Spirit of New Jersey

The worst Mother’s Day cruise ever! We docked from NJ. First, our waiter Tristan was rude to my father. He told us they didnt serve the Captains Punch (45oz) We settled for a smaller size, he began to tell us that we couldnt have a smaller size at all! We spoke with his supervisor who informed us that wasnt true at all and we were served our drinks (As watered down as it was). At that time we asked for a Different waiter (Dillon) who was better. A 2 hour trip wasnt enough time to serve dinner and dance/​entertainment and before we knew it we were docking again. The ladies bathroom was HORRID and I have pictures to prove it.

We were invited to have brunch on the beautiful and welcoming Spirit Cruise Ship of New Jersey (they departed from Chelsea Pier).
As much as we wanted to be seated on the upper deck, we were satisfied with our seats on the lower deck.
I think we were sitting right above the engine! The curiosity of where the noise was coming from created discussions with basically everyone at our table. That was awesome considering we met some amazing people from different necks of the wood.
Please fully charge your phone to check into Unilocal and take advantage of a free delicious and stiff mimosa.
Haha! I was a superstar at my table where I introduced the Unilocal app to four individuals. Not only did they sign up and receive free mimosas, they were eager to take pictures as the event went on, but was open to writing a quality user experience tip or detailed review of their experiences.
They had a buffet style brunch with different types of salad, stuffed shell fish, baked chicken, mashed potato, broccoli, and pasta. Delicious!
My huger pain was seriously kicking in therefore I ended up getting a second round! No shame, I was indeed pigging out…
I was impress with their music selection, which was appropriate for all age group.
They had a cute dance floor set up. I’m not a good dancer, but I think I made a fool out of myself with some unique move. Totally worth it!
As I made my way to the rooftop, the view was beyond beautiful. I love New York City. We had a beautiful view of the Statue of Liberty, Governor Island, Brooklyn bridge, and many more historical places.
Overall, I had a beautiful brunch well spent with some new acquaintances and a mesmerizing view.
Our waiter was just the best! I showed my appreciation by leaving a generous tip. Well deserve!

My girlfriend and I did the Valentine’s Day dinner cruise on Saturday before Valentine’s Day 2÷13÷2016. (you know, the night it was zero degrees and gale warnings). We stressed out the whole week prior knowing what the weather had in store and wondering if the cruise would be cancelled, or worse held dockside.
Well, we stressed for nothing. The harbor and East River were not too bumpy at all and the ship sailed very smooth. Wouldn’t even know it was windy. Spent some time cruising around the Statue of Liberty and went under the Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, etc. Amazing views of the City.
We were seated at a window table (highly recommend) we had reserved and started using our drink tickets (also highly recommend). Our drinks ranged from wine to margaritas, to top shelf bourbons and there were no extra charges using the drink tickets.
The dinner buffet was incredible. Excellently prepared and lots of choices.
The DJ was playing great music and the dance floor was a good size.
Every member of the staff we encountered was very friendly and helpful.
We are planning on going again, but definitely on a warmer night in the spring or summer !!

Views are great! The upper deck lounge is perfect! The food is so so, the Asian beef was the best thing… If definitely go again

My wife and I just stepped off of the spirit of New Jersey. What a fantastic time. The service was excellent and the food was outstanding! We boarded the ship from Lincoln Harbor NJ. We had a wonderful ride down the Hudson River and up the east river. Caption Bob was a terrific host and an expert at the helm. The whole time offered a wonderful view of Manhattan from a view few people get to experience. skyline. I would highly recommend a spirit Cruise to anyone tourist or local.

I did the lunch cruise with my dad and it was such a fun tour on the Hudson. The service was great as we were talked to the host at several points during the trip. Even the lunch buffet was very high quality with options of tilapia, pork, and chicken entrees. The DJ was also a nice touch pointing out at the attractions along the way. It certainly is an expensive trip but worth every dollar we spent!

Went on a Friday evening dinner cruise with 2 great friends. We had a blast. The boat was comfortable, the food tasty and the best part was the awesome service provided by our waiter Eric. He made sure we had everything we needed, he was like having a personal concierge on board! The views are spectacular. This is definitely a great activity for anyone who loves New York City. Highly recommended!

Went with my boyfriend to celebrate my birthday dinner here and I must say this was beyond what I expected. The service was amazing, the staff was welcoming and our waiter was very attentive and went beyond measures to make my birthday a unforgettable one. I would definitely come back again and recommend this to anyone.

A three-​story boat that cruises the Hudson/​East River/​Bay with great photos of the harbor and city, and a DJ that was mildly entertaining (and got better by just playing music instead of trying to talk). A nice close look at Lady Liberty and downtown.
The food… so-​so, this is not really here for the food (banquet style), or the dessert. Braised short ribs were the best and even those were crazy salty. Salad plate, crusted salmon, mashed potatoes, pesto pasta, and some broccoli to add. Dessert was a mix of sheet lemon cake and pecan pie, short bread. Nothing chocolate? I was surprised. Good thing we had the package with free wine/​beer/​soda. And Alan, the guy from California serving us, was all to happy to clear up and get us drinks. Good service on his part, sans the flying silverware that struck me twice. They will take photos and try to sell them to you. Good thing was that we were a small group with only another medium-​sized group on the same trip. So not too full and easy enough to make it to the bar on the top level. Good weather helped make the trip nice and pleasant.
Parking is in the Retail Visitor Parking lot across the way, and this is all the way down on the pier. Also no public bathrooms so you have to wait to get on the boat, or go to the mall food court.

Great night out w/​the girls or for a «date night». Great views of NYC without the traffic and worry but also delicious food, great «special occasion» details (it was my birthday), good DJ. Hard time keeping the dancing going as everybody’s outside looking at the view. Would be nice if the DJ was heard on top deck.

