Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises and Open Loop New York Launch New Partnership to See New York by Land and by Water

NEW YORK--()--Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises, the iconic New York City sightseeing cruise company, and Open Loop New York, part of RATP Group, a leading operator of sightseeing open-top bus tours in New York, announced today a joint partnership to offer visitors exclusive new experiences to see the city’s skyline and major attractions. Launching on May 1st, the special combined offers will include access to New York’s newest hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus tours, paired with an unforgettable Circle Line cruise sailing around New York Harbor.

“We are thrilled to work in tandem with one of the world’s top sightseeing companies with deep experience providing compelling content in New York, as well as Paris and London,” said Daniel Boockvar, CEO of New York Cruise Lines, the parent company of Circle Line. “As two leaders in global sightseeing, we look forward to providing a truly unique and seamless experience for guests who want to hear all of New York City’s great stories and see all its notable attractions by both land and sea.”

Two of the most exciting new combo offerings launching May 1st will include:

  • Two-Day Open Loop Tickets + a Circle Line Cruise
    • Includes access to Open Loop’s new hop-on hop-off tour buses for 2 days, along with a Liberty or Landmark Cruise aboard Circle Line
  • Three Day Open Loop Tickets + a Circle Line Cruise
    • Includes access to Open Loop’s hop-on hop-off tour buses for 3 days, and a Circle Line Landmark Cruise

Additional combo options will also be available online and at the Circle Line Box Office and Open Loop Visitor Center, both conveniently located in Midtown Manhattan. Guests will enjoy the ultimate in convenience, as Open Loop’s newly revised routes will include express service directly to Circle Line at Pier 83 at 42nd Street and 12th Avenue.

Open Loop’s tours features convenient and frequent Downtown, Uptown, Midtown routes and the Night Tour, set to NYC’s sparkling lights. Circle Line’s Liberty Cruise is the fastest way to see the Statue of Liberty and the celebrated Landmark Cruise showcases all the best sights of midtown and lower Manhattan from the Hudson and East Rivers.

“Open Loop is very proud to partner with Circle Line which is New York’s premier and historic sightseeing cruise as we launched three routes now available in the heart of Manhattan taking in the city’s iconic sites and areas with brand new double-decker buses wrapped in patriotic colors. With a dedicated frequent service to Pier 83, we are truly excited to offer our guests unparalleled convenience and content through this ultimate tour experience,” said Tony Alvarado, VP Business Development for Marketing and Sales of Open Loop New York.

The partnership has been announced in conjunction with Circle Line’s commemoration of 70 years as one of New York City’s most famous icons. Circle Line has hosted on board over 60 million passengers since 1945. Stay tuned for a series of upcoming announcements from Circle Line as it continues to celebrate its 70th Anniversary. To receive up to the minute Circle Line news and updates on construction, follow @CircleLine42NYC on Twitter and Instagram or visit Facebook.com/CircleLineSightseeingCruises.

ABOUT CIRCLE LINE SIGHTSEEING CRUISES

Celebrating its 70th Anniversary in 2015, Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises at 42nd Street has hosted more than 60 million passengers in NYC. Sailing since 1945, Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises is owned and operated by New York Cruise Lines. It is New York’s oldest and largest provider of scheduled and chartered sightseeing and special function cruises. Residents and tourists can choose from five different leisurely tours including a Full Island Cruise, a Semi-Circle Cruise, Liberty Cruise, twilight Harbor Lights Cruise or a 30-minute thriller boat ride aboard The Beast, coupled with convenient schedules to accommodate guests needs, state-of-the-art vessels, first class service and attentive crews. Cruises are not only designed to provide the best viewing opportunities, but to also be informative, comfortable and entertaining as well. Today, the company is recognized as one of the most famous boat rides in the world and is one of the oldest 42nd Street landmarks. Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises is not affiliated with Circle Line Downtown.

