Seastreak LLC

A great trip from E 35^th St. to Atlantic Highlands. Ferry has indoor, outdoor seating options, with tables, and a small snack bar with beverages. Restrooms were clean. Staff was friendly. They definitely don’t wait around, they pull up, you board, and off you go. That’s great once you’re on — but be ready to board at boarding time.

Super rude customer service. I called to check their pet policy because it seemed surprising that pets not be allowed so long as they are kept in carriers the entire journey. The first person I spoke with couldn’t even understand my question so without explanation handed me to someone else who was extremely rude. I had some other questions about the trip and she hung up before I even started asking!

So as a rider of New Jersey NJCL and Academy Bus, I decided to ditch both for the warmer months and try the Seastreak Ferry out of Highlands. Their slogan claims to be the most «civilized commute». I don’t know what Kool Aid they’ve been drinking but just in my first week, I’ve found the riders to be even more obnoxious and engrossed with self entitlement than the train and bus combined. Seat hogs, man-​spreading, cutting in line, yapping on cell phones is the norm. The schedule says 6:50pm return to Highlands and we are 10 minutes late every night getting docked and then it’s single file for hundreds of people off one ramp which takes a considerable amount of time (and patience). The parking lot has one single exit and the wait to get out of there can exceed 15 minutes… that is if you don’t sprint to your car. Look both ways too because the same obnoxious people don’t yield for pedestrians and you’re likely to get mowed down if you don’t proceed with caution. This morning I had the misfortune of sitting in an area where «regulars» like to sit and the nasty glares I got were plentiful. Not to mention there’s this unwritten rule that if certain people claim an area, strangers are not welcome to sit down. How do I know this? A guy sitting next to me (who got off at Wall Street) belongs to the self entitlement club stuck his elbows in me while reading the paper and continuously talked over me to the person who was sitting diagonal from him. In this same clique, I saw one woman in Highlands get on, look at me with disgust and drape her bags across two seats so her cohorts in Atlantic Highlands could get priority sitting.

Got to say the New Year’s Eve night time cruise over-​all was a terrible experience, won’t do that again. May gutt said so before but my emotion, heart as well as my friends say it will be fun!
There are no picture on-​line to show the boat, the interior, past images of previous events… Probably because if people new it is a commuter boat no one who go. It was sparsely decorated and we could have all been commuter’s going along to a Nyc dock. The boats atmosphere was dull and not special.
Food almost inedible– appts: sushi was awful and I am not so picky, the shrimp was so warm I had to spit it out, the chicken wings must have been frozen because they were iced cold as if they had forgotten to heat them up. Dinner: it turns out I was glad to have taken a roll because it was the best thing I had. How can someone get pasta and sauce wrong. Then there was rice and chicken Ala King which was so gross I just couldn’t eat it, Terrible, thanks for the roll.
Open bar– we saw nothing about having to pay for drinks before 10:00 and after 12:00. We waited on line and they told us this, not even soda was free before. The lines became ridiculous… I had one free drink and had to pay for a soda at 12:30, I needed a pick me up since I was a good hour away from home.
Music and dance floor was very fair. Most of the music was Latin so it turned some people off I could see. I like Latin music but there was a lot of variety of people so you would think.
It was cold outside which is typical for this time of year and this season it has been certainly more warm this wintertime, weather it could have been a lot worse. still very cold and windy. The views were very nice.
Not worth the money at all and would never do this again!

I love the Seastreak… always great views, and fun! They have a bar if you need something before you hit the city… also LOVED the foliage cruise… so interesting– loved the narration. The Seastreak is definitely my fav way to get to the city.

Had a beautiful day trip to cold spring. The employees could not have been more experienced and helpful. The town does get overwhelmed by the tourist crowds but well Roth the trip up the Hudson.

