The four buffet sailings on New York Harbor, compared by vessel, pier and price. From $84.71, with 2,290 traveller reviews between them and the New Jersey departure most visitors miss.
Four sailings, from $84.71 to $119.43, all with a full buffet, and a DJ on the evening departures. 2,290 traveller reviews between them, and free cancellation on every one.
Listings, piers and prices checked against every live booking page. How we check
Short answer
Buffet sailings are the loud, sociable end of the harbor: serve yourself as often as you like, a DJ instead of a live band on the evening departures, a dance floor that fills up around the Statue of Liberty, and a bill that lands $50 to $70 below the plated boats. Four run here, three from Chelsea Piers on the Spirit of New York and one from Liberty State Park in Jersey City on the Spirit of New Jersey. Dress is comfortable and casually stylish, not semi-formal.
If the plated boats are a restaurant that moves, these are a party that feeds you. The Spirit of New York is a large multi-deck vessel with a climate-controlled dining room, an open deck to escape to, and a DJ who starts working somewhere after the first course. Nobody is checking your shoes. Families, birthday groups and anyone who would rather dance than sit through five courses end up here, and the reviews are noticeably warmer about the atmosphere than about the food.
The four listings are really two boats. Three are the Spirit of New York out of Pier 61, sold as a dinner sailing, a flexible daypart booking and a daylight lunch run. The fourth is the Spirit of New Jersey out of Liberty Landing Marina, which is the same format pointed the other way: you face the Manhattan skyline head-on instead of running alongside it, and the parking is cheap.
Prices are the current from-price per person and move with your date, so the live listing is always the authority.
Most reviewed in this category
The Spirit of New York after dark: a full buffet, a DJ, and a dance floor that fills up somewhere around the Statue of Liberty. Climate-controlled inside, open deck outside, and a far more relaxed room than Bateaux.
The same Spirit of New York buffet boat, booked as a daypart of your choosing. Brunch and lunch sailings start well below the dinner price, which makes this the cheapest way onto a City Cruises meal boat.
Midday on the Spirit of New York, when the same route costs less and you can actually see it. A full buffet lunch, and the skyline in daylight rather than silhouette.
The view most New Yorkers never get: the Manhattan skyline head-on, from the water off Liberty State Park. A buffet, a reserved private table and a DJ, out of a marina with parking that does not cost Chelsea Piers money.
The daypart you choose moves the price more than the boat does. Lunch and brunch sailings run the same route for less.
| Sailing | Departs | Meal | What is different about it | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Signature dinner | Pier 61, Chelsea Piers | Buffet dinner | The evening sailing on its own. The most-reviewed buffet boat here by a wide margin. | $119.43 |
| Flexible daypart booking | Pier 61, Chelsea Piers | Buffet brunch, lunch or dinner | Same boat, you pick the daypart. The from-price is the cheapest slot, not dinner. | $84.71 |
| Signature lunch | Pier 61, Chelsea Piers | Buffet lunch | Daylight on the same route, which is the only way to actually photograph the skyline rather than a silhouette. | $93.05 |
| Spirit of New Jersey | Liberty Landing Marina, Jersey City | Buffet lunch or dinner | Faces Manhattan head-on. Reserved private table, and parking that does not cost Chelsea Piers money. | $84.71 |
| Dress code | Comfortable and casually stylish. No semi-formal requirement on any of these, unlike the Bateaux boats at the same pier. Flat closed-toe shoes are recommended on a moving deck. |
|---|---|
| Children | Welcome, and infants go free on the Chelsea Piers sailings. This is the part of the harbor that suits families. |
| Drinks | Unlimited coffee, hot tea and iced tea are included. Alcohol is sold separately on all four, which is worth budgeting for if you are staying the whole sailing. |
| Tables | The New Jersey sailing states a reserved private dining table. On the Chelsea Piers sailings, seating arrangements depend on the option you buy. |
| Getting there | Pier 61 is C or E to 23rd Street, then west across the highway. Liberty Landing Marina is 80 Audrey Zapp Drive inside Liberty State Park, reachable by PATH and light rail, with an on-site lot. |
| Boarding | Opens 45 minutes before departure. Traffic on the West Side Highway is the usual reason people miss it. |
Yes. Serve yourself and go back as often as you like, which is the practical difference from the plated boats where you get a set number of courses. Travellers regularly mention the vegetarian and vegan selection being better than expected.
The flexible booking, at $84.71, but that from-price is its cheapest daypart rather than its dinner price. If you specifically want the evening sailing, compare the actual dinner price on both listings for your date before choosing.
For the view and the parking, genuinely yes. From Liberty State Park the Manhattan skyline sits in front of you as a whole rather than sliding past your shoulder, and the marina parking is cheap and easy in a way Chelsea Piers parking is not. It holds 4.0 across 123 reviews, and the lower review count reflects lower traffic, not a worse boat.
On the dinner sailings, yes, with a DJ. The lunch sailings are quieter by nature. If dancing is the point of the evening, book the evening departure rather than assuming the daytime one has the same atmosphere.
On the dinner sailings you get the city lit up, which photographs as silhouette and glow rather than detail. If you want to actually see the buildings, the $93.05 lunch sailing runs the same route in daylight for less money.
Worth a look for a quieter room with courses brought to your table.
Worth a look for the same idea in daylight, with bottomless mimosas.
Worth a look for the harbor without a meal, from $86.
Reading first: The Spirit of New York reviewed in full · Sailing from the New Jersey side · What the money actually buys
