Hornblower Cruises & Events NOW City Experiences is a

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

-based charter

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

, dining cruise and ferry service company.

History

The company began in 1974 in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

with two ships. In 1980 the original owner, Ward Proescher, sold the business to Terry MacRae and P. Michael Watson. Proescher later went on to start a competing charter yacht company in the Bay Area, Commodore Cruises. By acquiring existing charter yacht companies, Hornblower was able to expand into

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

in 1984, followed by

Newport Beach Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island draws ...

in 1987. Shortly thereafter the company acquired the Marina del Rey-based Marina Cruise Lines. By 1989 the company operated in Berkeley, San Francisco, San Diego, Newport Beach and Marina del Rey. The corporate headquarters were (and continue to be) located on the historic ferry

Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, La Pampa * S ...

, which is moored at Pier 3 in San Francisco. In 1992 Terry MacRae became the sole owner of Hornblower Yachts, Inc, which was rebranded as Hornblower Cruises & Events to more accurately reflect the products and services offered. In 1996 Hornblower Marine Services (HMS) was created to fill a need as a consultant to the booming

riverboat casino A riverboat casino is a type of casino on a riverboat found in several states in the United States with frontage on the Mississippi River and its tributaries, or along the Gulf Coast. Several states authorized this type of casino in order to e ...

and ferry service operations industry. By 2003, HMS grew to 80 employees, with offices in San Francisco, New London,

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. Three year later, HMS had become the leading worldwide provider of high-speed ferry services. In 2019 Hornblower Cruises & Events acquired Entertainment Cruises and all the operations encompassing it. The purchase of Entertainment Cruises doubled the number of ships and locations that Hornblower operates. In October of the same year, Hornblower acquired English tour boat operator

City Cruises City Cruises is a cruise vessel operator in England with operations in London, Poole and York. It is a subsidiary of Hornblower Cruises. History City Cruises was incorporated in 1986. In the late 1980s the company acquired former Gosport Ferry ...

who have operations in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Poole and

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. In 2022 Hornblower acquired Experience Australia Group Pty Ltd, a diversified tourism business based in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, known mainly for operating Australian interstate experiential tourism trains (

The Ghan ''The Ghan'' is an experiential tourism oriented passenger train service that operates between the northern and southern coasts of Australia, through the cities of Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin on the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor. O ...

, the

Indian Pacific The ''Indian Pacific'' is a weekly experiential tourism passenger train service that runs in Australia's east–west rail corridor between Sydney, on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, and Perth, on the shore of the Indian Ocean – thus, like ...

The Overland ''The Overland'' is an Australian passenger train service between the state capitals of Melbourne and Adelaide, a distance of 828 km (515 mi). It first ran in 1887 as the ''Adelaide Express'', known by South Australians as the ''Melb ...

, and the Great Southern) but also with interests in cruise and air tourism. In turn, the company had been owned by Quadrant Private Equity since 2016. In January 2022, Quadrant Private Equity sold the business to Hornblower. Today, Hornblower operates out of 19 different ports: San Francisco, Berkeley,

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, Marina Del Rey,

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, Newport Beach, San Diego, DC, Alexandria, Boston, Chicago, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Toronto, Baltimore,

Port of New York and New Jersey The Port of New York and New Jersey is the port district of the New York-Newark metropolitan area, encompassing the region within approximately a radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. It includes the system of navigable water ...

, Poole and York. The company's entire fleet now includes more than 80 boats.

Cruises and ferry services

Niagara Falls Cruises

Hornblower Canada Company, a Canadian subsidiary of Hornblower operates the Niagara Falls Gorge Boat Tour from the Canadian side of the Niagara River near

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...

, similar to the

Maid of the Mist The Maid of the Mist is a sightseeing boat tour of Niagara Falls, starting and ending on the American side, crossing briefly into Canada during a portion of the trip. The fleet currently consists of two vessels, both of which launched in 2020. ...

cruises out of Niagara Falls, New York on the American side. Hornblower has two ships, ''Niagara Wonder'' and ''Niagara Thunder'', which carries 700 passengers each. The boats are based on Elliot Bay Design Group design and built by Hike Metal Products of

Wheatley, Ontario Wheatley is a community in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, within the municipality of Chatham-Kent. It lies about east of Leamington. Nearby parks include Two Creeks Conservation Area, which has 15 km of hiking and bicycling paths, Kopegaro ...

