City Cruises - San Francisco

The Hornblower did an amazing job! Polly was our event coordinator and she was spectacular! She was amazing from day one and was always quick to respond to emails or calls. She was even there to help me get ready right before I walked down the aisle. The staff and crew were great on the yacht and all of the guests said it was an amazing wedding. Thank you Hornblower and a special thank you to Polly!

I would actually give this 4.75 stars. The only reason I don't give 5 stars is because of those minor things that don't make things perfect. I used the Berkeley Marina site, but most of the event coordinators work out of SF. My wedding ceremony cruise was beautiful. The Commodore Yacht has so much nautical character. In retrospect, I should've had rented a larger boat to accommodate all my guests for one event instead of small ceremony & land reception. So the downside, is that there are small details they should've known that would've saved me a few visits to the site like measurements & sound system. They should reupholster the bench seats, the event coordinator assigned to my actual day didn't touch bases with me at all. There were stacked chairs & mop buckets on the dock which is visually unappealing & is in all our pics. This is the perspective of the bride who was the wedding coordinator, decorator & florist who is also a critical care RN; I'm very detail oriented! I would love to use them again & highly recommend this venue for a wedding. If the weather is great (80 degrees with barely any wind or clouds on Oct. 5, 2014) it's magical especially if the Bay is your home! I had 56 guests & added 30 minutes for a total time of 2.5 hours which is plenty of time for a ceremony cruise. If you have the reception on the boat then 3-4 hours is plenty of time.

After coordinating our wedding and hosting the event, we now wish that we had hired a different company at a different venue. In addition to poor customer service on-site, the staff (lead by Daniel Martinez) was very rude to both the bride and guests throughout the night. 'Not a good impression. Here are three key things that you should know: 1. Our Intended Rental Yacht Broke Down at the Last Minute We were told an hour before boarding that we would have to either stay docked at the Pacific Hornblower or move to the Empress Hornblower for our cruise. This was extremely unprofessional, especially because the on-site staff didn't tell us until the last minute--after we had already set up the tables on the Pacific. This ruined our seating chart due to the new deck layout. Moreover, the staff did not let us put our party favors at the tables, which the bride worked for days to make by hand. Although we understand that malfunctions happen, it was the Hornblower staff's duty to be prepared for this well ahead of time and notify us far, far earlier. 2. The Staff and Coordinator Made No Attempt to Compensate Us After both families rushed to move everything from the Pacific to the Empress, the staff rudely informed us that they would not give us extra time on the cruise, stating that we had made them late because *they* were ready on time. From the added corkage fee (we told there was none) to the general attitude of the staff, we were surprised at the lack of empathy shown to the bride and the wedding party. This was incredibly stressful, since both the coordinator and the staff made little attempt to give us any extra time on anything, which made the ceremony chaotic. 3. Overall, Communication From the Staff Was Extremely Poor Mainly, we weren't notified about anything in a timely manner. 'Had we been given enough notice about the boat's failed engine, the weather conditions and a variety of incidentals, we could have dealt with the crisis better. Almost nothing we were told regarding our plans was consistent among most staff members. Pros: Several compliments on the food; planning coordinator (Erica Stenson) was on-point and provided great communication prior to the event; half of our guests (at most) had a decent experience. Cons: Customer service was several lacking; most of the staff was extremely unapologetic about anything that went wrong; we were offered no compensation for any last-minute changes nor the stress that the bride suffered.

They took care of everything for a flat fee: wedding cake, food, bouquet, boutonniere, first dance music, photographer...The staff the day of the wedding were awesome. !