City Cruises

City Cruises is a company that offers special trips on boats. These trips include charter yachts, dining cruises, and ferry services. It operates in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

City Cruises is part of a bigger brand called City Experiences, which belongs to the Hornblower Group. In April 2021, Hornblower Group changed the names of many of its tour and cruise services to fall under the City Experiences brand, with City Cruises becoming a well-known part of this group.

In February 2024, the Hornblower Group had to ask for bankruptcy protection. After going through a court-approved restructuring, the company started again in July 2024. Today, City Cruises continues to offer its popular boat trips to people all over.

History

The company started in 1974 in Berkeley, California with two ships. Over the years, it grew by buying other yacht companies and expanding to places like San Diego, Newport Beach, and London.

In 2021, the company changed its name to City Cruises and became part of a bigger group called City Experiences. In February 2024, the parent company faced money problems and had to reorganize its finances. By July 2024, it completed this process and continued operating. Today, City Cruises runs from 19 different ports and has more than 80 boats.

Cruises and ferry services

Niagara City Cruises

Hornblower Canada Company, part of the Hornblower Group, runs Niagara City Cruises (formerly Hornblower Niagara Cruises). These cruises offer tours of the Niagara Falls Gorge from the Canadian side of the Niagara River, similar to the Maid of the Mist cruises from Niagara Falls, New York. The fleet includes Niagara Wonder and Niagara Thunder, each carrying up to 700 passengers. These boats are based on designs by Elliot Bay Design Group and were built by Hike Metal Products in Wheatley, Ontario. Visitors reach the ships using the Hornblower Niagara Funicular.

Lake Tahoe Cruises

From 1997 to 2002, Hornblower operated in Lake Tahoe after buying Lake Tahoe Cruises Inc. and its boats, Tahoe Queen and Tahoe Princess. They offered ferry services across the lake and land shuttle services between South Lake Tahoe and Palisades Tahoe Ski Resort. The Lake Link ferry was the fastest passenger boat on the lake. In 2002, the Lake Tahoe port was sold to Aramark, the owner of the MS Dixie.

Alcatraz City Cruises

In 2006, Hornblower won the contract from the National Park Service to provide ferry service to Alcatraz Island after the previous contract with Blue & Gold Fleet ended. As Alcatraz City Cruises, the company handles tickets and transport for about one and a half million visitors to the island each year.

In 2008, Alcatraz Cruises added the Hornblower Hybrid to its fleet—the first hybrid ferry in the United States. This ferry uses solar power, wind power, and low-emission diesel fuel.

Statue City Cruises

In 2007, the company received permission from the National Park Service to operate ferries to Liberty Island and Ellis Island, the only way for the public to visit these sites in the Port of New York and New Jersey. This replaced Circle Line, which had run the service since 1953. As Statue City Cruises, the company manages tickets and transport for visitors to the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island Immigration Museum. Boats leave from Communipaw Terminal, Liberty State Park in Jersey City, or Castle Clinton in Battery Park, Lower Manhattan. The National Park Service chose Statue City Cruises to continue this service under a 10-year contract starting March 1, 2024.

The related Liberty Water Taxi runs between Liberty State Park and the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal.

Hornblower New York (now City Cruises)

Separately from its services to Liberty and Ellis Islands, City Cruises runs a group of yachts based in New York from Pier 15 on the East River and Pier 40 on the Hudson River. These yachts offer regular sightseeing and dining cruises, as well as special event charters.

NYC Ferry

Main article: NYC Ferry

In 2015, Hornblower Cruises was chosen to run New York City's NYC Ferry service, which began on May 1, 2017. This was the company's first commuter ferry service. One route links Lower Manhattan and Midtown Manhattan with spots across the East River in northern Brooklyn and in Queens. Another route connects Lower Manhattan with Rockaway Park in Queens. A third route, starting June 1, 2017, links Lower Manhattan with communities along the river in southern Brooklyn. A fourth route, connecting Manhattan with Astoria, Queens, began on August 19, 2017. Two more routes to Soundview, Bronx, and the Lower East Side of Manhattan started in August 2018.

Notable yachts

• MV 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 based at Marina del Rey.
• MV Wild Goose (ex USS YMS-328) formerly John Wayne's private yacht, joined the fleet in 1995. The vintage 1942 restored minesweeper continues to operate at Newport Beach.
• The ferryboat Santa Rosa, which ferried passengers between San Francisco and the East Bay, serves at the company's corporate office.
• MV San Francisco Belle, a paddlewheel style vessel, joined the fleet in 2001. San Francisco Belle, with a capacity of 2,200, is the largest dining yacht on the West Coast.
• San Francisco 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.