What a great evening - we loved it! We booked a Sunset Dinner Cruise prior to leaving the US for our NZ/AU cruise. There were 4 of us in total. We arrived to the marina early, went to the Captain Cook Cruises desk and got our tickets, then had cocktails outdoors nearby. As the line to board got longer, we finally joined it. Once they opened up for boarding, the line went very fast. As we had window seating, there were no worries and we got a fantastic table location. Drink and dinner orders were taken right away. Bread was served shortly and it was really good. We asked for more and they brought more. Dinner was excellent as was the harbor cruise. After passing the Opera House, we docked near the International Cruise Terminal and most passengers got off. There was one more stop that some stayed aboard for. We stayed. As this point, the sun was setting and the skyline was lighting up with building lights. We went to the top, open deck with fresh drinks. Some of us sat on the deck chairs and us shutter-bugs moved about the deck taking pictures from both sides. We got some amazing shots. The dock we ended at was not the one we started at and we knew ahead of time. We disembarked and grabbed an Uber back to our hotel. I've read a lot of reviews about this cruise. Some loved it, some did not. Our experience was very favorable and we're happy that we took it. Thank you CCC for a great evening. read more

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NEVER order the hamburger with modifications at this place because they will just keep it the same, I ordered a mini hamburger as a snack and I ordered it with nothing but the meat and buns. the seats were nice but had crusty bread crumbs. ( review made by 12 year old son ) read more

DON'T USE CAPTAIN COOK FERRY SERVICE, YOU WILL REGRET IT Not sure which is worse · They intentionally, rudely denied us access to the ferry in the Manly suburb of Sydney, AU · Or they promised on multiple occasions a refund only to never process it The details, which are not disputed by Captain Cook [all copied from emails to Captain Cook executives] ** "For the 310 pm boat from Manly to Taronga Zoo, we arrived at the boat docks at 300. I saw your female representative wearing your blue garment (with the company name). The female person in front of me was being extremely rude to your representative. After that she was done, I asked if I was in the right place, she said yes. At about 310 a boat came in and I again went to your representative and apologized for the rude behavior that she received by the other person and asked if this was our boat. She said no, just wait here and will be the next boat. As a side note, I am very tall at 6'8" so probably a touch memorable. When the next boat came in, she opened the gate, we stood patiently by, made eye contact, as the passengers disembarked. When the last passenger came up the gangway, she quickly closed the gate, and walked away without any announcement of entry to us or the others waiting for entry. I was so surprised, I thought that I was missing something and asked the older gentleman helping Fantasea if our boat left and he said yes. He made sure that we got on his next boat to the Zoo which cost us 20 AUD. See attached photo with our boarding passes and the receipt with a time stamp of 1535 for 20 AUD. This rudeness ruined what started to be a nice day in Manly. The later arrival into the Zoo wharf, meant that we would only have 15-20 minutes at the zoo which made no sense. So, that was additional negatives to our day." The responses from Captain Cook - showing no disputing of the above details ** "We apologise for the experience that you have received yesterday. Could you kindly forward us the copy of the receipt for the ferry ticket as it was not attached to the previous email? For now, rest assured your feedback is being directed to the relevant department and read by the appropriate Manager. We will respond where appropriate. Again, thank you for your email and we sincerely apologise for the inconveiniense." And the email from Captain Cook requesting our credit card number for a refund but after multiple multiple emails, was never given ** "Thank you for sending us the receipt. I have checked with our account team. Unfortunately, we cannot refund to overseas account. Please provide me your credit card number, expiry date. If you are not confident to give us the details of your credit card. Please give us a call at +61 029206-1111 with your refence booking number" Don't use Captain Cook Ferry Service, you will regret it!! read more

Cost wise it was great for going to the zoo ! The combo package for the ferry+zoo is a great price. We expected a tour though, which you can hear through the QR code, but no tour guide in person. When we left the zoo the cruise arrived 15 minutes late which made us very anxious. read more

