We didn’t visit the inside of the museum. We did a kayak tour in the Delaware River. We had a great time and learned a lot about the river the ships and Penn.

Due to time constraints, we toured the Olympia, instead of the Museum. We were able to climb up to all decks. This is a very historical ship that participated in the Battle of Manila as Admiral Dewey's flagship. The Olympia was honored to bring the WW1 Unknown Soldier's remains from France to America. There is a site on the main deck where the coffin was lashed down to keep it safe. Imagine the Marines who lashed themselves to fixed supports to survive a severe storm! What a wonderful visit we had aboard ship!

I didn't know what to expect, but I was game to trying it - actually had fascinating displays, and video games depicting some sea events which I enjoyed trying

The museum is very special and I wish I had brought my grand kids. Santa was there and so was a very fun pirate. Both were attentive to the kids and even posed for pictures with our adult traveling group. We had come for the boat parade of lights. We had been to one in Annapolis in the past. That one was far more exciting then the Philly one. Perhaps they offer better prizes, any way I think the Seaport Folks should check with Annapolis for some pointers. This boat parade was far too slow, and the lights were pretty run of the mill. I did appreciate that many of the boats were working boats so I think it was great that they participated. The evening was not a total loss because the museum was interesting, the staff was kind and enthusiastic, and they gave out really fun foam glow sticks for voting. Unfortunately because it was so cold and the parade was so slow not many spectators stayed for the voting.

We went in and toured the place. It was okay and reminded me of a few other museums such as the one on the Welland Canal system. Came here to write this and see other reviewers saying the best part was the ships. I did not know there were ships to see, or a submarine. Take note.

The ship and submarine were really interesting and fun to explore. The exhibits in the museum portion were also interesting, though the informational signs could have been more detailed. There were several things I would have liked to have read about that did not have signage. Overall, we had a wonderful time and would recommend the museum.

Paid $10 each, no cafe, couldn’t get the vending machine to take our money or accept our bank card to buy water, and not overly impressed with the museum. Staff seemed disinterested and we felt that exhibits were all aimed at children. Maybe if we had children with us it would have been more enjoyable Walked outside & saw the submarine, the WW1 Olympia & a tall ship.

This is a very nice area just south of the Hilton Hotel. The park setting has food booths, ships, water views, sitting areas and decent landscaping for an urban park. The highpoint is the collection of three ships. The cruiser i(WWI) s world famous and looks great. you can make a model of this from a kit! It is the Cruiser Olympia. The submarine is good and from WWII. It is Submarine Becuna. The four square sailing ship is very impressive. Nice place to spend a little time!

The museum was okay for the amount of space they had to work with, but the cruiser and submarine were both impressive. Our recommendation would be to tour the vessels.

You get to choose whether you want to visit the museum, the docked ship, or both. I would go with the ship, which is from World War I. You get to see quite a lot of areas, and the written explanations are very helpful. The museum, however, might not be worth it. There aren't very many artifacts (I think too many of them are replicas), and the exhibits are mostly for children. Might be OK for an elementary school field trip, whereas the ship can be enjoyable for any visitor of any age.

This is a nice museum that covers history of the sea. It's in Penn's Landing and it is close to other great places in Penn's Landing.

It was really cool to go on the submarine Becuna (not for large or handicapped people due to tight quarters and all the hatchways you had to climb over/through) and the Cruiser Olympia. It had rained so I could not go up on the top desk of the ship which was a bummer but I understood; safety first. The museum itself was interesting for about 15 minutes but unless you are a small boat officiando and want to see hundreds of row boat-sized boats or have small kids for the interactive part the inside was a bust. And while the front desk was friendly and helpful I was not given a map or brochure of any kind and sort of left on my own. Also there is no cafe in the museum only what they called a vending area with 1 machine that looked like it belonged in the basement somewhere.

