Best things to do in NYC before cruise?

[fredandkell]

The tenement museum is lovely.

Do you remember which specific tour you did?

 

[Kate_45]

Oooh. Good question. it was quite a few years ago so has probably changed a lot since then as they were talking about opening up a beer hall or something in their future plans. We definitely went into the Italian families house and another with absent father, so looking at their website it's likely to be the hard times tour unless they've changed the themes since our visit. There were kids on the tour, about 9 years old and the educator interacted well with them without losing the rest of the group. They enjoyed handling objects and answering questions. We wanted to go back and do EVERYTHING there, but only made it down on our last afternoon so had to settle for the only available tour and the video/exhibition instead.


There seems to be a lot of information on the tour content on the website so you can make an informed decision about what would best suit your kids.

 

[KashasMom]

We'll be there in late September before the Bermuda cruise. Has anyone ever done this DCL pre-excursion (backstage at the Aladdin theater?) https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/new-york-city-amsterdam-behind-magic-tour/

We did the same tour on our own (we live in the area) - https://www.broadway.com/shows/disney-broadway-tour/. I think I'd skip the tour with the cruise line (may be more expensive but possibly more crowded as well). My grandson is a musical theater buff (we've seen all the Disney plays on Broadway) so this tour was a blast. Our guide was fantastic and we learned so much about the area and theater. Highly recommend it!

 

[jrabbit]

any Hamilton Fans in your group ... then there is the Hamilton Walking Tour ... look for it on viator .. the one we did specifically talks about the show. This was actually a very interesting historical tour / walk. In the several prior days in the city, we actually didn't make it to many of the places we did on the tour --- like Federal Hall, wall street, etc. The tour guide Chas is a hoot as well as a wealth of information.

 

[rcchello]

My personal favorites without being touristy are the following museums :
Museum of Natural History and Planetarium combined with a walk in Central Park
The Frick Collection combined with the Central Park Zoo
The Pierpont Morgan Library
Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian which can be combined with the Staten Island Ferry or a trip to the Statue of Liberty

 

[Marc D]

I don’t think anyone mentioned it but the Intrepid is a great visit for kids. My son went twice. The observation deck at the new WTC is the best of the more popular ones, because of the elevator ride and the pre-show, but I wouldn’t cross Manhattan just for that. We prefer Top of the Rock to the Empire State Building.