I just came back from the SeaStreak cruise to Cold Spring NY and had a wonderful time.
This is a 6 hour trip: 2 hours sailing with a wonderful and informative commentary: the history of NY fills your eyes and ears. Beautiful vistas: the Intrepid Museum, the Cloisters, High Line, Sleepy Hollow, West Point Military Academy etc and the beautiful fall foliage along the way. My friend and I were sitting on the Upper Deck going (of course we wore thermal and insulated clothing, u need this!) And sat in the enclosed lower deck coming home and found the seating comfy and cozy.
The town: quaint and beautiful especially this time of year: pumpkins, cider and the mesmerizing colors of Fall. If you want to skip shopping then pick up a free map at Rincon Argentina Café (the owner is awesome and informative PS who knew this café would sell rugelach to a Bklyn bred girl!) and you will notice many inspiring trails that dot the Hudson River ie Trailhead for Bullhill.
If you want to shop there are so many neat country style shops like the Country Goose whose British born owner sells eclectic products from cooking tools, soaps and Star Wars toys! If you love an Aveda inspired wellness shop then you must visit Cold Spring Apothecary and if you love American Craftsman wooden treasures (I do!) then you must peruse the crafts at The Country Touch on Main Street.
Cold Spring also offers entertainment via Hudson Valley Shakespeare and hosts its own Boat Club and dock via Foundry Dock Park and of course lodging at the rustic Hudson House a River Inn.
This rustic town really takes you back: you feel at times you are in Andy Griffith territory which by the way is a great feeling.
I highly recommend this trip esp for New Yorkers who want a nice 1 day getaway from the hustle and bustle of city living.
Tip: book via GoldStar

Took the Cold Spring Boat on 24 October. Turned out to be great. Plenty of room, very good commentary on the way, quick trip: 2 hours to Cold Spring, and the café served food and drinks at very reasonable prices (4 coffees and a bagel for $ 7.50).
This was a bit of a relief as I’d been quite nervous having read accounts of the 17 October trip amd having elderly parents in tow. Perhaps they sorted out their problems for this week, there was no overcrowding etc.
And of course the fall colours were insanely beautiful.
Tips:
— get there early as you can board as soon as you arrive. We boarded at 8.20am.
— If you’re travelling as a 4, best seats probably downstairs tables.
— left or right hand side of boat doesn’t really matter: left side good for pallisades, right good for NYC.
— do your restroom break early as the lines get real long
— if you want to take photos but don’t want to freeze to death, the lower deck rail on the left side has the engine outlets, so is warm!
I would recommend this as a fun day trip.

Be advised !
A friend and I purchased tickets for the Fall Foliage cruise on October 17, 2015. When we got to the terminal there was a mass of people waiting to get on the ferry. The ferry already looked quite full but they took everyone’s tickets and loaded them on the ferry. I use the term «loaded» because they treated the people like cargo. The ferry was way OVERBOOKED (the ferry holds 500 people so there were over 500 on the ferry that day) People were sitting on the floor, on the steps, on the life preserver chests or just standing. This made us extremely nervous from a safety point. There was no effort made by the staff /​crew to improve the situation. This also overloaded the three toilets on the ferry and at one point they were not usable. Yet they continued to sell drinks! The line for the toilets ran the length of the ferry and took over 30 minutes to get to your turn.
This ferry is a commuter ferry. It is not designed for tours. The only people who had a good view were the lucky people who got on early and got one of the two seats by the window. The rest of the seats are in the middle of the ferry with very limited views. Oh, did I say «window»? The windows on the ferry are so dirty you can’t see through them. If you are running a sightseeing cruise don’t you think you would keep the windows clean? People were wiping the windows with facial tissues. Luckily, we had good weather and dressed warmly so we were able spend time on the upper deck outside standing by the rail.
The crew is not helpful or knowledgeable. There was no review on safety as on a plane. On the trip up to Cold Spring they just mentioned the life jackets were in the gray boxes but did not say where the boxes were located. On the trip back there was nothing said. When we once again could not find seats on the return trip we went to the loading point and told the crew there were absolutely no more seats left and they should stop boarding people. They loaded everyone. There was no effort by the company to compensate those sitting on the floor and steps for their discomfort.
The town of Cold Spring is a very small quaint place but gets very crowded. There are only two public toilets — one for men and one for women. Restaurants get crowded. Make sure you made reservations.
The star on this review is for the Hudson River and the beautiful geography we saw. If it rained I am not sure if I would be able to give this tour a star.

Foliage tour to Cold Springs.
I would not recommend taking this tour. The main reason is this is a commuter ferry and not conducive to touring. The day I took this was a bright sunny day but it was windy and cold so fee people were standing on the top open deck (which by the way has limited seating). They had sold more tickets then seats so many people were sitting on the floor or the steps. This is a three hour trip each way and that really isn’t a nice way to sit. The three bathrooms had constant lines. The set up at Pier 11 was also very chaotic. They run two boats on the busy weekends, which also means more then 600 people decent on the small town of Cold Springs all at once, making it a bit congested and all restaurants having long lines. Cold Springs is nice place to visit but you you take the metro north train for less then half the price and time.

