Ships sail from two New York terminals. The Cruise NYC site describes the Manhattan Cruise Terminal as "at the end of West 48th Street" on the Hudson River side, and the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal as set "along the historic Red Hook waterfront" with "quick NYC Ferry service to Wall Street/Pier 11". That second line is why a ferry can be part of a cruise day here. Our New York ferry page lists the routes; this guide explains how the three kinds of boat differ and what to check.
1. Three boats, three kinds of day
The Staten Island Ferry is run by the city's transportation department, NYC DOT, which says it is free and provides service "every day, year-round". NYC Ferry is a paid network operated by City Experiences, a company; its site says "Operated by City Experiences". The boats to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are different again: the National Park Service says that Statue City Cruises is "the ONLY NPS-authorized ferry transportation provider" to the two islands, and that a ticket for its ferry is required.
2. Getting to the terminals
The Cruise NYC site says each cruise terminal is "conveniently accessible from NYC airports and from the area's major roadways", and gives no more detail on this page, so ask your cruise line for the transfer it recommends. If you are still arranging flights, see our flights page.
3. The Staten Island Ferry
NYC DOT's schedule page says the ferry runs between Whitehall Terminal in Manhattan and St. George on Staten Island, that "Travel time in either direction between St. George and Whitehall is approximately 25 minutes", and that on listed holidays, including Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, it operates the weekend schedule. It also says "All schedules are subject to change without notice" and offers email notifications for service updates. The page we read did not list accessibility details for the boats, so ask the city if that matters to you.
4. NYC Ferry: routes, fares and what changes
NYC Ferry's route pages give an "Approximate Total Time" for the whole route rather than for each pair of landings. On 30 October 2026 they showed 47 minutes for the East River local route, 31 minutes for each of the East River (A) and (B) branches, 68 minutes for the St. George route, 120 minutes for the whole Rockaway-Soundview line with about 60 minutes each between Wall Street/Pier 11 and Rockaway or Throgs Neck, and 40 minutes for the South Brooklyn route. The page explains that the East River route splits into (A) and (B) "during weekday peak hours (7-10 AM and 4-7 PM) and non-winter weekends", so check that your landing is served on your day.
One dated notice: the South Brooklyn page says that from 2 November 2026 NYC Ferry service at Governors Island will relocate to Pier 101 on the north side of the island, because Yankee Pier is closing for construction.
The fares on the NYC Ferry pages on 30 October 2026 were: adult one-way $4.00, 10-trip pass $27.50, seniors $1.35, people with disabilities $1.35, children under 44 inches free; transfers inside the system are free for 120 minutes. The page lists tickets from the app, ticket agents and machines at the landings. These are the operator's figures on that day; check before you travel. The Wall Street/Pier 11 landing lists ticket office hours of Monday to Sunday, 8 AM to 7 PM, and an accessible pick-up and drop-off location at 1 Gouverneur Lane.
5. The Statue of Liberty boats
The National Park Service says the museums on Liberty Island and Ellis Island have no entrance fee, but a ferry ticket from Statue City Cruises is required. It says the security screening and ferry departure moved on 6 March 2026 to a new site in The Battery, about 300 yards north of the Staten Island Ferry Terminal and next to Castle Clinton National Monument. The time on your ticket is "the approximate time you will be joining the line at the security screening facility, not the ferry departure time", and "you cannot arrive more than 30 minutes before your reserved ticket time". Crown ticket holders must check in at a kiosk in Castle Clinton first. The park's hours page gives no sailing times: it says the Statue "is only accessible via ferry. Please check the ferry schedule for ferry times." Its basic-information page says a visit to the two islands "can take most of a day".
The Park Service also warns against unauthorized sellers near The Battery, and says the only on-site place to buy authorized tickets is the official Statue City Cruises office inside Castle Clinton; it strongly recommends buying in advance. Its accessibility page says you should check the daily harbor tides "for easier boarding onto the ferry" and invites accessibility enquiries through a contact link.
6. A plan for a port day
The park describes a visit to the islands as taking most of a day, so on a short call it competes with everything else. The Staten Island Ferry is the lighter choice for a harbor view: it is free and takes about 25 minutes each way, but the Park Service says Statue City Cruises is the only ferry permitted to dock at the islands, so it is not a way to land there. Whichever you pick, count back from your ship's all-aboard time, and read our guide on separate tickets and the buffer. Then return to the New York ferry page.
Checked on 30 October 2026: the NYC DOT Staten Island Ferry pages, the NYC Ferry East River, St. George, Rockaway-Soundview and South Brooklyn route pages and home page, the Cruise NYC site, and the National Park Service Statue of Liberty pages (home, screening move, fees, hours and seasons, accessibility, basic information). Fares and schedules change; check before you travel.