January 02, 2008
Snafu-fraught first day for new Statue of Liberty ferries
On New Year's Day, the Provincetown II pulled to the Battery Park dock with plenty of time to make its 9 a.m. maiden voyage to the Statue of Liberty -- marking the end of Circle Line's half-century monopoly on the ferry service.
But not all went perfectly well on Day 1 for Hornblower Cruises, doing business here as Statue Cruises.
 There was an exploding coffee pot, flooded bathrooms, and severe ticketing problems that scuttled the 9 a.m. departure, making the maiden voyage more than half an hour late.
Provincetown II docked at Liberty Island close to 10 a.m., as it was held in Manhattan awaiting the passengers with 9 a.m. reserved tickets who were stuck in the will-call line. As the potential passengers waited in the rain, it took five to 10 minutes to help each customer in the will-call line -- all people with printed confirmation numbers. (The regular lines barely moved either.)
A ferry company representative walked along the will-call line and apologized and said things aren't "normally" like this. She also reminded them they should have printed their tickets at home: "Naughty, naughty" she chided. To which two separate groups immediately replied that their ticket PDF file came up empty, an e-mail to Statue Cruises bounced as undeliverable, and then finally a phone call elicited the response that the company was having problems with AOL (although the customer wasn't using AOL.) Another will-call user said the website did not give him an option to opt-out of the audio guide purchase along with the tickets.
As the new exclusive ferry operator to Liberty and Ellis island, Statue Cruises is under contract with the National Park Service to buy all the old Circle Line ferry boats. But the two companies haven't yet agreed on a price so Statue Cruises' current fleet includes Provincetown II ("Boston Harbor's largest cruise ship with room for groups of 100 to 1100 passengers" according to the Bay State Cruise Company website,) the John James Audubon, Bay State and the Nelseco. Originally they were supposed to start service October 1 but was pushed back to January 1 amid fears there would be no boats available and the islands would have to close.
 The Provincetown II, still outfitted Tuesday with its Boston-based life preservers, flags, and posters of old Massachusetts postcards, offered indoor and outdoor seating as well as actual tables on one indoor deck, a stark step up from the too-few indoor benches Circle Line offered, which forced many passengers to resort to sitting on the floor.
Soon after the boat departed Tuesday, a clearly audible recording started relaying information about the journey and history of the statue. (An Ellis Island-history recording later played on the way to that island and concluded by saying the final ferry departure from Ellis would be 5:15 p.m., weather permitting.)
However, there were a lot of first-day glitches on the Provincetown's first trip of the morning. There was an exploding coffee pot on the unattended second-deck snack bar, which led passengers to track down crew to let them know water was spraying all over a wall and ceiling; the women's restroom floor was entirely wet, with a few inches of water pooling next to the toilets. The open snack bar was serving only limited offerings, including coffee or hot chocolate with no lids ($1.85 each) and bodega-style packaged muffin/pound cake-type things ($1.85.) The main menu boards, however, were sill in a Boston state of mind, promising Cape Cod potato chips, beer, chardonnay or mixed rinks with Red Bull, ("Maximum 2 drinks per person - MA law.")
But it's worth noting that across the board, the Statue Cruises staff on the boats were unfailing nice and polite.
One more thing to make clear is that the ferry operator's obligation does not extend to the operations of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island themselves -- those remain under the management of the National Park Service. So on January 1 it was business as usual (though a later start time) at the "puffer" security tent at the base of the Statue of Liberty, where the ranger repeatedly turned away tourists because they failed to get the free monument pass online or at the ticket booth in Manhattan. (One ranger was overheard telling a very angry woman "You need to go back to Statue Cruises. It's their first day." But basically, once you get to the island and find out you were supposed to ask for the free ticket several hours/days ago, it's too late to fix.)
Once Statue Cruises works out its kinks, it promises to improve the service tourists had been stuck with through Circle Line.The on-boat audio is certainly an improvement and the timed-tickets for the ferries are promising (though obviously it wasn't working yesterday.)
A spokeswoman for the new ferry company is quoted in media reports today saying "Most of the boats were going out full" on the first day, which is a flat-out falsity based on the boats that NewYorkology watched all morning and afternoon.
So until things get ironed out at Statue Cruises and they obtain their permanent vessels, have a look back at NewYorkology's old guide to visiting the Statue of Liberty. Most of the basics are unchanged, including security, best time to go, and what to see and what to skip. And most importantly, it tells you to get the monument pass, which is the only way to get into the Statue of Liberty museum, see "The Colossus" poem and look up inside the statue itself from about Lady Liberty's toe-level.
The Provincetown II arrived at Battery Park at 8:40 a.m., awaiting its first passengers.
Though most of their customers were still in the broken-ticket lines.
Eventually, all the indoor tables on the Provincetown II filled up.
But even when the rain stopped later in the day, the outdoor decks were nearly empty.
The Nelseco, as seen from one of the observation deck's of the Statue of Liberty's pedestal.
As the Bay State started to depart from Liberty Island, a loud scraping noise had the crew hollering and sending the boat back to the dock. A few minutes later, the Bay State departed for the "garden state."
The new ticket no longer comes with a separate monument pass, but instead says "adult reserve & monument" right on it.
Some things were entirely unchanged.
Earlier: New firm takes over Statue of Liberty ferry route today
January 2, 2008 08:44 AM in Cheap Stuff, Downtown, History, Kids, Museums, Out of Manhattan, Sightsology, Tours, Transportology
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