One of the best ways to see some of the beauty of Sydney is from the water. We spent about 90 minutes cruising the harbor aboard a Captain Cook Cruise. We left from Circular Quay, cruising around, and ending in Darling Harbour. There is seating both inside and out. There is also a top deck with seating that affords you a 360 degree view. This was a fantastic way to see the harbour. You pass very close to the opera house, and you actually travel under the bridge. There are plenty of great opportunities for photos. The cruise is very smooth. No one got sea sick. They provide you with one free drink, but the drinks are pretty limited. There is also an informational announcement that goes on through the speakers, but on the top deck you cannot hear a single word. I actually enjoyed the quieter cruise, but it seemed odd that they have speakers that you cannot hear. Overall, definitely worth the 90 minutes. It drops you in Darling Harbour which has great dinner options and Sydney Wildlife World. read more

Captain Cook Cruises - View from the boat - Travel Services Near Me - Sydney, NSW

We received a free pass for dinner on the Sydney 2000, and I was expecting a little bit tacky/cheesy cheap meal on a boat. I was pleasantly surprised! Hubby and I had a beautiful meal - sparking wine and a 3 course menu where you could choose from 3 options - cocktails to buy too - bonus!! There was musical entertainment - while the singer was a bit cheesy at times, she had a lovely voice and read the crowd to sing songs that suited. Hubby and I had a dance which was nice - a pianist played some jazz and classic tunes which on a boat is exactly what you expect - a bit of Tony Bennett and Michael Buble played into my expectations of a cruise dinner!! To top it all off the top deck (a 4 level boat) had an outdoor space to soak up the views of our beautiful harbour! read more

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Took the top deck lunch cruise with window table. Staff is efficient and friendly, food was surprisingly good, wines by the glass selection was disappointingly uninspiring. The sparkling wines were... Just don't. The cruise itself was fine, especially if you just want a vanilla, no fuss, no drama, no thought required boat ride on the Harbour with numerous opportunities to take photos. However, overall value of experience is touristy ok at best. There are way better value options for the Harbour experience. (For example, take the Manly ferry for much cheaper and equally beautiful views; and lots of great food choices once you get to Manly). Bottom line: it's a safe, non-controversial, generic choice for the average tourist. read more

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We booked a 3 hour whale watching trip with Captain Cook cruises for June 2016. I had never been whale watching before and was a bit nervous about being in the open water since I didn't know if I would get seasick and I don't know how to swim. I took a Dramamine pill beforehand and had no issues with seasickness. An older lady did have issues the second we reached the open ocean and the staff was extremely attentive and helpful toward her. They really made it a point to try and make her as comfortable as possible. They also had ample life jackets and I never felt unsafe. As for the whale watching - it was AMAZING. We went in the morning and after spotting a pod of whales, we followed them (at an appropriate distance) and found another pod that ended up crossing under us and coming up right next to the boat. It was awe inspiring to see the size of these animals so close by. They allow you to go on the front of the boat and it was really the best place to watch from since you can easily see everything on either side and in front of you. It is much more windy so a jacket is really important. The top deck was also spacious but didn't allow you to easily view in front of the boat. Generally you are trailing the whales so there isn't much to see behind you. Overall it was a great experience. After 3 hours, I was pretty ready to go back and that was with seeing whales every 5-10 minutes. I think the timing of your whale watching trip relative to the migration season is probably the biggest factor in if you enjoy your time or not. The more whales, the more enjoyment. 5 stars. read more

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Received this as a gift through red balloon. Have done many harbour cruises in my time and have had many and varied experiences. I loved the sunset cruise with captain cook. We went on a Monday night so it was nice and quiet and everyone had a window seat. The staff were fantastic. The service was wonderful and all the staff had a good laugh with us. The food was delicious and a good size, no need for second dinner after this cruise. The views were gorgeous and we were able to see Sydney transition from day to night. It went really quickly, another 40 minutes to enjoy a drink on the open air deck would have topped it off and made it a 5 star evening. A great experience I would highly recommend. read more

