great landscapes of Manhattan

The cruises to the Statue of Liberty was fabulous! The ride was so smooth you barely had to use the handles. The scenery was amazing plus in my mind. You can see the NYC skyline as soon as it leaves and then you get a chance to see Ellis Island as well. Well done Statue cruises!

When going to Statue of liberty and Ellis Island Immigration museum, the only way is to take the ferry from Statue Cruises at one their locations. They have ferries going to Statue from Battery Park in Lower Manhattan and Liberty State Park In New Jersey.

Since millions of visitors visit Statue every year, it is always advisable to buy tickets. The last time we went here we bought our passes online though even then one has to go to the counter to get the actual tickets. The wait to get tickets wasn't that bad even though it was a weekend. After one has to wait in the line after collecting the tickets. The line at security moved fast.

The ferry itself is very comfortable. Even though the ferries are huge it sometimes become difficult to find a seat to sit down. The view from the ferry of lower Manhattan are very nice. They first take the ferry to Statue of Liberty and then one can wait for the next ferry to take them to Ellis Island museum.

So for $17 per person, the ride is worth checking out two of the most touristy spots in NYC!

Great for getting to the two islands, easy and regular trips meant there was no rushing to see everything.

Great once in a life time thing to do but it's pricey

Booked online the day before, took the 9am cruise from Battery Park to Liberty Island. No wait times, few people, everything worked out ok. Worth waking up early!

Great tour, practical and quite affordable! I recommend taking a cruise in the morning, great view on Liberty Island!

Very informative and well worth every penny to get close to the Statue of liberty!

Incredible did not have time for the hard hat tour but will definitely on my next trip. Ellis Island show rich and dense....

horrible experience. do not use this cruise line. no parking. horrible customer service. the staff was insufferable. all around horrible experience.

Ticketing was a bit of a chore to navigate, but a fine service to an iconic American monument.

Crowded: Yes; Touristy: Yes; Herd through like cattle: Yes. A must-see in New York: YES.
When you arrive at the Battery Park ferry landing, you'll enter through airport-like security, but not as bad. Just standard metal detector, bags x-ray. Long line but moves pretty quick. Once on the ferry, it's exciting to see the statue and island grow larger and larger as you get close. One on the island, it really is breathtaking. Yes, there's crowds and tourists everywhere with selfie sticks, but if you tune them out, you can still admire the majesty of Lady Liberty. TIP: Get the pedestal access. It's the same price as the island-only access, and it is really cool to go up inside. Skip the crown, overrated. Also, if you go up the pedestal, be brave and take the stairs. Unless you're really out of shape or limited mobility, the stairs are doable. A challenge and you'll feel a little winded when you reach the top of the pedestal, but the reward of walking out the door and looking out over the island is even sweeter! Do it. Don't be lazy. :)
Avoid bringing any bags or anything unnecessary if you're going up the pedestal. There's a second security checkpoint and you cannot bring anything more than a small camera. No bags, no backpacks, no large cameras/tripods. You need to check all that stuff in lockers at the base.
Bring some small bills: Lockers are only a buck or two, but only take cash and give no change.
Lastly, there can be large lines to leave the island. Don't be discouraged, the line may look super long but the ferries hold an unbelievable amount of people and come literally every few minutes so there's not much wait.

Please arrive before 12:00. The queue after that time is huge or take this tour from New Jersey, which is much more empty.

Save yourself some time and purchase tickets online. Don t get roped in by the street hustlers wanting you to take the Staten Island Ferry. You ll spend more than double for a drive by view of the amazing history at Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Overall, we had an amazing experience for fairly cheap! The boats and crew were fairly nice too which was nice

Was pleased we paid the fee instead of going for the free ferry as got to go on and in to the statue as well as Ellis Island. Ferries were frequent too.

It is a tour that can not be missed if you visit NY, the route very safe and the excellent visual part

This is one of the best places to visit in New York City. Battery Park and the Statue of Liberty all the employees were very friendly.