. * ''Niagara Wonder'' **Years of service: 2013–present **Type: double-stack catamaran tour boat **Engine: 2 x 450 BHP @1800RPM Scania DI13 * ''Niagara Thunder'' **Years of service: 2013–present **Type: double-stack catamaran tour boat **Engine: 2 x 450 BHP @1800RPM Scania DI13

Lake Tahoe Cruises

Between 1997 and 2002 Hornblower operated in Lake Tahoe, beginning with the acquisition of Lake Tahoe Cruises Inc. and the vessels ''Tahoe Queen'' and ''Tahoe Princess''. Business expanded to include ferry service across Lake Tahoe and land shuttle services between South Lake Tahoe and

Squaw Valley Ski Resort Palisades Tahoe is a ski resort in the western United States, located in Olympic Valley, California, northwest of Tahoe City in the Sierra Nevada range. From its founding in 1949, the resort was known as Squaw Valley, but it changed its name i ...

. Lake Link ferry service was launched across Lake Tahoe, and was the fastest passenger boat on the lake. In 2002 the Lake Tahoe port was sold to Aramark - the owner and operator of the MS ''Dixie'' - the primary long-standing competition for the ''Tahoe Queen''.

Alcatraz Cruises

In 2006 Hornblower won the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

concession for ferry service to

Alcatraz Island Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pri ...

when the contract with Blue & Gold Fleet expired. Under the name Alcatraz Cruises, the company provides ticketing service and transportation to the one and a half million visitors to the island every year. In 2008, Alcatraz Cruises introduced the Hornblower Hybrid to the fleet — the first

hybrid ferry Hybrid ferries are ferries that combine multiple sources of power (for example, traditional diesel with electric battery power), resulting in reductions in fossil fuel consumption, carbon emissions and other pollutants. Examples Scotland Three ...

in the United States. The Hybrid runs off of

solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovolta ...

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically ...

, and low-emission diesel fuel.

Statue Cruises

In 2007 the company was awarded a concession from the National Park Service to operate ferries to

Liberty Island Liberty Island is a federally owned island in Upper New York Bay in the United States. Its most notable feature is the Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''), a large statue by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi that was dedicated i ...

and

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mil ...

, the only public access to the national historic sites in the

. This replaced Circle Line, which had operated the service since 1953. Under the name Statue Cruises, the company provides ticketing service and transportation for visitors to the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island Immigration Museum. Boats depart from either

Communipaw Terminal The Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal, also known as Communipaw Terminal and Jersey City Terminal, was the Central Railroad of New Jersey's waterfront passenger terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey. The terminal was built in 1889, replacing ...

Liberty State Park Liberty State Park (LSP) is a park in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located on Upper New York Bay in Jersey City opposite Liberty Island and Ellis Island. The park opened in 1976 to coincide with bicentennial celebrations and is operated a ...

in Jersey City or

Castle Clinton Castle Clinton (also known as Fort Clinton and Castle Garden) is a circular sandstone fort within Battery Park at the southern end of Manhattan in New York City. Built from 1808 to 1811, it was the first American immigration station, predating ...

Battery Park The Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, is a public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City facing New York Harbor. It is bounded by Battery Place on the north, State Street on the east, New York Harbor to ...

in Lower Manhattan. All ferry riders are subject to security screening, similar to airport procedures, prior to boarding. The affiliated Liberty Water Taxi operates between

and the

Battery Park City Ferry Terminal The Battery Park City Ferry Terminal, is a passenger ferry terminal in Battery Park City, Manhattan, serving ferries along the Hudson River in New York City and northeastern New Jersey. It provides slips to ferries, water taxis, and sightseeing ...

