Ships Of The Sea Maritime Museum

What a stunning building and gardens! I can’t believe I’ve lived here for 15 years and this is my first time visiting. The exhibits were really cool, and the staff was friendly. A must go if you enjoy some cool models.

I recommend this museum for two reasons. First, for its displays of ship models by genius craftsmen like Joseph Gallettini. Second, for the chance to view the architectural details of the William Scarbrough House, which has been repurposed many times over the years.

Such a beautiful space. Great little museum with a self guided tour. Also fantastic grounds great for a wedding or event.

Local, independently supported museum with a lot of model ships and plenty of artifacts of maritime history from the area. Also doubles as a beautiful wedding venue in the gardens.

This local treasure is full of history with great exhibits that change periodically. There's always something new to see and learn in this historic home turned museum.

Absolutely fantastic experience! The museum itself is amazing, and the garden area is impressive. It makes for a great afternoon, but now I just want to go back and hang out there. I should have taken pictures. Next time, I'm going to take pictures, but it was so engaging, I just got too pulled in the first time around.

Beautiful building and grounds I was especially impressed with the beautiful model ships and the Rob Strati exhibit.

If you're into boats and shops of all kinds, this museum is for you! With 3 floors of model ships and tons of info about them, you'll learn while you marvel at the craftsmanship of both the real ships and the model makers. And while the history of the boats and the artifacts that the museum holds are great, the house and gardens are also a relic of history as well. This is a must do on the museum circuit in Savannah. And it'll only take you 1-2 hours to see it all.

Self guided tours but the guys there have so much knowledge. They will answer all your questions. This is my 3rd time and I was still impressed. The gift shop is very well done as far as books and souvenirs nothing frivolous. It's a class act. Well done.

I have been to this venue for many years now with different performers as part of the Savannah Music Festival. And had I written my review then it would be a five star hands down! Unfortunately, The Gatsby Gala is a very sad three stars so I'm giving the venue four stars. For the SMF, they always have a small crowd. There is a long line getting in because the seats are always first come, first serve. But the line has always moved quickly and every seat in the house is a good one! For the Gatsby party it was totally the opposite! We got to the event a little late and the line was still enormous! It took a good thirty minutes to get in. It was a rainy night and there wasn't enough room for everyone to get out of the rain. The food was sad. The drink line took thirty minutes. It was miserable so we left!

I'm a sucker for maritime history & usually make a stop at any attraction of the genre when I'm in a coastal community. My friends & I had a few hours Sunday to hit this spot up before the chocolate bar across the street opened up & we found a good deal on Groupon for discounted tickets. It was so quiet in the courtyard & inside that I could have taken a peaceful nap for a few hours & been undisturbed. The three of us had the entire museum to ourselves throughout our visit. There are so many unique artifacts & models. The architecture of the building itself is spectacular. If you have time spend an hour or so here.

loved the museum. But the "lecture" the geek behind the desk condescendingly gives you about "not opening that damn trunk" or "using the bathrooms" needs to be reprimanded.

Rainy day in Savannah - so came to this awesome Well maintained ships of the sea museum ! The main hall has sounds of ships and their creaking ridden halls. Nice tribute to the anguish so many endured as human cargo. While their names may be lost, they shall not be forgotten. Well worth a trip !!! Kendall and Jim were very helpful. !!!

The wife picked this out for us to do, as we have been to Savannah many times this is one place we had never been to, and me being a former US Navy Sailor, the wife thought why not. What a very cool place, starting with the shop at the front, although I have to admit the staff at the front was not the most inviting. The shop has some great items and the history attached is pretty cool. The Hand carved and assembled miniature scaled ships that ranged from 2- 6 ft in length are pretty amazing with the intricate details involved and the ship Items they had laid out and the items throughout history that applied to sailors and sailing were quite interesting with my favorite being the ceramic cat. Well worth the admission price.

I just love this place. The gardens, the museum and music during festivals. It's a must go place. I just thing this place just makes and represents Savannah like it should be. In it's whole glorious culture and diversity. I always get in a great mood just by sitting in their gardens.

