Rick Z.
Yelp
It's a pretty awesome boat. Even if you don't decide to go through the museum, you can admire it from the shore for free, either on the beach or along the long pier, and get some pretty spectacular photographs. Parking is mostly street parking with a few scattered lots, so my recommendation would be to arrive early, close to when the museum opens to get a spot rather than be stuck driving around hunting for one. My husband and I were lucky enough to snag a street spot with no fee/meter and walk a short distance to the entrance.
You can either walk up the gangplank or wait for the shuttle to take you up, depending on your ambulatory needs; it didn't seem to take very long for the shuttle to go back and forth. Tickets are purchased at the entrance to the boat and were reasonably priced for the whole day as a self-guided experience. There are something like five unique tours that go throughout different sections of the ship, and depending on how much time you spend looking at everything, doing all of them could easily take you the entire day/trip. I got burnt out after the third one, it was a bit of visual overload!
The tour I liked best was of course the one up to the flight deck, because it got me outside in the sunshine (the rest of the ship is quite chilly, so bring a sweater) and I got to see all the nifty fighter planes they have on display. You can also step into the gunner turret, or take a seat on the side guns. Pretty awesome.
The one thing I will say is that the restrooms are NOT convenient. Even for someone like me who is able-bodied, you either have to go to the far end of the ship where there is only like a single stall (and therefore a massive line) or down the really steep stairs and around a tight bend. Just something to know.
There's a cafe type deal on one end of the ship that serves some amount of food, but nothing particularly amazing. Really just something to nosh on quickly to regain your energy to keep exploring the ship. Kind of feels like a missed opportunity, really. The video/display of the ship's kitchen's operation back when it was in service looked tastier, LOL.
The gift shop is alright. The kind of stuff you'd expect to see like t-shirts, patches, kid's toys, etc. I only got a $1 bill exchanged so I could utilize the penny squishing machine, personally. Nothing else really appealed to me. Their merch selection could be better/more unique.
They had an escape room too, if that's your jam, but we didn't try it.
Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area, especially if you're big on history or naval stuff. I've also been to the U.S.S. Hornet in Oakland, and it was pretty comparable.