On a full week’s vacation for the Wawa Welcome America Festival in Philadelphia, we took advantage of the free admission day at the Independence Seaport Museum. It’s a museum devoted to maritime history in the Philadelphia area. Many of the exhibits focus on shipbuilding, the seaport, and the Delaware Watershed. There are also three ships associated with the museum: Cruiser Olympia C-6, Submarine Becuna SS-319, and Schooner Diligence. There was something for people of all ages in each area. The special exhibit “River Alive!” was centered on the Delaware River. We enjoyed the display on the Delaware Watershed which was divided into five parts: Mountains & Headwaters, Wilderness & Wildlife, Farmland & Industry, Urban & Suburban, and Bay & Coastal Plains. One display was about the Cramp Shipbuilding Company. There was a quiz/survey to allow people to see how they fit into the Delaware Watershed. My friend and I both turned out to be Trusty Trout. There was large map of the watershed that lit up. Another first-floor section we liked was the Fisharium, an activity and education room that was part of the “River Alive” exhibit. There was an area for drawing and/or tracing forms, a model of a frog, and a model of a fish. I did a couple of activities. The exhibit Patriots & Pirates told about the founding of the United Sates Navy. After some background info of the Continental Navy which was disbanded October 13, 1775 by the sale of its three ships, the exhibit got into the pressing need for naval defense of our fledgling nation. There was an incident that brought the situation to the fore. President George Washington saw the need for a protecting force on the seas for trade in the Mediterranean against Algerian pirates who captured the Dauphin, held the ship for ransom, and enslaved the sailors aboard. After years of debate, Congress finally had a document, the Constitution, that allowed it to authorize President George Washington to build ships to defend American shipping interests in March of 1794 with the Naval Act of 1794, thus approving a navy. In October 1797, the first three ships were completed. They were USS United States, USS Constellation, and USS Constitution. The United States finally had an official navy. The exhibit discussed the French problem and the British problem at sea. There was a model of a xebec ship favored by Algerian pirates. The info card that went with it called it a “Terrifying Beauty.” There was a model of the USS Pennsylvania which was authorized by Congress in 1816 after the War of 1812. The ship was huge. It was 210 feet LOA. It had 36 guns and a crew of 1,100. The caption on its info board read: Built to Intimidate. And, it certainly was. Nearby was an interactive area for youngsters. There was a model cannon and Schooner Diligence, a good-sized ship for youngsters to board. Here were many beautiful paintings of tall ships throughout the museum. The info board that went with the huge model of the SS Manchuria stated that it was the largest merchant ship ever built at the New York Shipyard across the river in Camden, NJ. Its LOA was 615’ 8”. It was launched in 1903. There was an exhibit on outfitting a ship. There was a model of an engine room. An unexpected display about the Slinky was there. The info board said that the idea for it was conceived by mechanical engineer Richard James, who worked at the Cramp Shipbuilding Company. He was using springs to resolve a vibration problem on a ship. One fell on the floor. He noticed its playful motion and thought it would make a great toy. Slinky made its World Debut in Gimbel’s Department Store in November 1945. There was an exhibit titled Civil Rights that covered the separation of races even in shipbuilding. An info board had a long list of dates and events from 1948 to 2008 that marked advances in Civil Rights. Another exhibit was about defending the Delaware River. As early as 1775, Congress ordered the 13 colonies to find ways to defend themselves against British forces. Pennsylvania responded by creating its own navy with 13 Row Galleys, flat-bottomed ships with LOA of 47 – 50 feet. One galley carried a 32-pounder cannon; four galleys carried 24-pounder cannons, and eight galleys carried 18-pounder cannons. The navigated the waters with oars and one lateen sail. One artifact from that period was a reconstructed Hessian soldier’s metal cap. Another part of the “River Alive!” exhibit was titled “Police & Fire Boats to the Rescue” which told about the evolution of boats from the first in 1893 to modern times. A large room in the back on the second floor had a room full of boats. The exhibit was aptly named “Boats, Boats, Boats & More Boats.” It had all types of boats powered by sail, poles, oars, and engines. Sloops, skiffs, catboats, tugboats, steamers, and more were all represented. We were here for close to three hours and could have stayed longer, but we wanted to ride the ferry nearby. We rate Independence Seaport Museum at 5.0 and highly recommend a visit. We think it’s a must-see attraction in Philadelphia. If you found this review helpful, please click THANK below.

We spent about 4 hours total, a couple of hours in the museum, and a couple more on the sub and cruiser. There is a woodworking shop in the museum for repairing boats. The sub was used in WW2 against the Japanese, and is diesel-electric powered. The cruiser was the flagship at the Battle of Manila Bay in the Spanish-American War. It was powered by steam engines and fueled by coal. The Admiral's facilities on the ship were beautiful, and the senior officers as well, but the sailors slept in hammocks in communal areas.

Took advantage of free museum day as advertised for July 1. Interesting history of Philly waterfront, with ship and boat building and some local histroy thru the years. Wasn't in awe of museum but they had some good items for kids. Checked it off the list dont have to revisit