This musuem is standard but very interesting on the fact that the signs about the ships have s lil history twist. It is always a benefit to the consumer to view a place that is different in a good way yet intriguing at the same time. Rated as a returnable place to book events. tons of space. it cost over $2000 to book outside area. depends on what u want to book. customer service is fast and friendly. museum prices are $8. The decor is fancy and meets the atmosphere. same ol ships on real twist.

We visited Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum in Savannah GA on 2/18/2024. Paid $25 for two admissions, the fee for which included parking in the Museum parking lot. I was very disturbed to return to my car upon leaving, and find a notice on my windshield from the Museum abruptly stating that I was parked "IN VIOLATION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY, THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING. IF FOUND IN VIOLATION AGAIN, YOUR VEHICLE WILL BE TOWED." This was inappropriate, inaccurate, and exceptionally rude guest relations from the Museum staff, who admitted to the mistake, telling me that they get a lot of people parking there that do not visit the Museum. I told them that mistakes such as this, by them, would be easy to avoid if they either gave guests a simple parking pass to put in their car window when the guest bought their ticket, or if they simply had each guest register their vehicle license plate number at the time of ticket purchase. The staff member did not seem interested in my suggestions, and did not apologize for ticketing my car - he only made excuses. The second disturbing aspect of my paid visit was that, as can be seen on the bank credit card record, the Museum is categorizing payments as "miscellaneous food stores - convenience market" instead of "Museums." What is up with that? Makes one wonder if they are in compliance with USA non-profit tax laws, or attempting some other shady practice. Is sum, the museum operations or administrative staff appear to be uncaring and rude to their guests, and inept at managing their administrative and operational responsibilities.

Very interesting museum full of replicas, models of ships, and art. The models are beautiful works of art themselves, with an added historical value. This museum tells the story of the Savannah Ship company, as well as some tales of the American Civil War. Big plus: walk the gardens attached to this property. Bigger plus: Free parking.

This is a nice museum to visit if you are a lover of nautical history with an emphasis on the city of Savannah. This three-story building displays a tremendous amount of model ships with amazing attention to detail. You will also learn how early ships were assembled, along with the history of the Savannah shipyards. I was unaware of the many warships named after the city of the Savannah. They are all represented by detailed models and a brief history. Savannah ship namesakes also include the NS Savannah, the world's first nuclear powered merchant ship. It was one of only four nuclear merchant ships assembled worldwide. If you take pleasure in model ships and nautical history, you can spend a couple of enjoyable hours at the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum.

Bought tickets. Walked 2 miles.... Thunderstorm/lightening moved in while walking there. Nothing anywhere that said it was closed, during regular business hours Called the number and was informed that they were doing an install. I told her we were at the door stuck in the severe thunderstorm.... No where to go. Oh well, I guess!! Never again!!! I'll take the hit on the tickets!!!! Call ahead!!!

This unexpectedly ended up being one of my favorite stops in the city. I hopped off a trolley tour to come here because I had an hour before it closed and felt I needed a heavier dose of history than a tour could offer. I'm not particularly interested in boats. I like being on them, I like singing sea shanties, pirates are easy to romanticize since I've never had to smell one - but other than that I came in with an open mind ready to learn whatever I could. The replicas of the ships are detailed in a way I wasn't expecting, but what I loved most were the models that had one side of the ship cut away so you could see inside. The bedrooms and the food storage, the equipment and dining halls. They were like extremely ornate aquatic dollhouses. The Scarborough House is a historical structure in its own right and the upstairs had what ended up being my favorite exhibit, highlighting the "dangerous" women who lived here. They owned the house, and were strong, independent people who were not appreciated in their time. Their silhouettes are overlaid with quotes about them from that time period, while simultaneously highlighting their contributions, talents, and traits that made them valuable contributors to Savannah's history and their own bloodline. Even better than all of that was Jim, the docent who took the time to educate me with his wealth of knowledge of local history. Since I was the only one there we basically got to talk one on one for an hour about all sorts of things. Great visit!

Located within the historic William Scarbrough (president of Savannah Steamship Company) House built in 1819 and surrounded by its lovely estate gardens is the Ships Of The Sea Maritime Museum. It's really a must see if you have any interest in maritime history, especially the maritime history of Savannah. If you don't have any such interest, like a couple of loud mouthed complaining visitors I couldn't help overhearing, it may not be for you. The museum houses a literal treasure trove of model ships, everything from sailing to steam to those of war. On the war side of things it is particularly educational with regards to Confederate naval matters. Being somewhat of a Civil War buff, I learned a lot that I never read in any books.

