Harbor tours in NYC
 

I'm planning a Nov. trip to New York with four other ladies. We'd like to take a 1 hr. or 1 and 1/2 hr. daytime harbor cruise departing from Battery Park. Has anyone tried the Circle Line Statue of Liberty Ferry? How about the Zephyr? Are there any that leave earlier than 11:00 a.m.?

One that may suit you is the one-hour Circle Line cruise (see www.circleline.com). When I was in NYC in May I did the two-hour cruise and would recommend this (in half-decent weather conditions anyway).

The website shows you the departure points for each cruise, the one-hour cruise starting further down Manhattan.

I think for the one-hour cruise the boat goes down the Hudson to the Statue of Liberty and circles there a bit, then heads back to the dock.

The two-hour cruise (half-circle?) visits Liberty, then continues around the tip of Manhattan into the East River, passing under the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg Bridges, turns around near the UN Building and returns to the dock the same way it came.

We took the Circle Line Harbor Lights tour this August. You will really enjoy the ride, I would recommend the 2 hour boat tour.

If you can schedule the dusk tour, I think seeing the lights of downtown Manhattan coming on is quite spectacular.

The first Circle Line Statue of Liberty ferry leaves Battery Park about 9:15 AM. This is not a harbor tour. The boat goes to Liberty Island and you can get off and walk around the statue. The ride takes about 20 minutes.THe ferry then goes to Ellis Island where, again. you can get off. This ride takes somewherer around 10 mInutes. YOu then take a boat back to Battery Park, another 20 minute ride

Circlelinetours.com describes a 1-hr. narrated harbor tour, but the earliest tour at this time is 11:30. The hour and a half tour on the catamarand, Zephyr, sounded good, but I haven't heard from anyone who has tried it.