I visited the Hudson Bay area with a friend in August 2019. We wanted to see the Statue of Liberty and had not realised we needed to book in advance to actually get access, but luckily when you get off the subway at South Ferry there are tour guides right there ready to advise people about the boat tours available.
The same company do a four hour boat tour where you can disembark at Liberty Island and walk around the base of the statue even without crown reservations. However we were on a slightly more limited timescale and wanted to walk around Battery Park as well the same day so we took the one hour round trip.
There was a bit of a wait for the next boat so you may need to plan what to do while waiting if you have small kids with you. There's not a great deal in the vicinity other than food vendors (which I would not recommend after paying $20 for two inedible pretzels and three drinks) and a number of piers including a helipad and the views of the river. However, it was all very well-organised and staff got passengers on the boat efficiently.
The boat itself was comfortable with plenty of seats and the option to sit upstairs in the open or downstairs in the shade (clearly the views are best from upstairs). It was on the whole a steady and smooth ride on a bit of a changeable day with some cloud cover and some sunshine. You can't take food and drink on the boat but it's available to purchase there. The trip is interesting and the guide tells you what you can see so we were able to see and photograph the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Skyline, the One World Trade Center and Ellis Island as well as the Statue of Liberty itself.
There was definitely a bit of hushed awe and silence as we passed the One World Trade Center and approached the statue - I don't know however if this is usual or whether we were just on a boat with a lot of people of the same wavelength. The boat takes its time approaching the statue, passing it very slowly and then circling round to return to the pier by the side of it, so you get plenty of opportunity to see it and photograph it from different viewpoints. The tour guide tells you about the history of the statue and it is very atmospheric to be close to it thinking about what it stands for, though it's smaller than you might imagine.
It was a very enjoyable trip and reasonable value for money because they pack a lot in to one hour of sightseeing. I would definitely recommend it if you don't have time for the four hour option where you can actually disembark at Liberty Island. It would be nice if they would consider a two or 2.5 hour option with a little time at the island, as four hours is a lot if you have travel time to and from the city as well and you don't have tickets for the crown.