We spent about an hour here. Very friendly and knowledgeable staff. Ship models were 2-6 feet in length and had histories of the ships displayed. More my husband's thing than mine, but it was well done and worth coming.

I know nothing about ships and even less about the navy, but this was my FAVORITE museum we visited - and we went to lots. I always say that the size of a space doesn't matter if it is well curated, and this place is excellent. Moving from downstairs through the eras in order was fascinating and the atmosphere created by being in a historical home is lovely. They even have several outdoor event spaces including a garden and covered modern reception area. So cool. Nothing in the museum or the grounds is really hinted at from the street, so I hope more people go and check it out. I learned so much and it didn't take too long to visit each room.

Reasonable admission price, very enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff. This quaint museum was very unique and lovely. Some of the lighting isn't great, but a phone flashlight works great to see the ship details. It is small and delightful!

Self-guided tour so take as short or as long as you like. Would be helpful to have people to answer questions in certain rooms or at end of tour. Videos in some of the rooms helpful. Did not feel overly welcome with our Groupon deal nor was she able to answer questions at end tour and almost like a bother to her. Gardens are not much. But still would have been nice to Have a coffee or cold drink and sit quietly there.

This is a great little museum, I appreciate all the accurate, detailed ship models. The garden is a very nice place to hang around to have coffee or lunch, and it's free to the public. I really enjoyed this place, would definitely recommend!

This was an OK museum, nothing spectacular but worth a quick visit if you like model ships and want to see a few nice paintings. I was a bit underwhelmed. I guess I expected more of a Maritime and Ship history museum but it was more about a few ships named Savannah and really some basic nautical information. The "downstairs" was basically 20 ships in a bottle and a replica wheelhouse. Really the main artifacts are on the top floor and there isn't much. With such a large shipping port in Savannah I thought there'd be a lot more there, or maybe about the blockade during the Civil War? I will say the scrimshaw collection was pretty great. I am glad I used my AAA card to get $7 ticket, I'll say that. But, if you have some time to kill and like ships this is a decent place to swing by.

If you like ships and maritime history this is an amazing museum. The models of the sailing vessels were among the best I've seen. The building that houses the museum is a bonus as it is a beautiful old building that is very well preserved. The grounds are gorgeous as well. Well worth Visiting.

"But problems do arise when expectations do not match experience." - Ships Interim Executive Director. Let me start with the quote above that summarizes our entire wedding experience with Ships. Our actual wedding was beautiful, so much fun, and we have so many memories to keep with us, however, our experience with Ships was horrendous from start to finish. And since I was accused of making a threat, let me be CLEAR, I planned on reviewing my experience with Ships regardless of the outcome. If you are a middle-class, DIY, or on a budget bride, Ships of the Sea is NOT for you. They only cater to privileged bridal parties who are in a financial position to hire wedding planners or coordinators. As a result of our complaints, they made this an official policy. A policy that is classist and flat out discriminatory. Ships will NOT take accountability for anything, and we barely got an apology. No matter what we said, they kept telling us "You are not professionals. A professional would not have let these things happen." I am extremely saddened by this experience. My only hope is that brides in the future take this information and choose wisely when deciding their venue. My husband and I went through THREE venue coordinators over the course of five months when planning our wedding. Each time a coordinator would leave, I was never notified of their departure, and several details of our wedding were lost during each transition, so it felt like we were starting from square one each time. Due to our extreme disappointment, we decided to take our complaints to the Interim Executive Director. My Day Of Coordinator (with years of event planning experience) sent her complaints to her, and that's when we received the quote above. In the phone call, the Interim Executive Director essentially blamed everything that happened on us for not having a wedding planner. She stated, "You didn't know what you were doing because you are not a professional." I was FLOORED. I kept every single email and document since booking the venue, I pointed out every single incident of miscommunication and lack of accountability from her staff, and she stood firm to her statement that having a planner would have prevented all of this from happening. I read off emails her staff sent, and she told me that she DID NOT see the email chains, but was only looking at our contract. AGAIN, I WAS SPEECHLESS. Here we are, customers who paid, who have proof of when Ships employees were clearly in the wrong, and she didn't even bother to read it so that she could have a better understanding of why we were upset. At that point, I knew Ships did not care. They did not care about us, they did not care about our complaints, they were not going to take accountability, or even acknowledge the mistakes their employees made. The interim Director had a terrible attitude and even accused us of not having "common sense" when I noted that one of the issues could have been easily resolved if her employees just communicated. We requested a refund and it was immediately denied because they "upheld their end of the contract." Words cannot express how unprofessional Ships was, and how they treated us.