Captain Cook Cruises - Travel Services Near Me - Sydney, NSW

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Love the water? On a beautiful sunny day the best way to discover Sydney is on a Cruise boat. Captain Cook Cruises operate from Circular Quay Wharf and it's easy to book a ticket at the counter. I went for a Coffee Cruise late afternoon. The cruise definitely shows you the public and private lives of Sydney. They cruise along the harbour passing by the Opera House, Fort Denison, Harbour Bridge, the multi-million dollar homes, beaches, parks and marinas. The guide was hilarious! She pointed out various vantage points and interesting tit-bits of information about Sydney's history. Interesting to note the waterfront homes with glass windows and No curtains! The cruise boat sails pretty close to the coast and you can peer into the houses without Binoculars! The cruise included an afternoon tea. Loved the scones and lamingtons. read more

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One of the best ways to see Sydney is of course, by boat! We went on a cruise throughout the harbor and were able to see the many sights of this beautiful city by the water. The cruise ship leaves from the harbor of course. There's usually a lot of people so try to get a good spot at the higher level so you can enjoy the views. Staff was friendly. They serve food and drinks, even have dining tables for dinner cruises. It got too cold up top so i moved down and still was able to see beautiful Sydney through the glass windows. The ship needs an upgrade. It's shabby and the bathrooms were gross. We were dropped off at the pick up point. read more

On the harbor tea tour the left side of the boat is the best, next to the windows. Tour was 2 hours with tour guide talking throughout. If this is your first time to Sydney I would definitely recommend this tour. Overall, it was a great way to see the entire bay, the tour guide gave a bit of history along with color commentary on the homes and parks around the harbor. As I mentioned in my tip, it is best to arrive early, the area for boarding is open with a "roped" entry so that people know where the gate will open for boarding. That said, it was a free-for-all when the boat finally approached and the gate opened. The not so great: - Unfortunately, there was a large group at the front of the line - normally would not be an issue, however their tour coordinator did not have their tickets readily available, so the line stalled a bit before the crew eventually started to waive others with tickets around to board the boat. - We took the "tea time" tour, and for whatever reason I wasn't quite expecting to get a small box of pre-selected tea cookies with a generic tea. We had asked when we purchased the tickets if there would be finger sandwiches with a full tea service and were told that there would be. When tea time came, we had to go to the bar area to pick up our tea, where the crew poured one standard tea (or coffee if preferred) and took a box of slightly refrigerated cookies where it was laid out on a table. The good: - The tour guide was extremely entertaining. Clearly she did the tour quite a bit and gave nice color commentary on the homes and other points of interest in between the main historical places - she spoke practically the entire time. - They sold alcoholic beverages for those that wanted to partake. - There was plenty of room on the boat! No crowding for a window spot and a lot of area to move around between the two floors. - Nice upper deck, and we were lucky that it was sunny and warm - great for viewing the Sydney harbor, bridge and opera house. Overall - a great tour. Not sure I would do the tea time again, but would definitely go to listen to the tour and see the sights in the harbor. read more

Did the hop-on hop-off cruise around the harbor for $42 a head. Was a great ride around, but unlike the other reviewer, our guide wasn't funny or creative etc. We got some medium useful interesting factoids that were repeated along the trip (like we heard the same facts about 2-3 times over the course of the cruise. albeit it's hop-on/hop-off, some some people may not have heard them). Best part was bring able to stop off at Watson's bay - a beautiful hike up the south head to get amazing views of the harbor, ocean and north head. So good overall tour, but little of that had to do with Captain Cook Cruises. Also, no coffee/tea. Dont know how the other reviewer got that read more

Went on a dinner cruise through Sydney harbour. The ship was pretty dead but it was the off season so I guess that's to be expected. The food was good not great. Drink list was acceptable, but after trying a few of the house selections, we were not terribly impressed with their wines by the glass. The service was friendly, but with like 9 other people on the whole ship, I wood have expected then to be a bit more on too of things. Obviously, great views if the opera house, the bridge, and downtown. And that makes it all worth it! read more

