Niagara City Cruises — Attraction in Niagara Falls

The only reason to go to this area is for the actual Falls, and probably the best way to do it is via one of these cruise companies. I came here with my cousins last weekend, one of whom has always wanted to go here and did the honors of booking the actual cruise. I will say this - the actual town or city of Niagara Falls is terrible. I would never come back. It's super trashy and crowded, and the experience of walking from the parking area ($40!) to the cruise terminal was a massive low point of my vacation. I can't imagine the US side is this gross, so if for some reason I WERE forced to return, it would be from there even though I think the natural view of the falls is better on the Canada side. That's how bad it is. Good luck to everyone.

The biggest selling point by far of this place is how efficient and quick it is. TONS of people utilize this company to get out to the Falls, so I was pretty apprehensive after walking through the horde of people only to find another long line to even take the elevator/tram down to the boat. They kept it moving and we waited maybe five or 10 minutes total to actually board, which is pretty astonishing when you consider how many other visitors were there - literally hundreds. Honestly, I kept thinking about that Mussolini quote (which I don't think he actually said) with the trains running on time. It's a very well-run operation even if you DO end up feeling like cattle in a stockyard.

The cruise terminal (if that's the right word - this wasn't remotely akin to, say, Norwegian Epic or anything) was easy to spot and predictably located right next to the river and to the northwest of the Falls. We easily found the line for pre-purchased tickets and were quickly moved into a tram/elevator down the side of the cliff to the shoreline. That deposits you very close to the actual disembarkation point, though we wisely chose to take a quick bathroom break and walk through a touristy area with food court items (I saw a lot of chicken fingers) and a musical act in the background. The only wait involved the five or so minutes for the prior group to get off the boat before we were shuttled on for our journey down the river, which was unquestionably awesome - it takes you very close to the Falls and thankfully includes a handy reusable poncho so you don't get too damp from the mist/spray. The whole journey probably took 20 minutes or so, which was just enough time in my view, before you leave and another group quickly takes your place. If you have the ability - and most should - just get as close to a railing as you can, regardless of the side of the boat you happen to be on; believe me, you're going to end up with a nice view at some point.

The only downside is you lose some of the hospitality bed manner in the constant shuffle of human beings. We encountered a pretty unpleasant employee doling out ponchos who barked at us because my cousin wasted .2 seconds to...hand me a poncho. You're not likely to establish too many warm connections with the staff, but that's quite arguably the price you're paying for getting in and out so quickly.

It looked like the US side has a competing or sister company with the same concept, just blue ponchos instead of red. That would be my vote since if you're going to end up literally right in front of the Falls anyway on a boat, you can skip the creepy Vegas town hosted by our Canadian counterparts. Cool ride down the...

🚫 SHOCKINGLY RUDE & CONFUSING — AVOID THIS CRUISE!

TL;DR: We arrived 11 minutes before our scheduled Falls Fireworks Cruise (May 24, 9:30 PM), only to find locked gates, no staff in sight, and a loud disembodied voice yelling at us to "GET OUT." Turns out the gates close 20 minutes before departure — a fact buried in fine print, not clearly stated upfront. Zero empathy, zero help, zero accountability. DO NOT BOOK.

We were a group of 5 with tickets for the Falls Fireworks Cruise on Saturday, May 24, scheduled for 9:30 PM. Wanting to arrive early, we reached the gate to the ramp at 9:19 PM, a full 11 minutes before departure.

However, to our surprise, the gates were already shut — and there wasn’t a single cruise staff member in sight. No signs, no instructions, no one to talk to. Just locked gates.

We waited, looked around, and even saw a few people climbing over the fence to get down to the landing. It looked like some of them managed to board — we never saw them again — but shortly afterward, more people (about 15–20 of us) gathered at the same gate, all equally confused.

A few minutes later — still before 9:30 PM — some of us decided to follow the others and climb over the fence. But when we got down to the ramps, we saw that the boarding gates were locked as well. There was no one from the cruise staff anywhere to be seen.

At this point, we finally noticed a note buried in the “Additional Info” section of the ticket saying that gates close 20 minutes prior to departure.

This is wildly inconsistent with our prior experience with their daytime cruise, which has the same ticket layout but no such requirement. The expectation that passengers should ignore the printed departure time and guess some hidden cutoff rule is completely unreasonable.

Eventually, a non-cruise-affiliated park staff member showed up. We begged him to help us reach someone from the cruise. His answer?

“I’m not affiliated… and honestly, this happens every day.”

EVERY DAY? That means this is a known issue, and the cruise company is fully aware that dozens of people are getting left out, confused and locked out — and they refuse to fix it.

To make matters worse, someone finally spoke over the PA system — not to help, but to shout at us to leave. We couldn’t even see where they were speaking from. All we asked was to unlock the gate so we didn’t have to CLIMB OUT AGAIN, and still — nothing.

Then, as we were trying to leave one by one over the fence, this invisible voice came back and shouted,

“Guys, GET OUT OF HERE NOW!”

I've traveled to 25+ countries and 40+ U.S. states, and this was genuinely one of the most hostile, unempathetic, and disorganized tourist experiences I’ve ever encountered.

We tried calling their number afterward. That was just as frustrating — no accountability, no apology, no help.

BOTTOM LINE: If you're planning a cruise in Niagara Falls — AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS. Their communication is misleading, their operations are sloppy, and their staff treats paying customers...

Niagara City Cruises was so fun we actually did it twice. We did it once in the afternoon and another time at 9:05am. With both experiences, the staff was lovely! From the check in people to the elevator greeters to those on the boat, all were extremely personable and friendly. It was easy to get tickets (they’re around the corner from the zip line - so keep going around the corner once you see the ticket kiosk as it’s the wrong one! Once you have your tickets it’s a quick elevator ride down to the boats. For anyone with a stroller, wheelchair or mobility issues, the elevator is after maybe 2-3 stories of a circular ramp to get to it, and then there is more of a level downhill walk to the boats. The whole area down by the boats is really nice and open. You can choose to hang out after your or before your boat ride as there’s a place to get snacks and watch the falls as there are tables available. There is a really nice Niagara Falls gift shop at the exit which has items we did not see anywhere else in terms of souvenirs - so if you see something you love, get it while you’re there!! A fun fact is that we got to meet Dallas and maybe you’ll be lucky enough to as well! Dallas is the falcon who is keeping the seagulls away and is sitting perched with his handler nearby the boating exit. He was super cool!! For the boat ride itself, the best place is the front at the railings if you can get it. You’ll still have amazing views everywhere and will get wet everywhere, we just loved being in the front. Tip: the 9am boat was perfect!! 8:30 was full from the early arrivals - 9 was perfect as most people were still getting up so it wasn’t full at all! Still ok when it’s full, just nice to be able to move around. For those not wanting to get wet, there is an indoor space to keep you dry if you want to on the bottom level. After our first ride we upgraded our game plan and brought goggles!! If you want to be an expert, bring your goggles so you can actually see when you’re getting drenched by the mist (that was our 2nd visit upgrade and we loved it!!) it was still super fun the first time without goggles but we were literally in the water of the mist splashing into our face for a few minutes so we were just laughing with closed eyes from all the water spray and missed so much of the cool whirlpools and view of being so near the...