My companion lived for a time in one of the old Hudson River mansions, for a few years near Kingston, and for nearly 20 years in the mid-Hudson Valley, so this was homecoming for her. The Rip Van Winkle passes some beautiful and interesting scenery--the Catskills in the background, the mansions, the docks of the Rondout, the lighthouses. The narrative throughout the cruise is quite informative--the Delaware and Hudson Canal, which turned Kingston into a coal port and supplied New York City with energy and building materials, was essential to the growth of New York City into the metropolis it has become. We enjoyed absorbing history lessons from the narrative broadcast on the intercom.
You may also see some waterfowl and even an osprey or eagle diving for fish, especially near the Esopus Meadows.
One tip if you take this cruise--do not change decks until the crew tells you to. We embarked on the lower deck, but we disembarked from the upper deck because the tide fell that much during the two hour trip. One lady with mobility challenges descended the stairs in anticipation of leaving on the lower deck, and then she had to climb back up again. The narrator tells you that the Hudson is a tidal estuary all the way north to Troy.