Yes, I know there have been many comments on whether to buy or not buy, a NY City Pass.I concluded it is NOT a good idea for that particular one.
I thought I was pretty good at researching but seem to have hit a brick wall in trying to decipher the various passes and what they offer.This is trip #6 to the Big A for us but this time we are bringing along our son and DIL for their first time visit...it's a BD surprise! We're there for 3 days and have a few set things in mind that we know they would enjoy seeing/doing.We would like to have admission to AMNH, the Circle Line's Sunset Cruise and the TOTR tour all pre-paid...so no lining up to purchase same.
So the question is this:
It would appear we can save a significant amount for the 4 tickets by purchasing The New York Explorer Pass. Are there any thoughts on this particular pass? (I realize we would have to pay an additional amount if we were to see the show at the Hayden Planetarium even with the Pass. Also know..it's pay what you like at the AMNH but wouldn't be comfortable cheaping out there).
Any further suggestions before we bash on and purchase this Explorer Pass online would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Passes are a PIA and never pay for themselves.

As for the AMNH I've never seen more than 5 or 6 people waiting to pay to get in - no pass needed.

ToTR also doens;t have long lines and yuo can buy tickets online in advance for NO waiting.

Sunset Cruise - I would think you could also buy tickets in advance and just go get on the boat. Maybe a few minutes of shuffling when it loads - but a pass won't help that.

And AMNH is a suggested price - with a ay what youwish policy - so I doubt very much the pass will save you anything.

I guess I just don't see the point of many of these so-called "passes". Lines for these three attractions in particular are usually minimal. So I don't see that you'd realize any significant time savings. You might, however, save money since the Circle Line is so expensive (that is if you really plan on spending full-price to see the AMNH). And you'd still have to pay extra to see many things within the museum as well as the planetarium.

Even if you get the pass you realize that you still have to get in line to pick up actual tickets for each attraction, and while the line may be shorter than the line to purchase tickets, these are not like the Empire State Building, where you often have to wait in an hour-plus line.

Regardless of what you do, I'd buy Circle Line tickets online in advance even if you choose not to get the pass. It's only the Circle Line that can have a big wait ... and you have to arrive 45 minutes in advance whether you have prepurchased tickets or not.

Thanks for the replies...It works out to $237.70 for the 4 of us...taking into acount 2 senior admission rates. Now I am wondering if in fact it is an actual pass or if they are specific tickets for these 3 venues. I'm certain it was customized under a New York Explorer Pass I'll have to go back and try and figure out where I found this info...quite possibly it was under Circle Line cruises.That's another conundrum...it looks like there are two Circle Line companies...Downtown and Sightseeing...I wonder which one would be best for the evening cruise?

Circle Line has one tour that circle the entire Manhattan Island (full-circle tour, 3 hours) and others that circle only part of the island (semi-circle or harbor lights, which take 2 hours). Some find the northern part of the full-circle tour boring, with fewer notable sights of interest. For the average tourists, the semi-circle or harbor lights will be perfectly fine, providing views of the heart of Manhattan and the harbor.

NY Waterways also has boat tours which may be part of your confusion.

There are a bunch of different website that offer these combined passes and build-your-own pass options. We can best advise if you provide a link to the particular deal you are considering.

The pass grants you admission to a certain number of participating venues. You do not receive 3 actual tickets. You still have to show your pass and pick up tickets.

There is only one and only one Circle Line company, but it offers a number of different cruises. You want the 2-hour Harbour Lights sunset cruise, fr which you must arrive 45 minutes early ticket or ass or no.

The site I used is nycgo.com. It's loaded with good info.It does indicate however under the frequently asked questions that there is... "actually two cruise companies with similar names" Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises and Cruise Line Downtown (which also offers cruises). Hence the confusion. And now...I cannot even find how I got that $237.70 rate with the Explorer Pass.....AAARGH!!!!

Just use Circle Line. None of the cruises that are offered by the company operating the web site Circle Line Downtown have Circle Line on the boats or operate any tours called "Circle Line", and none leaves from the Circle Line dock on 42nd Street, so it's not difficult to keep them apart.

I'm sorry that I can't help you with the actual costs of the passes.

The legitimate ones are CIRCLE LINE for tourist cruises and NY Waterways for commuter boat routes - which may also be interesting to tourists.

@ellenem
Thanks for the tip about the cruises. Hubby was interested in the 3 hour cruise, but when I told him of your input, and the scheduling, we agreed the 2 hour cruise was better for us.

We’ll be in NYC the first of April, and we did get the CityPass. We don’t want to fish out money for things and if we hit four places (our plans), it pays for itself. We have reservations for dinner for our first night (Keens Steakhouse--Hubby’s choice), but are willing to play it by ear a bit for the rest. We don’t need the fanciest places and, frankly, after looking at menus, I don’t think my palate is sophisticated enough to appreciate some of these flavors. Even if they sound good (and some just don’t appeal to me), I’m not sure I would really taste what I’m paying for.

I did the full Island tour and it was ok. The reason I did it was to see Yankee Stadium from the river. You also get to a point where its all woods around you (basically the North End of Manhattan) which was great to see so close to the city. But there were long stretches without seeing much so the 2 hour tour will be fine. We also did the Beast (Speedboat to Statue of Liberty) which was great.

I agree with all the comments about TOTR and AMNH too. Enjoy them.

Okay I'm baaaack still trying to figure out the cruise lines. And BTW, I've given up on buying any City passes and have decided to pay as we go. Now on to my dilemma: I did book the 9/11 site at 4 pm on our DOA. I thought with our timing we would stay in the Port area for the Circle line 2 hour Sunset Cruise and then have dinner in the South Street Seaport or Stone Street area afterwards. I didn't realize the departure peir wasn't even in that area but at Peir 83. So I have since found Circle line Downtown..offers a 1 hour cruise.. 'Statue by Night' from Peir 16 on the Zephyr which would fit with my plans to stay in that area for the whole afternoon/ evening. nytraveler...is this considered a 'legitimate' sightseeing cruise? ellenem? Doug_S? Any thoughts?

Certainly that is a legitimate cruise--it just meets different needs. It makes a loop in the downtown area so you can see the Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, WTC site from a distance, and Empire State Building from a greater distance. It is a smaller boat than the Circle Line boat, so it probably doesn't need to board so far ahead as the Circle Line does

The 2-hour Circle Line that departs from Pier 83 departs at midtown, so you would see more of that area, and it travels north along the East River, all the way to the UN, so again, you would see more of midtown on the east side. It is a greater time commitment for sure and not very conveniently located to your other activities for that day.

It's a legitimate cruise. It's just not Circle Line. But who cares? If that coincides with the timing you want, then you should do it. If you don't have a pass, it doesn't matter much which company you use.

It's legitimate - it;'s just a much shorter cruise on a smaller boat. You won;t see nerly as much as with a Circle line cruise - how could you in so much less time.