We had an amazing time on our Captain Cook Tour around Sydney! We had a funny and charismatic host on the boat that told us the history behind each location and gave us great information while keeping us entertained! We highly recommend booking the 3 day pass with the taronga zoo! read more

The staff was very friendly, and the boat was very spacious. I would use this cruise line over other ones! Took it to Taronga Zoo! read more

Great Manly - Barangaroo morning service but please can you switch the boat schedule back to have the 6.40am ferry the Nancy Wake boat - easier bike storage and fantastic views from the roof (something about waiting for audio parts for whale watching boat causing the switch in boat, but it's been weeks?) Other than that - great service. read more

We paid 400 Aus dollars per person to watch Sydney's new year fireworks with their boat. Amazing view but no feel of new year. No music, lousy speakers playing a radio station. No horns, no water, nothing..... For that price they could ve offered a glass of Champaign, a horn, or just water..... read more

Granted - being on a boat is generally awesome, this cruise boat was so shabby! Smelled weird, cheap cheap interior, BAD food. The only good thing was the top deck and the captain's commentary. read more

We booked our harbor cruise many months in advance. I'm so glad we did this cruise at the beginning of our Sydney holiday. It gave us a better understanding of the "lay of the land." The ship was clean, the staff was polite and very knowledgeable about Sydney, delicious snacks, reasonably priced. What more could we ask for? Yes, it was raining that morning but we still thoroughly enjoyed ourselves nevertheless. read more

We had a terrific tour of the Sydney Harbour and lunch upon one of Captain Cooks yachts and loved it. It was sprinkling the day we went out, but the staff and crew made up for it with a great attitude and information about Sydney and the region. We had a terrific, fresh lunch with wine/sodas and enjoyed the day. read more

Took the Sydney 2000 for NYE dinner cruise and was very disappointed for the amount of money we paid. The food was awful. The appetizers were 4 little dog size treats that were overcooked and chewy. A bigger problem with the menu is that they do not post or tell you exactly what they are serving, so if you have food alergies, such as shell fish, you are out of luck. Dinner was served and we had to send it back. The Salmon was raw on the inside!!! The table next to us waited 35 minutes to get their dinner! Very inconsistent in the kitchen. Overcooked appetizers, undercooked entrées. The 3 bands they claim are really just 3 different singers that they keep switching between floors, and they were AWFUL!!! The music was so loud / bad that the guests in our room asked for the speakers to be turned off! To the credit of the staff, they did. I guess it was not the first time they have had that request / complaint. Tables by doors beware if you do not like smokers. Many guests go out on balconies and smoke right outside the door. The fireworks were amazing. The Sydney 2000 is positioned to be facing the bridge and tucked in the wharf between the bridge and the Opera House. You do not really see any of the Opera House fireworks, it is not a panaramocis view of all the fireworks, but focused on the bridge. All in all, we would not recommend Captain Cook Sydney 2000 for a NYE cruise. Overpriced, bad food and not good value for your money. read more

The cruise route itself was fantastic, under the bridge and right next to the Opera House. The service and food were both sub-par, at best. It took most of the night to get a waiter's attention. We got the impression that they were purposely avoiding us, that's how bad the service was. read more

Horrible experience!! We wasted most of the day in Sydney waiting for Captain Cook. New name: Captain Crook; since they took our money and didn't give the services promised! We had planned on having a wonderful day seeing the sights and instead sat around watching other boats come and go but Captain Cook was always 30+ minutes late. Ended up going to the zoo (30 minutes late for pickup at zoo) and Watson's bay (45 minutes late to pick up here) then we decided to just go back to Circular Quay and do something else. Avoid Captain Crook and enjoy Sydney instead of wasting your vacation waiting for a boat! read more