A friend and I booked two tickets for the fall foliage tour to Cold Spring and back. October 11. Beautiful fall day. Sunshine and not too cold. What promised to be a great excursion was marred by the fact that there are only a couple of little benches, each holding ⁵⁄₆ people on the open decks. I had looked forward to take in the scenery from the open upper deck, but instead we had to stand the whole way, close to 3 hours. Most excursion boats I have been on have rows and rows of upper deck seating, so this is what I expected here. Had I known that I would have to sit in the stuffy, crowded cabin, I would not have bought tickets. It was a great disappointment. I would not recommend this trip to anyone.

Horrible and irresponsible company. Used their service once to travel to Sandy Hook beach, NJ. And the last ferry from Sandy Hook was delayed by half an hour.

This the commuter boat into the city. It starts in the we hours of the day and runs till 10pm. It only takes about 40 minutes unless there’s a tail wind then it could be 30. The boat is nice inside with comfy seats and a dozen or so booth set ups. They also have a snack bar and a full bar for those really hard days at work or just the bitchy boss man. It is also about a 2 – 3 minute walk up the beach from gravelly. It was a really nice addiction for the folks that life her year round too. You can just hop the boat and soon you are in the zoom zoom city.

Reservations are meaningless.
Took a couple year hiatus from this boat to the Vineyard and they just confirmed why I try to avoid them.
I used to ride every weekend in summer.
Now that’s not possible because they cancel the boat probably because it is not full enough.
They will say «weather,» is the cause but I have taken the boat many times in terrible weather.
As long as the tickets are sold, they will run the boat.
They will of course, instead, cancel two days before the boat leaves at that point there are few other options for traveling to the Island.

1. We purchased tickets for the MV ferry from NYC via telephone. The boat leaves at 4pm, says the sales agent.
2. The pamphlets at the Sea Streak station say 4PM.
3. They never sent a confirmation email. Oops, our fault.
4. We show up, the boat left at 3, and they said we should have checked the website they updated.
Really? Why?
We call Sea Streak, clearly upset. The woman said no refunds, but we could use the tickets for another trip and had to pick the date immediately and pay $ 100. She blamed us.
I clearly lost it, asked for just a free switch, and she said she would put me on speaker phone so everyone can hear me and then I said please do and she hung up.
She then gave me a life lesson on how I should listen and not be upset or raise my voice. I told her we will just call our credit card and cancel it if she didn’t give us a free exchange, and she said try it, it won’t work.
Worst customer service experience. It took another hour of her pretending to go back and forth with her supervisor that was on a conference call and busy for us to get a free switch in the future for their error to which ruined our weekend plans and cost us $ 100s in other cancellations.
SeaStreak — congrats — you are the worst at customer service and company
In general. I understand why the government doesn’t subsidize you anymore. You make the MTA and a dirty subway feel like a luxury trip on the Queen Mary!

I took the sea streak down Monday, Memorial Day, and was pleasantly surprised by the sea streak and its operations. I took the 8 AM ferry because I am an early bird there were barely any people waiting to get on the 35^th St. pier and the boat was exactly on time. Their system for collecting payment is not exactly smooth but it is what it is. If you have a Groupon it’s the easiest way to go, or cash, as they only have one hand held credit card machine.
After stopping at Pier 11 to pick up more people you had straight to Sandyhook was a great scenic feel of the city on a really quick trip to the beach. As you get off there are five buses waiting to take you to different beaches Gunnison, the clothing optional beach, and four others.
I chose to go to beach lot D which has the shortest walking distance from the water back to the pavilion for restroom purposes. They had for food trucks if you didn’t bring your own food but they do have a carry-​on carry-​on policy so there are no garbage cans around so you must take your trash with you. Kind of a pain not sure whose bright idea that was.
As I said I took the 8 AM ferry so by the time I got to the beach it was really only 905 on the first ferry out of Sandyhook isn’t until 3:45 PM so I had a long day and was a little bored. The restaurants and bars are not built up yet from Sandy distraction so there was really nothing to do to just hang out and take up time.
My one and main complaint was getting back on the boat– I did not expect there to be three quarters full of people already– as the boat stopped at the highlands first. So not only was it a mad dash for the bar but it was hard to find a seat it was crowded it was hot and there was no plugs really to plug in your phone. It was Memorial day so I’ll chalk it up to that.
Other than that I’m quite happy with another Groupon for the summer I look forward to going back down this time I will definitely pack myself beer as they were plenty of people drinking on the beach. Also I will check out Gunnison as it seemed to be more of a classy crowd heading there– lot d became very crowded with a very different element than I was looking for. Happy beaching!

