NYC Tall Ships Sail4th America Lunch Cruise

unacceptable delay without letting us about it in advance totally disorganized operations on shore. no signage for the place, one disorganized person trying to give tickets. not knowing what table we will be at . the captain had hard time anchoring the boat in the right place. and after over 80 minutes over the originally planed departing time (12 pm) we had to leave because we had another commitment for 3 pm. so we never boarded the ship one of the most frustrating experiences i would like to get refund , let alone compensation for time wasted and the cost of getting to the pier

Decrepit boat. Nice crew. Narration only available on weather top deck. Folding chair seating.

We did not get on this unsafe vessel. Viator needs to check this boat out and not offer this tour company. They were 1.5 hours late with the boat to the meeting point and then the people crewing the boat were not coast guard certified as we found out after it took 45 minutes for them to figure out how to tie the boat to the dock. My husband runs ships we were so upset my kids asked that we not take this boat especially after one sank from this company recently on NY harbor. They were mishandling food leaving it in a puddle. Besides these two tickets I paid for 7 other VIP tickets. There was a tour guide with a large group creating trouble and fights were breaking out because he wouldn’t let VIP guests board and he blocked the gangway even with my infant overheating in the sun for two hours which they charged me for. We were offered a refund which I still do not have but told my credit card company not to pay any of the tickets until the company refunds it. A captain finally showed up 2 hours late but my family felt it was an unsafe situation with the crew, food handling and fights breaking out so we asked for a refund as did many others and they took my name but 24 hours layered I am still waiting for a refund on both Viator and NY waterways group.

Delayed start. Email notification terrible. Notification and organization on the pier non-existent. We got there at 2:30 for suposedly a 3PM start only to find out it is a 3:30 start. Then we were notified that it would start @ 4:15. We were given some BS blue ticket and tol we could wander around. We decided to stay where we were because we were near the front of the line and could choose where we would sit. You know since we were going to wat a couple of hours we might as well take advantage of our inconvenience. The boat then docked in the wrong place and we ended up boarding near last. No place to sit. Long lines for refreshments. Poor organization, and not one apology for any inconvenience.

We cruised on the Grande Mariner for the Sail 4th Tall Ship parade. While being on the water for the parade was a great experience, the rest was mostly unacceptable! There were not enough chairs and tables for all 600 guests. It was nearly 100 degrees. People scrambled to secure chairs inside in the air conditioning. Everything on the buffet was served cold or room temperature in foil tin trays. There was no chaffing dishes or sterno burners to keep things warm. The quality of the food was very basic for such a premium price. There were not enough serving utensils. The food sat out for hours which concerned me for food safety of things like hard boiled eggs. The food and ice ran out at 1115 (2.15 hours into our 5 hour cruise). Quite a surprise for a "full buffet" cruise. We asked the staff about lunch, they were very rude and told us to ask someone else. When someone finally did answer, they said lunch was never planned, only breakfast. Very surprising for a cruise that starts at 8 and goes until 2. The bar tenders wouldn't serve drinks for the first 45 minutes because they didn't know it was an open bar cruise. And how can you run out of ice and not be able to serve cold drinks on such a hot day? The cruise had narration of the ships, which was nice. But the sound system cut out inside so we missed half of it. When it came back on, the sound was incredibly loud. Many people were covering their ears. After the parade of tall ships ended at 1, we sat in the water for an hour, likely to fulfil the 5 hour cruise promise. Which would have been fine had there been more food and cold drinks. It felt like being held hostage. Upon exiting the boat, we witnessed a crew member tell an older gentleman with mobility issues to move faster. He talked to the captain and was told not to abuse the crew! The police got involved. It was shocking! It was not the premium experience I would have expected for the premium price. Nor would I have expected such poor service at any price. I will not use NYC water tours in the future!