Good, very informative tour person narrative of places as you cruise around.

Worst customer service, worst phone service. Needed to modify or st least discuss an existing reservation. Have bern on hold for 59 mins. Still on hold. They should st least have the courtesy & honesty to say they do not have anyone to take calls and should take this option off their system.

If you enjoy queuing, then this is the tourist attraction for you.

Some of the many queues we experienced at this tourist trap imclude:
- 200m long queues with airport security to get on the boat
- queue to get off the boat
- Queue to get view of Statue of Liberty
- Long queue to get back on the boat
- Queue to get off the boat at Ellis island
- Long queue to get back on the boat
- Sea sickness inducing queue to get off the boat at battery park

Unfortunately, due to the extensive time spent queuing, we didn't have time to go up the Statue of Liberty or see much of the Ellis island museum exhibit.

The boat ride to the statue is over if those experiences new Yorkers have when they're kids in school, it's yet another of those NYC tourist things where you have to behave like a herd of cattle. There is security with metal detectors like an airport to guard against ... Not sure ... The statue is open very limited hours ... It's a national park ... Run that way.

Just magical! but go early because it's always full full full! If you have the NEW YORK CITY PASS with audio guide free French (not to be confused with the more expensive NEW YORK PASS) is included, and I think that it is better to prefer the Statue Cruise that allows you to set foot on Liberty Island and Ellis Island as CIRCLE CRUISE LINE

cruise that takes you to statue of liberty and Ellis island

Hard to enjoy a cruise after standing 3 hours in line. Waited 30 minutes for ticket, 10:30. Standed in the "Flex" line another 2.5 hours. No bathrooms in line, kids complaining, freezing temps, pure hell... You can do better! They seem to only care about moving the people in the "reserved" line which still looked like one hour. Horrible experience

I purchased a package ticket book...it included this CRUISE...awesome fun time for all of us...We saw the STATUE OF LIBERTY/ ELLIS ISLAND/ also beautiful NEW YORK from a different perspective...

Quite well organised and fast ferries. Slightly overpriced for such a short route, but considering the location it is understandable.

I'd stay away if there's a chance they may cancel the cruise, because they don't issue refunds or deign to respond to inquiries.

I purchased two Statue of Liberty tickets online on March 10. The cruise was canceled because the National Parks Service shut the park down. I asked for a refund through the website around mid-March, and they said to look for a refund in about two weeks. I didn't receive it in that time frame, but I thought that was understandable. I emailed them on May 18 letting them know I still didn't have my refund. Their auto-reply said it takes them 5-7 days to respond. It's been seven weeks and they still haven't responded. I actually thought they went out of business or something but I now see that they've started selling tickets again, and if they're not too busy to do that they shouldn't be too busy to issue refunds. They can now answer to the Better Business Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission.

Perfect!

Cheap easy boat ride got us to the Statue for $19. All we needed. Security line can be long so just account for that. But overall great!

We liked the boat and because it was a weekday it wasn't full at all. The cost was under $40 for 2 (with tip) and we will definitely do it again

Avoid these thieves in blue shirt when you get to Battery Park. This guy called Hector took our money from alot of us and we got no tour

Was shepherded across the road and back by a guide who didn't know what he was doing. Then was given instructions to go to the wrong place and ended up missing the last Cruise.

our first time visiting New York
both me and my wife loved the views from the boat the only down side was I think some of the staff could have been a lot more friendly

Absolute cluster mess. Nothing tells you what ship to get on and the employees more interested in their phones than giving you useful directions.

Waiting 50 minutes to buy the ticket and then 2 hours to get on boat

STATUE CRUISES :EVEN IF YOU BUY TICKETS ON LINE U STILL HAVE TO WAIT FOR 2 HOURS INLINE !!! THEN I ARRIVED AT THE TICKET COUNTER TO FIND OUT THAT THE BOAT IS NOT GOING TO ELLIS ISLAND !!! RIP OFF SAME PRICE W/OUT ELLIS ISLAND SHOUD THEY HAVE HAD A SIGN ALONG THE LINE SOME OF US WOULD HAVE CHANGE PLANS... MISSLEASING RIPP OFF NEVER AGAIN NEVER SUGGEST IT EITHER !!!