ABOUT NEW YORK CRUISE LINES

Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises, New York’s oldest and largest provider of scheduled and chartered sightseeing and special event cruises, and one of the most famous boat rides in the world, has hosted over 60 million passengers in New York since 1945. Today, Circle Line, located in Hudson River Park on 42nd Street and the Hudson River, convenient to Time Square, the High Line and Hudson Yards, is the only cruise line dedicated exclusively to sightseeing, while using the most modern vessels offering magnificent views of the Manhattan skyline, year round. Circle Line’s parent company, New York Cruise Lines (NYCL), also operates New York’s first and finest dinner cruise fleet - World Yacht Dining Cruises, and Manhattan’s very own thrill ride, The BEAST speedboat. In 2014, NYCL innovated casual dining cruising with the successful launch of the North River Lobster Company. North River Lobster Company offers fresh and affordable seafood in a convenient and casual “floating lobster shack,” with up to seven sailings on the Hudson daily.

ABOUT OPEN LOOP NEW YORK

Open Loop is the newest Hop on Hop off sightseeing bus tour company in New York with a fleet of brand new double-deckers operated by a team of friendly and professional drivers. Uptown, Midtown and Downtown loops with hop on hop off service throughout the day and a night tour that is a continuous loop into Brooklyn over the Manhattan Bridge, are available all year round for visitors to enjoy the best of New York City. Private charters are also possible. State-of-the-art GPS activated narration is provided in 9 languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, and Russian. Tickets can be bought online seamlessly including from a mobile device. With the “Where’s my bus?” function through any mobile device, Open Loop New York is the only operator in the New York market to offer its guests the possibility to locate buses in real time.

ABOUT RATP DEV

RATP Dev is the RATP Group subsidiary established in 2002 to export the group’s operations and maintenance know-how outside the historical network operated by RATP in the Paris region. RATP Dev is present in twelve countries on four continents (United Kingdom, France, Italy, Switzerland, Algeria, Morocco, South Africa, USA, Brazil, India, China and South Korea). In 2014, RATP Dev revenue reached close to €1 billion in 2014.

ABOUT RATP Group

With twelve million passengers every day worldwide, RATP Group is the fifth largest urban transport operator in the world. The multimodal network operated by RATP in the Paris region, with its 14 metro lines (including two driverless lines), two regional express network (RER) lines, four tramway lines, 350 bus lines and shuttle services catering to the region's two international airports, is the largest of its kind in the world to be managed by a single company.

RATP Group can devise, design and implement infrastructure development projects, operate and maintain networks irrespective of the transport mode (metro, regional train, tramway and bus) and develop innovative services to promote mobility such as passenger information, electronic ticketing, pricing and customer marketing. The automation of Paris metro's Line 1, which was completed at the end of 2012, is a world first and once again has demonstrated the ability of RATP Group to complete particularly complex projects.

RATP Group exports its know-how all over the world via its Systra subsidiary (of which it owns 50%) in engineering, through its wholly-owned RATP Dev subsidiary in operations and maintenance and through its IXXI subsidiary for innovative services promoting mobility.

RATP Group has a workforce of nearly 60,000 worldwide and in 2013 generated revenue of €5.14 billion.

Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises (http://www.circleline42.com/)
World Yacht Dining Cruises (http://worldyacht.com/site/home.aspx)
North River Lobster Company (www.northriverlobsterco.com)

Contacts

MEDIA:
Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises
Lindsey Guinn, 212-630-8181
lguinn@nycl.com
or
Evins Communications, Ltd.
Samantha Stier, 212-377-3586
Samantha.stier@evins.com
or
Open Loop New York
Tracy Harris, 917-750-0590
tracy.harris@openloop-ny.com

Contacts

MEDIA:
Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises
Lindsey Guinn, 212-630-8181
lguinn@nycl.com
or
Evins Communications, Ltd.
Samantha Stier, 212-377-3586
Samantha.stier@evins.com
or
Open Loop New York
Tracy Harris, 917-750-0590
tracy.harris@openloop-ny.com