Rate this below zero. It is a rip off. The windows are dirty and visibility is awful. The food is served cold or barely warm. I couldn't eat my chicken main meal. The atmosphere is cheap or cheesy. The entertainment was bad but more so it was annoying. While I was on the boat, they sang the happy birthday song eleven times. The staff locked us out of usage of the ladies restroom. They do have smoking areas, ugh. The outside area smells of fumes. The staff did not speak or understand English. The wine we bought was awful. The "champagne " they served was not drinkable. I cannot say one good thing about this cruise except we met some other people next to our table where we share our complaints. It was a horrible and wasted night in Sydney. read more

This was such a cool experience. The harbor at night was beautiful. The food was awesome. We had lamb shanks, salmon and Australian Beef. All of which was cooked perfectly. The music was excellent and the singer even gave our little ones a special song. This was an all around amazing evening. read more

The staff on board were friendly. The boat itself was well kept and comfortable. We stayed in the lower ac'd section due to the crowd upstairs, there were a lot of fairly unruly children which drove us down LOL!! We ordered some wine and enjoyed the views. It being late in the season we only saw minimal action, two whales that would make very brief appearances at the surface. My issue with this company doesn't come from the running of the boat but rather purchasing tickets and also the semi organized chaos at the dock. The woman we purchased the tickets from at the darling harbor office was pushy and kept telling us that the boat was going to sell out, there were plenty of spaces the day of. And then while at the dock they kept saying to line up at 6a and then come show time they made us move to 6b..with crowds all over and it being very difficult to understand the loud speaker announcements!! read more

Really nice dinner cruise. Hit the trifecta: beautiful views, surprisingly tasty food, and a good pianist and singer. Wonderful way to wrap up a trip to Australia! read more

Dont use these guys to go to Fort Denison. The company just skipped the scheduled 1520 ervice. The sales petson when we bought the ticket even circled the 1520 service. Google maps wont show it but ecotours will transport to Fort Denison as well. read more

Brochure prices are wrong and their employees will only notify you AFTER swiping credit card. Also 1.5% credit card surcharge and they don't notify you when attraction at stops such as Luna Park are closed. read more

Good food and views. Poor Service. Underskilled staff. No audio during the tour. Very disappointing. Sydney Harbor is beautiful from land, hotel, Sydney Bridge ANd boat. Saturday 7/21 cruise on the Sydney 2000 ship. In general it was good, with two BIG exceptions. 1. Several people at the buffet asked for lobster, indicating they had paid an additional premium for it. They were treated very dismissively by an underskilled service staff. There was no "I'm sorry" and zero attempts to listen, or refer, or try to resolve. 2. NO AUDIO!! This was a guided, informational tour!! Imagine going to a movie, and not being able to hear the dialogue!! Again, no apologies or attempt to resolve by the staff. There were simply no functioning speakers near our table. The food was good, the ship was clean. The views were great. But we paid for premium window seats expecting an informational tour for ourselves and our curious early adolescent children. Very disappointing. read more

This was a BIG WASTE of money . Lousy food, bad service , dirty ship , cheesy entertainment. I would not serve that food to my dog! The diner cruise was a rip-off ! The wine was horrible , the bread rolls were previously frozen, the raviolis were from a can, the fish was gross! Our waitress was not properly trained , when we complained the manager could only offer us a free drink. The windows were dirty. Awful experience.. Don't waste your money ! read more

We did the dinner cruise earlier this year and while the food was about average the views were fantastic. Very romantic and loved the live band and dancing. read more

Watch out for excess fees and inaccurate departure times. Was charged $5 more than the actual gate fee at the zoo and an additional 3% for using a card. Boat also left 5 minutes before the 10:30 departure time. Go down to wharf 2 for a quicker and cheaper ride over to the zoo. read more

What a beautiful way to see the sights in the harbor! With good food, wine and champagne flowing, who could ask for anything better? It was a great experience all around. read more

We took a group up and went on the Australia Day Harbour Cruise! It was fantastic! Everyone had a great time and have interest for next year! read more