CityPASS Cruises: 4 Harbor Tours Included In These Awesome Packages

If you’re visiting a new city and that city happens to be on a significant body of water, take the opportunity to step back for a better view. How? Hop on a boat. I find with cities like New York City, you could be looking for a landmark like the Empire State Building but walk right by it, one of the world’s tallest buildings, simply because you’re lost in a jungle of concrete.

Taking a boat tour allows you to step back, get out of the crowd and see the sights from a less cluttered point of view. You also have the added bonus of most tours being fully narrated, pointing out the iconic landmarks along with some lesser known highlights that you might not have found on your own.

I’m a lover of CityPASS. With their packages, you will always save on a major attractions by grouping them into one easy purchase. Even if you skip one of two of the attractions, you most often come out ahead financially.

With CityPASS, there are four locations in the United States that include boat tours in the package. With Seattle and San Francisco, the harbor cruises are a standard part of the package. With Boston and New York City, cities with more unpredictable and potentially drastic winter conditions, the harbor cruises are given as choices. Take a look below for more details on these four packages offering a harbor cruise.

Seattle Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour

The Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour is a one hour, fully narrated boat tour that includes panoramic views, up close views and a full service bar. The boats sail daily, all year round and depart from Pier 55 on the Seattle, Washington waterfront. In 2017, the walk up rate for adults, without the CityPASS discount is $27.00.

The Seattle CityPASS totals $102.13 for adults and includes five attractions. What’s included is a visit to the Space Needle, the Seattle Aquarium and the Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour. Then, you must choose between either the Museum of Pop Culture or the Woodland Park Zoo and the Chiluly Garden and Glass or the Pacific Science Center.

Boston Harbor Cruises

Taking off from One Long Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts, the Boston Harbor Cruise is a 90 minute long, full narrated tour of Boston’s inner and outer harbors. Slightly more expensive, but 30 minutes longer, than the harbor tour in Seattle, without the CityPASS package, this attraction will set back adults $28.95.

The Boston CityPASS package includes four attractions and costs adults $75.91. Included are visits to the New England Aquarium, Museum of Science and Skywalk Observatory. Then, you must choose between either the Boston Harbor Cruise or a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts.

New York City Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises

No matter the price, the Circle Line tour is an absolute must when visiting New York. With CityPASS, this option is unique in that you choose from five different cruises that Circle Line offers. The Best of New York Cruise does the full circle around the island of Manhattan and is highly recommended.

Another cruise option includes a Landmarks Cruise which takes you around the bottom end of Manhattan. There is also a Liberty Cruise which focuses on the Statue of Liberty, a Harbor Lights Cruise which sails at night and a Landmarks Plus Brooklyn Cruise that covers more of the southern and eastern parts of the city.

All five cruises would come in somewhere around $40 per adult if purchased alone. With CityPASS, the price is $116 for adults but includes five other attractions. The Empire State Building, American Museum of Natural History and Metropolitan Museum of Art are always included. Then the choices come in to play.

You must choose for three of the six attractions. First, it’s either the Top of the Rock Observatory or the Guggenheim Museum. Then, the Circle Line Cruise or a visit to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Finally, the decision is between the 9/11 Memorial and Museum or the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

San Francisco Blue & Gold Fleet Bay Cruise Adventure

I’ve been to San Francisco just once and it was a race to get from one end to the other as fast as possible in rush hour traffic. When I visit again at a more leisurely pace, the Blue & Gold Fleet Bay Adventure will be first up on the list.

This harbor cruise is a 60 minute, fully narrated tour. The boat is based at Pier 39 on the San Francisco waterfront and would cost $31 per adult if bought alone.

The San Francisco CityPASS includes five attractions and will cost an adult $129.73. A seven day cable car and muni bus passport, a visit to the California Academy of Sciences and the Blue & Gold Fleet Bay Cruise Adventure are always included. You must choose between the Exploratorium or the De Young Museum and between the Aquarium of the Bay or Monterey Bay Aquarium.

About CityPASS

These packages are great and always provide a heavy discount on attractions. You can purchase the package ahead of time, online. Once the first attraction is visited, you then have a comfortable nine days to use the rest of the pass. Currently, 12 cities across North America are involved, eleven in the United States and one in Canada (Toronto).

Just a hint on making your decisions when a choice between two attractions must be made: check out each individual attraction’s official website, looking for discount days or even free days. Some museums have free entrance on certain days or after a certain time of day, making it logical to choose the other option via the CityPASS. By planning right, you can visit more with no additional cost.

Also, if planning a trip way ahead of time, be sure to check back with CityPASS periodically for changes in the lineup. At times, new attractions are brought in to replace others. We experienced this in Toronto where a new attraction was brought in between when we purchased the package and when we used it. It was definitely to our advantage as the new attraction was somewhere we really wanted to visit.