National Museum of the Royal Navy Hartlepool Reviews Summary

Family and Children's Activities

Pros:

• "Great place for families, my 5 and 6 year olds love it here."
• "Visited during the Tall Ships weekend and saw an amazing display of ships and small boats as well as music, entertainment, stalls and a temporary beach which the children loved!"
• "Lots of things for kids to do, so I was a bit disappointed I didn't bring my daughter!"
• "New adventure play area ship (opened August 2019) fantastic for younger children."
• "There is a great little park area for the kids and a coffee shop on site not too badly priced."
• "Great children's playground too and a Horrible Histories interactive exhibition."
• "A family ticket lasts a year and it's 2 adults and 3 children, there's loads to do."

Cons:

• "Too much space taken by children oriented activities which are generic and Disney like."
• "Most of the interactive section of the museum were broken or just a bit boring."
• "Very educational for the kids, but probably not good for under 5s as it was a bit boring for them."
• "Cafe expensive just do the basic kids wants chips no chips only negative the interaction buttons don't work."
• "Some of the shoreside displays look a lot more tired than they did a few years ago."
• "A lot of the interaction was out of order or broken"
• "some of the exhibits was not working, which is a shame."

Value for Money

Pros:

• "Book your tickets online like 5 pound cheaper for the family deal."
• "Ticket price very reasonable and easily a few hours can be spent on site."
• "Paid £37 for 2 adults and 5 children which I thought was affordable."
• "Your entry ticket lasts 1 year too!"
• "For £9.50 we spent hours here."
• "A family ticket is circa £30 but then you can visit repeatedly for 12 months - great value."
• "It's great that the inexpensive ticket (£8 online,) is valid for a year."

Cons:

• "No discount for residents anymore"
• "Buying tickets at the admission point is an utter pain...being forced to reveal your personal details in front of a queue of random people is not good."
• "Cannot even go in the cafe unless you pay to go through. Very bad."
• "Admission a bit steep if not wanting to return."
• "To expensive, they would get more people to visit if they lowered their prices."
• "Too expensive for the time it would take to view the ship."
• "They get away with the higher entry price as the ticket is valid for a year."

Accessibility and Facilities

Pros:

• "There is a cafe on site, toilets, disability access."
• "Plenty of picnic tables and baby changing facilities too."
• "Well stocked warm cafe, toilet facilities and wheelchair friendly."
• "The HMS Trincomalee is fascinating. A really well restored fighting ship that you have full access to."
• "HMS Trincomalee is great I could get onboard with my mobility scooter."
• "Lifts are available for people who can't make the stairs on HMS TRINCOMALEE."
• "The museum is wheelchair friendly."

Cons:

• "Visited with my mother, who's in a wheelchair, disabled toilet not working, no locks didn't work on toilet door."
• "might be a struggle for the boat though, I saw there was a lift in the boat but I think it's more for disabled people as the steps inside the boat are very steep."
• "Anyone in a wheelchair will not be able to view all decks (ie) top and lowest as lifts don't access them."
• "the higher & lower decks would be impossible to access if you have mobility problems."
• "They do have lifts for certain exhibits, but one was out of order to get to the top deck of the ship."
• "A lot of the museum was not accessible on the day we visited."
• "There are a lot of steps so mobility issues could arise."

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "Had a brilliant experience at the museum lots to see and do staff were great."
• "Well informed staff who will answer your questions."
• "The staff are knowledgeable and friendly and there are loads of things to do to keep adults and children entertained."
• "Don't hesitate to ask for any help the staff are more than helpful."
• "All the staff, from the guides to the gift shop to the cafe, were all really nice."
• "Informative and helpful staff who obviously love the place."
• "The staff were very friendly and helpful."

Cons:

• "Paintwork is tired, staff miserable, and don't interact with the guests."
• "Some of the buildings, exhibition rooms were closed, no tour guide."
• "There were paid people wandering about but not doing much."
• "Apart from the staff in cafe who seemed miserable and definitely unhelpful."
• "The staff on the ship itself were quite rude when entered."
• "The booking system was not slick."
• "The only disappointment was we waited for the tour guide to take us round another attraction and he never turned up which was a disappointment, but did not spoil the rest of our visit."