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New York, NY

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Empire Cruises

3.1 (70 reviews)
Closed • 10:00 am - 6:00 pm

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Dry champagne for VIP, very dry and bitter. Didn't like it.
May M.

Bought VIP tickets for 4th of July (2019) in the Timeless yacht with Empire Cruises. Instructions said be there by 5:00pm. Arrived at 4:45pm and people are already waiting, naturally, but still no "yacht." 5:00pm comes and the boat arrives, an effort was made to dock, but the crew was having a hard time. They left and made a u turn to try and dock a second time. 20 minutes later they finally docked. There is no line at this point, but the security/guards were yelling at people to stand by the wall. How would people know where to wait, there is no order, just complete disorganized chaos. They didn't start to let people in until almost 6:00pm. There was no voyage to Lady Liberty as indicated on the schedule (Picture attached of the schedule provided to us). The boat didn't move til 7:00pm. The food was mediocre. No other option for a main entree other than chicken. This is not a buffet, you get one serving. There isn't enough food for a second serving. The only highlight of this Empire cruise is the fireworks. Not worth $200 for VIP ticket. Regular admission is just about the same with all you can drink. Also, the drinks are put in small plastic cups and was made very weak. I didn't even have a buzz at the end of the night. It felt like I was drinking juice. I do not recommend the VIP tickets for 4th of July. I understand tickets are expensive due to the fireworks display, but this cruise was very disappointing.

RDE Event www.robdoment.com

Awesome Outstanding me Vino CEO of Robert Dominique Enterprise an my team RDE would like to say thank you and much respect to Kenny and his staff for their courtesy professional way of dealing with us on the Yacht Lucille Friday December The 4th Annual Midnight Yacht Party was great and he was excellent in making sure the event was enjoyable

The fireworks "view" we paid Empire Cruises over $1,000 for!!!! DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!

DONT GIVE THESE PEOPLE A PENNY! (I wish I could give NEGATIVE STARS). I purchased 2 VIP tickets for the July 4th, 2021 fireworks cruise on the Liberty Belle - OVER A THOUSAND BUCKS! The VIP experience was simply not delivered. Not even an adequate experience. When I tried to complain after, phone calls and emails were not even acknowledged. These people are crooks and scoundrels! The major selling point was the "PRIVATE VIP OUTDOOR LOUNGE". There were not even enough chairs and I had to go backdown four floors and get some. VIP? Seriously? Perhaps that could have been overlooked (or at least there could have been a sign, "VIP's - Bring your own chairs!" but the main event, of course, was the fireworks. It was, after all, sold as a "NYC Fireworks Cruise". I understand the Fireworks were nice but I wouldn't know, we couldn't see them! The Captain positioned the boat so the Captain's house (or whatever it is called) and the fake smoke stacks completely blocked the display. (photos attached). The people one deck below (who paid a fraction of what I paid) had a much better view but, by the time I noticed that, that deck was completely full. There is MORE: Initially, we were told to board at 5:30 and later received an email saying boarding was at 5 pm and departure at 5:45. "Gate closes 6 pm, no exceptions". The boat didn't even arrive until 6pm and did not set sail until after 7, AN HOUR AND A QUARTER LATE. The VIP "Priority Boarding line" was not marked at all so, despite being there since 5, we ended up at the back of the line. The DJ was playing music NO ONE in that crowd wanted to hear over dinner. When I respectfully asked if he would be playing a wider range of music, he said (and this is an exact quote of his words, if not his smartass offensive tone), "I don't need your advice. They hired me for a reason." I choose not to match his obnoxious tone so I did not say, "No actually you DO need to take my advice, I am paying you." Perhaps he had a problem with an inter-racial couple..... I thought those days were long gone. Further, there was absolutely no FOURTH OF JULY music, no Star-Spangled Banner, nothing. This was especially upsetting to my spouse, who is a refugee to this country. The food was not bad but clearly not VIP, including steak that was essentially slabs of fat. The Party Favors consisted of a cheap fan (which no one offered us but another guest who saw my spouse was looking ill, did). It appears to have been sitting in a box for years with the folds all stuck together and the glue coming off on the spine. This is NOT VIP by anyone's standards. There is still more but I will just add that the bathrooms were absolutely DISGUSTING. For a thousand bucks, they might have had ONE attendant/cleaner and enough toilet paper??? (I'll spare you that photo - DISGUSTING) Don't give these people a PENNY!

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Ask the Community - Empire Cruises

Review Highlights - Empire Cruises

“Susanne Flushing, NY: On June 3rd, 2013 I booked a party through Empire Cruises more specifically the boat The Jacana.”

Mentioned in 8 reviews

Read more highlights

New York Cruises

New York Cruises

(6 reviews)

Great experience, good tour guide, and a fun route. We did the special tall ships tour and it was…read morereally amazing. My six year old was absolutely enthralled.

BEST WEDDING EVER!!!…read more I was all set up at another venue to get married on October 17th, 2020. Three weeks before my wedding, I was informed they were going to need to cancel. Frantic and ready to cancel, my now husband had suggested a boat. I googled party boats in Brooklyn, and the Atlantis came up, and to be very honest, I was skeptical, I called anyway. I spoke to a lovely woman, her name was Kelly and explained the situation, and she was very sympathetic to what was happening. She set me up with an appointment with Amanda to have a tour of the boat. My husband and I got to the boat and met with Amanda and knew immediately we were in good hands. This woman is amazing. Leading up to the event date, there were so many changes due to hot zones and what have you, and several times I was ready to give up, and it was her who told me, you deserve to be a bride and have the wedding of your dreams, and she and her awesome team delivered at every single turn. From Jamie in billing, which was so sweet, Captain Fred and his beautiful wife who oversaw every detail and cruised us around the city (some of my guests did not even know we left the dock until they were invited to the top deck to see the cake cutting by the Statue of Liberty). All the servers that none of my guests waited for a drink, the food was out promptly nobody was waiting, they were awesome, and the food was delicious (get the lamb chop ordures). Everybody on the Yacht was amazing. Amanda, we want to thank you for everything you did for us. We could not have pulled off the best wedding of all time, all the little details, the communication between vendors. It was like working with a best friend easy peasy. From the very bottom of my heart, THANK YOU. Things happen for a reason. My husband and I are so happy the other place canceled on us; it would have been a nice event but nothing close to what an AMAZING EXPERIENCE all our guests and we had.

Empire Cruises - boatcharters - Updated October 2026

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