Hornblower Cruises & Events is a San Francisco-based charter yacht, dining cruise and ferry service company.
History
The company began in 1974 in Berkeley, CA 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 in 1984, followed by Newport Beach 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 located on the historic ferry Santa Rosa, 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 was created to fill a need as a consultant to the booming riverboat casino and ferry service operations industry. By 2003, HMS grew to 80 employees, with offices in San Francisco, New London, Boston and Jacksonville. 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 amount of ships and locations that Hornblower operates. In October of the same year, Hornblower acquired British tour boat operator City Cruises who have bases in London York and Poole Today, Hornblower operates out of 19 different ports: San Francisco, Berkeley, Sacramento, Marina Del Rey, Long Beach, Newport Beach, San Diego, DC, Alexandria, Boston, Chicago, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Toronto, Baltimore, Port of New York and New Jersey, London, Poole and York. The company's entire fleet now includes more than 80 boats.
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, similar to the Maid of the Mist 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.
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. 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.
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 and Pier 40 on the Hudson River, 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.
In 2015, Hornblower Cruises was selected to operate New York City's NYC Ferry 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 East River in northern Brooklyn and in Queens, 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, 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
The M/V Zumbrota, built for circus magnate Charles Ringling and named for the then-largest elephant in captivity, was acquired to serve guests in San Diego. It is now based in Marina del Rey.
The M/V Wild Goose formerly John Wayne’s private yacht, joined the fleet in 1995. The vintage 1942 restored minesweeper continues to operate in Newport Beach.
The ferryboat Santa Rosa, which ferried passengers between San Francisco and the East Bay, now serves at the company’s corporate office.
The M/V San Francisco Belle, a paddlewheel 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 in San Francisco Bay.
