Yams on a Yacht // My NYC Thanksgiving Dinner Cruise Experience

Updated: 12/25/2019

I’m a big fan of tradition. Whether it’s eating at all my favorite places when I go back home, or watching all the same Christmas movies every year even though I’m a total scrooge, or even riding the same ride at Disney World every year no matter how much my friends have had to drink up to that point. I mean, Spaceship Earth was basically built for naps, no? Any time I do the same thing more than once, it becomes a tradition—a tradition that must be continued annually until the end of time despite how little everyone begins to care. Annoying people with my traditions: also a tradition.

Well, I have a new annual tradition. Or maybe you can call it an “anti-tradition”—you tell me. Each year my husband and I try to find new and interesting ways to spend Thanksgiving that don’t involve spending thousands of dollars on plane tickets and/or spending hours in a kitchen. Two years ago we spent Thanksgiving in New York City at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (with a fabulous dinner at my favorite Irish pub, and, no, those two things aren’t mutually exclusive), last year my family joined us in Massachusetts for Thanksgiving dinner with Pilgrims and Native Americans at Plimoth Plantation, but this year’s will be hard to beat. If you haven’t figured it out yet by the title of this post (already hitting the nog, I see), Hornblower New York invited me to experience one of their NYC Thanksgiving dinner cruises and it was ah-mazing.

My NYC Thanksgiving dinner cruise was my second Hornblower cruise, my first being their Jazz Brunch Cruise (featuring unlimited mimosas and yes I feel that’s a necessary point to make). My friend and I had so much fun on our first Hornblower cruise that I couldn’t wait to take another. And now another.

In addition to the awesomeness that is eating dinner on a boat, these cruises offer a three-hour tour from Pier 40 on the Hudson River, down around lower Manhattan, up the East River passing under the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges, then down to the Statue of Liberty… and back. You’re greeted with a glass of champagne upon arriving on the boat despite the fact that you’re already stumbling like a moron (boats + heels tho) then another to toast Lady Liberty and her more seaworthy footwear. I personally took the Nautical Thanksgiving Dinner Cruise that also offered coat check, a cash/credit bar, as much free water and soft drinks as your insulin levels can handle, and, for whatever strange reason, free Baileys. And free Baileys just happens to be what I am most thankful for this year.

The cruises go from 5:00-8:00pm and all options come with a live DJ who’s totally open to compliments and some of the best views in New York City.

Aaaanyway. The food on the Hornblower cruises always wows me. On my first brunch cruise, I was expecting… oh, I don’t know… something more like I would cook. And by that I mean, something from a box that says “just add water”. In reality, the food was (and always is) really good. Not “good for a boat” good, but actually really, really good. So of course I didn’t hesitate at all booking a cruise to celebrate a holiday that 100% revolves around food. And as expected, the food on my NYC Thanksgiving dinner cruise was nothing short of impressive.

There’s music and dancing on every floor, whether it’s for fun, to stay warm, or a side effect of your third helping of desert Baileys. The whole boat turns into one big party—crazy enough that you absolutely don’t regret ditching your family for the holidays, but not so crazy that Miss Judy can’t celebrate her 93^rd birthday.

There were, my guess would be, somewhere between 150-200 people on my yacht. That’s a rough estimate as I couldn’t see much of the other guests whilst shoveling goat cheese into my mouth by the forkful. On board were cuddling couples of varying ages, whole families including those with young children, people celebrating birthdays, singular guests, and one blogger taking up-close pictures of the buffet while people looked on and judged. One of the guests to my husband: “She’s taking pictures of the food?” My husband’s response: “Yeah, she does that a lot.”

The boat then heads over to the Statue of Liberty where it gets closer than you’d ever expect. It pauses there for a few minutes for a much-appreciated champagne toast, some Sinatra, and for all the photo-ops your fingertips can handle before they freeze right off. If your fingers can make it here, they can make it anywhere!

A NYC Thanksgiving dinner cruise is perfect for anyone like me who HATES THE KITCHEN WITH AN UNRELENTING PASSION; who’d rather zip through the drive-thru at Taco Bell than fuss with a casserole. It’s for families looking for a new Thanksgiving tradition or for anyone else looking for a fun, unique way to spend a holiday. Who says Thanksgiving has to be spent with family members you’d otherwise never hang with (i.e., strangers), discussing politics, and counting down the minutes until you can bolt? Who says you have to pretend to give a damn about football while your cousin complains about his job? Who says you can’t have salmon and champagne and Irish cream for desert? 

It’s for anyone who wants a break from the cooking and the cleaning for a change; it’s for birthday-havers and anniversary-celebraters; it’s for those of you who maybe can’t travel to visit family in the first place; and it’s for all y’all who spent your morning with the three million other people at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade who are just too exhausted to leave the city.

⇢ A hat, gloves, scarf, thermal leggings under your leather pants, all of it. Because it’s windy on a boat. It’s also November.

⇢ Book your Hornblower NYC Thanksgiving cruise as early as possible as they tend to sell out. There was still room on all three when I booked my spots on October 1st but availability was already limited.

⇢ Come hungry. How much you can eat on your NYC Thanksgiving cruise is limited only by what your belly and your waistband can handle.

⇢ Don’t forget to check in. Cruises start at 5:00, boarding starts at 4:30, but first you need to check in at the Hornblower office to the left of the yachts. Bring your email confirmation or printed tickets to exchange for actual boat tickets.

⇢ Mingle! The Nautical and Admiral’s cruises offer family-style seating at large tables. Chat with your table-mates and make new friends. Everyone is on a NYC Thanksgiving cruise for a different reason and it’s fun to hear the stories.

⇢ Pier 40 confused the hell out of me on my first visit. When looking at the front of Pier 40, Hornblower is found on the right of the building. You’ll see the boats. Follow the signs towards check-in or see my fancy map below.

⇢ Convince everyone else you know that traditional Thanksgiving is boringgg.