Upon leaving Savannah I was looking for an activity to do on the way out of town and I saw this placed opened relatively early so I decided to stop in. The museum is set on absolutely beautiful perfectly trimmed gardens that were an joy to walk through! The staff was super knowledgeable and helpful and I greatly enjoyed the experience.

Really enjoyed the museum and staff - wonderful place with great models. Not a big place but enough to spend hour or two. Bravo!

I guess I'm going to be the asshole who disagrees with everyone else. I am a ships officer who loves Maritime History. This museum ain't it. 80% of it is simply 4-foot long ship models with a blurb about the ship in question. This museum costs $7-8 dollars. $5 is a more accurate fee. Basically 2-3 floors of ship models and almost zero history except an iPad-sized history of what you're looking at. Unless you're a total ship-nerd (like me), this museum is a complete dud. On the plus side, they have a nice smallish courtyard, perfect for a romantic light lunch or a coffee with your loved one. And it's central location allows you to park here and see a half dozen other attractions.

Interesting museum with some beautiful ship models. There are three floors with various models and artwork. My husband is a true naval history enthusiast and I was just along for the ride, but I still enjoyed it regardless. It was only 14 dollars for the two of us and they have various discounts: military, senior, AAA, and student to name a few. They also have a beautiful garden outside and parking for visitors. It took us about an hour or so to get through the whole thing and on a Sunday it wasn't too crowded.

Great place. The staff are really enthusiastic about boats and ships and you can tell they love being there. It's cheap it's educational and the grounds are very nice. The door is a little hard to find but would definitely recommend to someone visiting or wanting to take their kids out.

My husband and I did not intend on visiting this museum originally, but at the last minute we decided to give it a go. We ended up having a lot of fun even though neither one of us know much about maritime history. The first floor is filled with models of sailboats, and the detail that went into them was impressive. The second floor has models of steamboats and warships, plus figureheads, scrimshaw, tools, telescopes, etc. The basement contains ships in bottles. If it's related to boats, this place has it. We ended up spending quite a bit of time here, especially on the top floor. The scrimshaw was my favorite part; the detail of the carvings was amazing. And I definitely felt bad for anyone that needed work done with the dental tools they had on display. This is a great place to spend a little time in Savannah, whether you know much about maritime history or not. If you really took your time to read everything and take it all in, you could certainly spend a couple hours here.

This was a very interesting experience. Not a museum i world normally visit. But after reading the novel "Saving Savannah" I had to visit. Very much the money and I would definitely Recommend

Nice way to kill an hour. Excellent historical Savannah maritime history presented via a self guided tour in a historic mansion. Dioramas transport you to another time and place.

Came here looking to kill a couple hours and had a good time! We did the pass on Groupon and it was only $4 per person (look for that deal) even tho regular admission is only like $9 I think lol. They have two floors and many rooms worth of historic nautical artifacts and models. The models of the ships are super cool and very detailed! They encourage you to shine your phone light on them to bring out all of the detail that you wouldn't be able to see in the dim light they have. Many many models though and all with detailed summaries of them to let you know the history of them. They have a very large model of the Savannah in a room of its own which shows off its beauty really well! Although it was the most "unreliable and ineffective" the elaborate showcasing of it looks fantastic lol. Cool place to go though if you're interested in nautical history or if you want to kill an hour or so to beat the heat!

