Four daylight sailings with bottomless mimosas and a skyline you can actually see, from $79. Includes the full circumnavigation of Manhattan and the seasonal Hudson foliage run.
Four sailings, from $79 for two hours out of Pier 40 to $139.92 for a full lap of Manhattan on a 1920s yacht. Free cancellation on every one.
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Short answer
Brunch sailings run in daylight, which is the whole argument for them: you can photograph the skyline instead of a silhouette, the dress codes relax, and bottomless mimosas are standard. Four run here, from a $79 two-hour boat out of Pier 40 to a $139.92 circumnavigation of the whole island on a 1920s motor yacht. One is seasonal, sailing up the Hudson for the mid-to-late October colour.
Nobody books a brunch cruise for the same reason they book a dinner cruise, and the boats reflect that. There is no dress code worth the name, the mimosas are usually bottomless, and the light is doing the work that the lighting rig does at night. For a birthday, a hen party or anyone travelling with a camera, this is the better half of the harbor.
The four here split by ambition. The TopView boat out of Pier 40 is the cheap and cheerful two hours. The Bateaux mimosa brunch is the same glass-walled vessel as the formal dinner sailing, considerably more relaxed before noon. And the two Classic Harbor Line sailings on the Yacht Manhattan are the serious ones: a full lap of the island, and a seasonal run up the Hudson for autumn colour.
Prices are the current from-price per person and move with your date, so the live listing is always the authority.
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A full circumnavigation of Manhattan on a 1920s-style motor yacht, which takes the better part of three hours and passes things the harbor loops never reach. A three-course brunch, one drink, and tips already covered.
Bateaux in daylight, with bottomless mimosas and a plated brunch. The glass roof works harder in the morning than it does at night, and the dress code relaxes.
The budget bottomless brunch: two hours out of Pier 40, buffet or plated, a guaranteed private table and a sky deck. The cheapest meal sailing in this lineup, and the ratings reflect a rougher edge.
A seasonal run up the Hudson for the mid-to-late October colour, with a three-course brunch on the way. The only sailing here that leaves the harbor for the river valley.
The route matters more here than the menu. Only one of these circles the whole island, and only one leaves the harbor entirely.
| Sailing | Departs | Route | Meal and drinks | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manhattan Skyline Brunch | Pier 62, Chelsea Piers | Full circumnavigation of Manhattan, 2 hours 45 minutes | Three-course prix fixe, part family-style and part buffet. One drink and tips included. | $139.92 |
| Bateaux mimosa brunch | Pier 61, Chelsea Piers | Standard harbor loop | Plated brunch with bottomless mimosas, on the all-glass vessel. | $116.11 |
| Bottomless brunch, Pier 40 | Pier 40, 353 West Street | East and Hudson Rivers, 2 hours | Buffet or three-course plated, bottomless mimosas, sky deck access, guaranteed private table. | $79.00 |
| Fall foliage brunch | Pier 62, Chelsea Piers | Up the Hudson, seasonal only | Three-course brunch. The only sailing here that leaves the harbor for the river valley. | $139.92 |
| Season | Three run year-round on the weekend calendar. The fall foliage sailing is seasonal, timed to the mid-to-late October colour on the Hudson, and sells out for the peak weekends. |
|---|---|
| Dress code | Relaxed on all four. Casual and stylish is the phrase the listings use. The Bateaux dress code that applies at dinner does not apply to its brunch sailing in the same way. |
| Alcohol | Bottomless mimosas on the Pier 40 and Bateaux sailings, 21 and over only. The Classic Harbor Line sailings include one drink rather than a bottomless option, with tips already covered. |
| Which boat is which | Pier 61 and Pier 62 are adjacent and easy to confuse. Pier 61 is City Cruises and Bateaux; Pier 62 is Classic Harbor Line and the Yacht Manhattan. Pier 40 is a mile and a half south at Houston Street. |
| Children | Welcome on all four, with infants sitting on an adult's lap on the Pier 40 sailing. No alcohol is served to under-21s. |
| Photography | This is the reason to choose daylight. Summer humidity and haze soften the skyline, so a clear day in spring or autumn gives noticeably sharper results. |
The Classic Harbor Line sailings on the Yacht Manhattan. The 2-hour-45-minute circumnavigation goes up the East River, through Hell Gate, down the Harlem and back along the Hudson, which passes stretches of the city the harbor loops never reach. The others stay in the harbor.
On the Pier 40 sailing and the Bateaux brunch, yes, for guests 21 and over. The two Classic Harbor Line sailings include one complimentary drink instead, with additional drinks for purchase and gratuity already covered.
It runs seasonally for the Hudson colour, which typically peaks mid-to-late October. The exact dates are set each year and the peak weekends book out, so check the live calendar rather than assuming a fixed window.
Often, yes. You get the same harbor, better light, a relaxed dress code and a bill that starts $40 below the plated dinner boats. What you give up is the evening atmosphere and the lit skyline, which for a lot of people is the entire point of a dinner cruise. It depends which of those you are actually buying.
The Pier 40 sailing sells a plated window-seating option with priority boarding as a separate tier. On the others, seating depends on the option you buy rather than being guaranteed, so read the tier before assuming.
Worth a look for the same daylight route with a buffet, from $93.
Worth a look for golden hour on the same 1920s yacht.
Worth a look for the evening version, with courses at your table.
Reading first: The brunch sailings compared in full · What you actually see, and when · What the money actually buys
