Niagara Falls Hornblower cruise: the boat that changed its name

A Niagara Falls Hornblower cruise is a booking for a boat that has since been renamed. The boat on the Canadian bank used to trade as Hornblower. It now trades as Niagara City Cruises. The landing on the Niagara Parkway did not move, the route into the horseshoe did not change, and the ponchos are still red. That is the whole story, and it is worth saying plainly because the two names circulate together in listings, reviews and directions given by hotel staff.

You can see it inside the listings on this site. $85 calls it a Hornblower boat ride. $118 names the Hornblower Boat Cruise in its skip-the-line tickets. Meanwhile $156, $104 and $135 all say Niagara City Cruises. Booking any of them puts you on the same deck. If you were worried that a listing using the old name and one using the new name were two different sailings you would have to choose between, you were not being careless — the wording genuinely looks like two products.

What is genuinely a different boat is the Maid of the Mist, which sails from Niagara Falls, New York in blue ponchos. That is a separate operator on the other bank of an international border. A search that puts the word USA next to the water usually means the Maid of the Mist rather than this boat, and the two tickets are not interchangeable in either direction.

One more distinction while we are drawing lines. The jet boat at $67 runs 45 minutes through the class 5 rapids of the Niagara River downstream from the drop. A Niagara Falls river cruise of that kind is fast water and a different experience entirely: it does not take you to the foot of the falls.

$85 — Walking Tour of Niagara Falls Canada and Hornblower Boat. The plainest Niagara Falls Hornblower cruise on the list: ninety minutes, rated 4.8 across 273 reviews, with a small-group walk around the Canadian bank and then the boat ride into the mist. It is the shortest way to put the walk and the sailing together, and it is our pick on this page for anyone who wants the boat without giving up the afternoon.

$118 — Toronto: Niagara Falls, Boat Ride & Journey Behind the Falls. Nine hours, rated 4.8 across 2,086 reviews, with pick-up across downtown Toronto and skip-the-line tickets to the boat and the tunnels. If you are starting in the city, this is the version of a Hornblower cruise Niagara Falls Ontario search that actually collects you.

$156 — Niagara Falls: Premium Tour, Boat & Journey Behind the Falls. Four hours, rated 4.8 across 4,360 reviews, a small group with the sailing, Skylon Tower and the tunnels, led by a local guide. The most complete package on the Canadian bank and the one with the most feedback behind it.

$104 — Niagara Falls Canada: Boat Ride, Journey Behind the Falls. Two and a half hours, rated 4.9 across 328 reviews, with local guides, the sailing, the tunnels and a guided walk. The highest score of any package here, on a respectable pile of reviews.

$96 — Exclusive Priority Boat & Behind the Falls. Three hours, rated 4.7 across 1,502 reviews, naming a priority boarding lane, the best deck spots and 125 feet below the bedrock. The boarding lane is the reason to consider it in July, and it is the only Niagara Falls Hornblower cruise package here that sells one.

For the boat and a walk in 90 minutes, book $85. A small-group walk around the Canadian bank and the boat ride into the mist, rated 4.8 across 273 reviews. It is our pick on this page and the lowest fare that names this boat.

For the best score on the list, book $104. Two and a half hours with the sailing, the tunnels and a guided walk, rated 4.9 across 328 reviews.

For the fullest Canadian day, book $156. Four hours with the boat, Skylon Tower and the tunnels, rated 4.8 across 4,360 reviews — the largest pile of feedback behind any package here.

For a boarding lane in high summer, book $96. Three hours with priority boarding, deck spots and 125 feet below the bedrock, rated 4.7 across 1,502 reviews.

And for the evening version, book $234. Four hours of night views with a seasonal sailing, dinner at a local restaurant and the Illumination Tower, rated 4.5 across 177 reviews.