This was not the best attraction. In fact it wasn't even close. My guy loves sailing ships and we didn't know this was just a model museum. We didn't expect to see giant sailing ships of course but I also didn't expect to see tons and tons of models of sailing ships everywhere. I was bored out of my freaking mind and my guy was somewhat disappointed. That means he was super disappointed but he doesn't really show it. They were so ridiculous to have the Titanic represented here in a museum about ships in Savannah. I don't know what the Titanic had to do with Savannah. I also don't know why they were showing a clip of the movie "a night to remember" that was about the sinking of the Titanic. It was so strange. I went into the ladies room and there were men working right outside the window and the window had no curtain on it or shade! Very embarrassing! I would say to avoid this museum because it's not a museum really. Many of the models were just recently built in the last 20 years. Blah!

I will tell you I am biased I love maritime history. You walk in to an really wonderful and unique bookstore. I was a little disappointed that I had to find my own books however because when I asked the woman said they did not have what I was looking for...they did I found it myself. Oh and they do not take Discover so take cash FYI. Their books selection was a extremely pleasing. This beats the Maritime Museum in San Diego by a long shot. They carried a wonderful line of local history stuff from small press places like wwwarcadiapublishing.com which I had not been familiar with until my vacation to Savannah. Anything related to the sea and history and I am a happy old pirate. However this museum is not only housed in a gorgeous mansion with a lovely manicured garden, it hosts a wonderful variety of items that it's website does not give full credit to the breadth of it contents. I have to say I almost did not go thinking it was not that great looking when I looked at the website. You see I am a huge fan of ship mastheads carved into figures. However on their website it showed they only had one..tsk tsk so not true!!! They had many. Being a fan of steam-punk I was also glad to see lots of gages and copper what nots that were really cool to look at ( see my pictures) The collection of the Savannah Line item had to be my favorite with the original dinnerware and menus. Of course the miniature reproductions of the ships were amazing. I somehow missed the ship in the bottle room :( You have to make sure you hit all of the floors ..This building is not for handicapped people I did not see an elevator ( however you might want to call them don't take my word on that). This made me a little irked as I thought about the fact that many older people are interested in these things. The scrimshaw was wonderful as well as the medical instruments from the ships. I was surprised at the amount of reproductions of some of the items ( some of the older sextons) however they did wonderful displays. Very education I just wish it was more historical and had less reproductions but they might need more donations for things like that. The posters of ships and the paintings were excellent I really enjoyed the art. I was really shocked we were allowed to do flash photography of all the items. That made me a bit sad knowing how quickly flash destroys paper :( The rooms themselves and the cases remind me of the old exhibits of the Field museum in Chicago from back in the 1800's the presentation is wonderful..My most favorite item is the reproduction of the Titanic and the miniature musicians playing while everyone drowns ( see my picture included though it is blurry ). They have a online tour of the gadens via their website you might check it out...which I found fun to look at..I love manicured gardens and their partial maze was not the shinning but really cool... I did look for Jack frozen even though it felt like it was 900 hundred degrees and I was melting in the Savannah heat...Go it was so worth the 8 bucks I spent a few hours even though it was small...

Other reviews of rudeness were completely justified. The immediate welcome was nothing less than rude. Upon walking through the door, I was asked to step away from my wife for COVID reasons. I'm not kidding. I was sincerely trying to overlook the welcome, since I am a Coast Guard veteran, with a love of the sea. The rudeness continued to the point where it was being completely harassment. I decided that paying to be harassed was of no interest to me. My wife and I immediately left the building. I highly suggest that you do not patronize this establishment.

The Ships of the Maritime Museum came highly recommended by our tour guide from Savannah Rambles. My husband and I decided to visit on 4/9/15 while visiting Savannah, GA. I was a little reluctant to see this museum because frankly the subject matter at first glance did not interest me. However I was pleasantly surprised and left the museum really feeling like I had learned something. I took from this museum the long and elaborate history Savannah, GA has with its waterways. I really enjoyed the model ships on display at this museum. I have never seen so many model ships in one place at one time. The gardens are nice and if you're looking for a nice place to sit down, rest and maybe take a picture. I really have nothing bad to say about this museum. The only reason I cannot give the museum a higher rating although I found the history they presented interesting it was somewhat duplicative throughout the museum.

I'm a huge fan of the Napoleonic Era of sailing. There were are few representations of that era, but this really focused on the shipping history of Savannah. The model collection is impressive, and the staff a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the selection of maritime navigational and daily tools. As an avid Patrick O'Brien reader, it was nice to put images to the descriptions of the sailing life. For a private museum collection, this is truly impressive. Not the place to go if: You don't love sailing, Have small kids in tow, Don't have time to study the models

Ships in bottles, paintings, famous tales of the sea and more can be found in this museum. You can cover it in about an hour or so, add another 10 minutes for the gardens.