Hornblower New York Cruises

Separately from its Liberty and Ellis Island service, Hornblower operates a fleet of six New York-based yachts operating from Pier 15 on the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Quee ...

and Pier 40 on the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

, offering scheduled sightseeing cruises and special-event charter excursions. Its vessels are the ''Hornblower Infinity'', the ''Hornblower Serenity'', the ''Hornblower Sensation'', the ''Hornblower Hybrid'', the ''Hornblower Esprit'' and the ''John James Audubon.''

NYC Ferry

In 2015, Hornblower Cruises was selected to operate

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

NYC Ferry NYC Ferry is a public network of ferry routes in New York City operated by Hornblower Cruises. , there are six routes, as well as one seasonal route, connecting 25 ferry piers across all five boroughs. NYC Ferry has the largest passenger fleet ...

service, which started operations on May 1, 2017. It is the company's first commuter ferry operation. One route connects Lower Manhattan and Midtown Manhattan with nearby points across the

in northern

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, while a second route connects Lower Manhattan with Rockaway Park in Queens. A third route, which began on June 1, 2017, connects Lower Manhattan with riverfront communities in southern Brooklyn. A fourth route, connecting Manhattan with

Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeast ...

, began operating on August 19, 2017. Two additional routes to Soundview, Bronx, and to the Lower East Side of Manhattan started operating in August 2018.

Notable yachts

Jrb 20060629 seagull San Francisco Belle

*The M/V ''Zumbrota'', built for circus magnate

Charles Ringling Charles Edward Ringling (December 2, 1863 – December 3, 1926) was one of the Ringling brothers, who owned the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He was in charge of production and greatly admired by the employees, who called him ...

and named for the then-largest

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

in captivity, was acquired to serve guests in San Diego. It is now based in Marina del Rey. *The M/V ''Wild Goose'' ( USS YMS-328) formerly John Wayne’s private yacht, joined the fleet in 1995. The vintage 1942 restored

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

continues to operate in Newport Beach. *The ferryboat ''

'', which ferried passengers between San Francisco and the

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties ...

, now serves at the company’s corporate office. *The M/V ''San Francisco Belle'', a

paddlewheel A paddle wheel is a form of waterwheel or impeller in which a number of paddles are set around the periphery of the wheel. It has several uses, of which some are: * Very low-lift water pumping, such as flooding paddy fields at no more than about ...

style vessel, joined the fleet in 2001. The ''Belle'', with a capacity of 2,200 is the largest dining yacht on the West Coast. *The Hornblower Hybrid, the first hybrid ferry in the United States, was completed in 2008 and serves visitors to Alcatraz Island and

Angel Island Angel Island may refer to: *Angel Island (California), historic site of the United States Immigration Station, Angel Island, and part of Angel Island State Park, in San Francisco Bay, California * Angel Island, Papua New Guinea * ''Angel Island'' (n ...

in San Francisco Bay.

Notes

References

*Ramirez, Anthony (2007-06-29)
"Circle Line Loses Pact for Ferries to Liberty Island"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. Retrieved 2009-11-03. *Nolte, Carl (2005-09-28)
"Hornblower Yachts picked to operate ferries to Alcatraz"
''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

''. Retrieved 2009-11-03. *Duxbury, Sarah (2009-10-16)
"Hornblower’s landmark cruises power expansion"
''San Francisco Business Times''. Retrieved 2009-11-03.

External links

Hornblower official website

Alcatraz Cruises official website

Statue Cruises official website

Hornblower Marine Services official websiteHornblower Niagara CruisesEntertainment Cruises official website
{{Hudson County Transportation Network Ferry companies of California Ferry companies of New Jersey Ferry companies of New York (state) Ferries of New Jersey Ferries of New York City Travel and holiday companies of the United States Water transportation in New York City Transportation in Hudson County, New Jersey Port of New York and New Jersey Public transportation in Los Angeles County, California Public transportation in San Francisco Companies based in San Francisco Tourist attractions in Hudson County, New Jersey Tourism in New Jersey Tourism in New York City Tourist attractions in the San Francisco Bay Area 1974 establishments in California Statue of Liberty