No refreshments, not even water. I had a bad experience

An absolutely amazing experience. Went for the Statue of Liberty, stayed much longer because of Ellis Island.

My biggest suggestion is to allocate at a very minimum 1 hour to spend on Liberty Island and 2 hours on Ellis Island. The experience was wonderful and I highly recommend it to anybody regardless of age or background.

Full review:
Took the subway from Brooklyn to Bowling Green station near Battery Park. As soon as I got out and on to the street level a guide was there to point us in the right direction. Having to cross the street, there was another guide right there as well guiding others too. I purchased my tickets online so went straight to the security line. Saw the line for ticket purchasing, and it didn't look like it would take too long had I needed to buy them there (If you want to go up to the pedestal or crown be sure to book your tickets at least a month in advance). I might've gotten lucky the day I was there as the security line was very short and as soon as that was done I walked right on to the ferry.

First stop was Statue of Liberty. The ferry takes you in front of the statue and slows down to offer a prime photo location. Once on the island, be sure to pick up your audio tour that is free. I had pedestal tickets and went right to the entrance for that. Through another quick security check, I was inside the pedestal. Be sure to visit the museum inside before going up. To ascend, you can either take the stairs or wait for the elevator. Once outside on the pedestal, beautiful 360-degree views are available. Can get chilly up there, so be sure to bring a jacket. Spent a bit of time up there and on the way down were able to stop at an area that was much less crowded than the main island, which allowed us to take pictures again in every direction. Walked around the island a bit and then boarded on the ferry to Ellis Island.

Second stop was Ellis Island. This is definitely the most underrated part of the whole tour. The setup of the island is wonderful. They have it broken into three parts: Early migration (prior to Ellis Island), the Ellis Island era, and immigration post Ellis Island. Again, be sure to pick-up the audio tour that is free and take your time especially in the upstairs section. It is unbelievable to think about what was going on in these people s minds while they were here and trying to make it. Very emotional to put yourself in their shoes. Could've easily spent half the day in this section.

We had other plans to get to in the evening, so we didn't get to spend anywhere close to the amount of time we would've like to here. Couldn't have asked for a better experience.

This is the only ferry service that actually goes to the Liberty Island if you want to go to Statue of Liberty. All other ferries and online cheaper deals are actually boats that go around the Statue of Liberty in water and you can view the Statue from the boat.

Online website showed me tickets around $22 but the actual one on Battery Park was $18. Line is not that long and you can get tickets easily. Ferry keeps going from time to time.

They are agile in selling tickets. However they are disorganized for the ascent of tourists to the ship. But during the journey the explanation of the emblematic places is adequate.

I enjoyed the ride, boat was clean and it was very organized. They followed all the mask and distancing protocols. Which I appreciated and I felt very safe. That was the fist time I visited both Liberty and Ellis Island and I enjoyed it. It was totally worth it and the price was great.

A "must" but the experience depends very much on whether you can get a seat on the upper deck. From there you have of course a breathtaking view of the skyline of Manhattan, Liberty Island and Ellis Island.

I bought tickets for May 4, they did not offer the service by covid19 and I have been asking for the return of my tickets for months, nobody answers, a shame

The security is hella grumpy. Other than that, extremely touristy.

Purchased tickets online but didn't receive them in email for several hours, so still had to stand in willcall line for 20+ min to get physical tickets. Be sure to purchase tickets the night before, the regular ticket line was very long. Had to stand 20+ min in full sun to get on the ferry from Ellis to South ferry. Nearly pushed off my feet by crush of people trying to get on. Please fix this stop. The boat ride itself is great, there's restroom, cafe, and face views of the statue as you come alongside the island.

Great place to just go and spend a day. Well maintained gardens and a beautiful view of the NY skyline.