For the price it's worth it. Not expensive but won't take you long to go through it. Overall I would recommend especially if you are interested in ships but keep in mind all models on display.

What a terrific place, from its elegant, classical gardens to its really fine exhibits. It will take you some time to get through them all, but they are well worth it -- and all housed in a classic Savannah home. What a find! Well done, Savannah!

Friendly staff. Affordable admission. Pretty cool displays. Beautiful grounds. Solid 1-2 hours can and should be spent here.

This was a great time!! The entire family enjoyed the museum, as there was plenty for the adults and kids to experience and have fun with. Price is also great at $15. The museum includes plenty of exhibits of ships and maritime history. There are videos and other artifacts to look at and learn about along the way. The history and detail are amazing. This is entirely indoors, except for the garden outside. Overall, a must attraction for a family or historian.

This was a great, informative museum. We had a good time looking at all of ships. The model ships were very intricate, you could just stare at them forever. The house itself was so beautiful, and they also had history on the home which was nice. Definitely recommend if you are into naval history. My husband really enjoyed it.

I guess when I'm retired and reading more historical nonfiction, I might become interested in he nuances of the ship. An impromptu tour guide sprang up out of the woodwork in one room and was telling some interesting stories about ship warfare, but I slid into a lifeboat and moved away to the parking lot to avoid a tip. The experience was peppered with a heavy metal dirge of music coming from a tent on the property when we really came to see the trellis and courtyard award-winning design.

Loved it took about an hour to tour. The guy at the front desk has a wealth of knowledge about savannah a must see for all you non land lovers arrrr

I took my daughter to this museum many years ago when she was a lot younger. She was bored out of her mind fast forward a few years & she absolutely loved it. What a difference a few years make , if you love boats and all things nautical then this is the museum for you!! This is the one museum that you can actually take pictures and they encourage you to. You can learn so much about early sea travel by visiting this wonderful museum. There are 3 floors all with their own identity & located in on the bottom floor is a replica of a boat for kids to play in . It's not a guided tour so you can take as much time as you like. You get to really go back into the past which should make you have an great appreciation for the Modern times that we now live. The only downside of the whole experience is the gift shop the prices were incredibly high , but then again all museums suffer that same issue. Oh one more thing checkout the ships that are in the bottles they're awesome .

Neat compact museum showcased in the William Scarbrough House. If you're a lover of ships and history, this is a must "sea"! Didn't notice an elevator in this 3 story home but you can walk it room by room and experience everything in under an hour. It also has very beautiful grounds complete with a fish pond.

GARDEN CONCERT REVIEW...this review is strictly for the garden venue located on the museum grounds. I purchased concert tickets for my husband and I for our anniversary not realizing this was small, outside venue. We did a little research and couldn't find much information regarding this location and concerts so we didn't have a clue what to expect. The gates were opened about 40 minutes prior to show time. We were allowed in the concert area, with no assigned sitting and were able to grab two seats right in the front row. Everyone at the venue was super nice, spaces were all clean and well maintained, and the beer and wine service was very fast. Pointers...get there about an hour early for good seats and take cash for drinks. I would highly recommend this venue for concerts if you ever have the chance. We can't wait for an opportunity to see more live music here.

Interesting spot. The ship models date from current day back to 1800s. I was very impressed with the older models. The newer models are also pretty incredible. The second floor was the best, with the maritime tools and daily life items, as well as the older ship models. The paintings were fine, but I didn't find them all the interesting. The ships in bottles are terrific, in the basement. The scrimshaw collection is also good, but it made me sad to think of the tusks. The house has an equally fascinating story, having been many things and been so abused that it cannot ever be on the historic registry. Still, deigned by William Jay, it is worth seeing. Worthwhile overall. Also, with our AAA card, the there of us got in for $18.

If you like model ships, then this place is FANTASTIC. Three levels of different size models. The staff was nice. I'm not sure if it is really worth $17 for 2 people. It is not wheelchair accessible nor friendly to those in walkers or have any mobility issues. No ramp, no elevator.