Experience was June 2015. Brunch cruise on a Sunday. I’ve been on this Spirit Cruise a few times before. Unfortunately this time wasn’t good. Weather was lousy, although still able to see sights which is the only reason I’m giving 2 stars. Food was terrible. Stale pastries, limited variety. Service was bad. Waitress was missing in action and just very slow. Music selection was poor. I have to say I wouldn’t return after this experience.

I attended a wedding here on Wednesday night and had a lovely time! The weather was beautiful, the party was fun, and it was an overall wonderful occasion. This was my first time attending a wedding on a yacht (or maybe it’s not a yacht and just a regular old dinner cruise boat?) like this, and I definitely see the appeal!
You pick up the boat (or at least we did) at Liberty Yacht Club. There was free retail parking (VERY grateful for that) and we also heard that if we arrived before 5pm we could have also parked for free at the Chart House restaurant next door. When the gates at the yacht club were opened I encountered my only real problem the entire night — the dock leading up the boat is a normal dock with no carpet or anything rolled on top of it, meaning my heels would constantly get stuck in the cracks and my shoe would fall off (a la Jennifer Lopez in The Wedding Planner). I ended up having to take my shoes off and had to walk to the boat barefoot. On the way out at the end of the night I walked barefoot the whole way and someone from the yacht club told me to put my shoes on. And break my ankle? No thanks! (I don’t know if this was a yacht club employee and whether there was any affiliation with the Spirit of NJ.)
The boat itself was absolutely beautiful. It appeared to be in pristine condition and the cabin inside was gorgeous! We did the ceremony on the deck, which was great because we got to see the sun set over the NYC skyline. The water was pretty wavy that day, though, and the boat was ROCKING. It was actually a little scary sometimes to be in heels. There are rails, but otherwise there were very few places to grab on to steady yourself. There was also a largely manual process requiring many employees to get a wedding guest in a wheelchair upstairs. Ultimately she was able to make it up to the deck, but I was surprised they didn’t have something motorized or even a little elevator.
The middle floor is where the bar was, and there was a small dance floor. There were many people passing hors d’oeuvres. Unfortunately there only appeared to be one bartender, which made the wait to get the drink a little bit long. The staff was very friendly and nice, though! They had the customer service skills and charm of fine dining staff. Dinner was on the bottom floor (at least I think it was the bottom floor) and I think they sat about 175 people comfortably. There was also another small dancing area, as well. There were windows all around and the views were just spectacular! They event spent a little bit of extra time right outside of the Statue of Liberty and nerdy tourists like me ooohd and aaahd.
I would definitely recommend this venue for parties, especially for people who love NYC and want to show off her charm! I’ve been to NYC quite a lot and left that evening with a renewed sense of adoration.

We went on the Sunday brunch cruise. The food was delicious and the DJ had a lot of great energy. The staff was very helpful and attentive as well.

I had fun on the Spirit of New Jersey. I liked the food, drinks and entertainment. I would go on it again.

Wonderful time on the Spirit of New Jersey.
Easy and free parking on site, so much better than having to deal with Friday night NYC traffic. Food was delicious and plentiful. Went with 8 friends and had so much fun dancing, the dj was terrific. Old and new music, something for everyone. Unfortunately it was raining, so we could not enjoy the top deck. We all had a fabulous time and recommend this NYC boat cruise.

I went to this for a company event. I was expecting it to be a painful experience, but it wasn’t too bad.
The place: This ship departs from the Jersey side. The parking situation is a bit confusing. There is a parking lot across the street that says «retail visitor parking»… confusing, but turns out that is the right parking. Don’t bother getting here too early because there is nothing to do! it’s a big empty marina.
The food: typical banquet food, some rice, salad, short ribs, etc… Nothing special, but surprisingly it wasn’t dry which is usually a problem at these types of things.

We had one of our family reunion events here and I have to admit, it was a lot of fun. The buffet lunch was good, with the exception of the bread (it was hard) and the view of the NJ and NYC skylines and Statue of Liberty was amazing. Service staff was awesome as well; very friendly.

Experience was less than par. From the moment we got on the boat, we were told that there was a low occupancy (98 guests), which I thought was good for us since we had young babies and therefore would make things easier in terms of space. However, the low occupancy was not in our favor; the buffet line was extra long and took forever to serve. There was only one line, which looks like 2 would have been more efficient. Some of the food did run out and I was told it would be ready in 5 minutes. It was not. When dessert time came, I asked for coffee, however they ran out. I did see other tables being served coffee. To make things better, they did not compensate us for the coffee, but they still charged us $ 2.50 per soda. WTF??? Food was good, but terrible customer service. The $ 50/​pp price tag is not worth it.
I’m giving 2 stars because the DJ/​MC event host was excellent, he did his job very well.

Very organized business and helpful crew. The food selection was served buffet style, plentiful and good. The ship was in great shape, clean, even the bathrooms! Captain operated the boat smoothly and had some breath-​taking views of Manhattan on the moonlit dinner cruise from Weehawken going as far to the Statue of Liberty. The music jumped around from hearing disco type music of the 70’s to current songs on the radio, it was still a fun selection including the electric slide played at almost every wedding. Personally I think the music could be updated better. The crew kept the atmosphere fun and didn’t rush anyone off at the end. Great night out!

I went on this with a group of other university-​associated people for the lunch cruise. Everything on-​board was good (waiters, food, etc.). The views of the Statue of Liberty and other areas of the NY Waterfront were the best part of the cruise. The only downside was the overpriced bar ($ 12 for a mudslide), and because of the prices, I didn’t bother buying any drinks. So yeah, come for the good food and views of the NY Waterfront, but don’t consider buying the drinks on-​board.