The reviews for the novel were generally poor. "The Athenaeum" thought that the work "falls sadly short of the racy marine stories by which the author won his first fame". In particular, it noted that Marryat "dashes off scenes of portent and terror with the same familiar and slip-shod style ... and the result is a feebleness of effect, not to be found in his other novels." Likewise in referring to the book, "The Dublin Review" thought that the "falling off in his last novel ... is very considerable", and stated that "a string of extravagant adventures, carelessly put together, and heavily told, deaden curiosity,—the "Flying Dutchman" makes his appearance as regularly as a packetboat, and becomes at last almost as tiresome."