With the government shutdown looming, trying to make a backup plan for my daughter's 10 year old birthday trip we have Oct 1-5. She's been wanting to go to the crown of the Statue of Liberty since she was 6, but if govt shuts down, it'll be a no go. She's super sad, but bouncing back like kids do.

Anyone done the semi private boat tours that get closer to the statue? Staten Island Ferry seemed to not go as close.

I'm flying there tomorrow morning. Have a Circle Line full circumnavigation of Manhattan tour scheduled for Tuesday. It's supposed to get close.

www.circleline.com

Can highly recommend the Circle Line Liberty Cruise. I've done it twice (once when I took my kids and once when I took my mom). It gets really close, has plenty of time for photos, but is really efficient (entire trip is one hour) so it doesn't suck your entire day.

The longer Circle Line cruise that goes all the way around is also really great if you're super interested in the history of Manhattan, but I wouldn't do it with little kids.