Review for Yankee Stadium service. You need to add signage and better lighting to the return location in the Bronx. I attended the Yankee game on 4÷26÷15 and missed the ferry because I couldn’t find it due to no signage or proper lighting. I kept passing by the gate until an officer finally assisted me. It was my first time using the ferry and I enjoyed the trip in. The return trip, not so much! I ended up taking a taxi to Penn Station then NJ Transit to the Highlands. Will use again in the future!

The cruise was fine, but Seastreak is an awful company. They had two terrible missteps:
1) The tour guide’s microphone went out about 20 minutes in. We were told the mic’s battery went dead. And no one thought to have a replacement 9v battery on board, so there was no guided tour. I figured when they made the 3.5 hour stopover, someone on the boat would buy a 9v battery so we can have our guided tour on the way back instead, but no one did. So, they didn’t give us what we paid for. A lot of people were pretty angry.
2) After waiting in line, the boat docked at a different slip. Instead of moving the entire line over, the people at the end of the line boarded before the people who had been waiting longer… and they got all the window seats.
The boat trip itself was nice, and the storybook town of Cold Spring was like a welcomed step back in time. But I wouldn’t trust the Seastreak company, who, after contacted, said the tour guide kept talking after the mic went dead (for the maybe 12 people in the very front of the boat that could hear him). Not only was that not a satisfactory workaround, it was a lie. I was one of those 12 people, and the tour guide stopped talking minutes after the mic went dead.

I wanted to take the Rockaway ferry at least once before the service ended. Welp, this will definitely be the only time I take it as it is absolutely awful. Now I can see why the city subsidy has ended! The company is clearly run by lunatics.
Got to Pier 11 at 6:30pm, plenty of time before the 6:50 departure. Asked three customer service reps where the boat would be, got different answers from everyone. Then one woman directing customers told me to wait by one particular slip. No boat ever came, just NY Waterway ships. At 6:51 I asked again, where is the boat? They said it had already departed. Impossible!!! I only saw 2 boats leave for NJ and Port Liberté in the 20 minutes I was there.
Asked the customer service rep what the hell happened. He blankly stared at me and said the boat left. But there was NO BOAT. Leaving me stranded to wait for an hour.
At least the weather was nice, otherwise I would have gone mental.
Kudos to the city of New York for ending the funding to this service. Honestly, the best way to get to the Rockaways has been the subway. Screw these guys, will ensure everyone I know understands it’s not worth their time using these ferries.

This review is only for the Seastreak Fall Foliage trip to Cold Spring. We arrived a little bit early at Pier 11 ahead of the time that was on the email from the company representative, which was 9: 15 a.m. About 20 minutes before boarding, a rep at the pier announced that we were to pick up tickets at a small table near the slip. The rep also told us which slip we would board from which was only about 30 feet away.
The Seastreak was definitely high speed and took us up the Hudson in two and a half hours. There were several slowdowns in speed because of passing barges. The tour up the river was narrated by a seasoned tour guide with plenty of knowledge about the waterfront sights. What I appreciated is that he would acknowledge the landmarks he didn’t know.
The crew was professional and patient and helped the elderly passengers onboard. The passengers were all pretty mellow and I think we had a good group with us. There were three decks and the upper had limited seating, but beware that if you choose to go outdoors, the wind is ferocious because of the high speed of the catamaran. In another note, the lower deck’s windows were dirty and some had lots of splash stains, so viewing the foliage wasn’t as good as it could be. It’s better to be on the second deck where the windows are a bit cleaner.
Cold Spring itself is a cute little town and I felt the highlight were the numerous antique shops, secondly the dining and then the pier itself — a lovely green space with one dock. We finished up our tour of Main Street with an ice cream a Moo Moo’s Creamery, ice cream with an old time taste. Three and a half hours was definitely enough to enjoy the charms of Cold Spring.
We got back to Pier 11 on time at 5:30 p.m. It was a wonderful day.