City Cruises San Diego

This year for Valentines Day I had the joy to experience my very first themed dinner cruise. Thank you to my wonderful boyfriend and City Cruises for making this experience one to remember!

Upon arriving at the dock we were promptly checked in and provided complimentary hot chocolate on this chilly San Diego night. The valentines day decorations were super adorable and set the tone for the rest of the evening.

From entering the boarding gate until getting seated at our table, we were greeted with a smile by every single employee we passed. We were then offered complimentary Champagne upon entering the dining room. The cruise started at 7 PM and didn't end until 9:30-10 PM. Giving us plenty of time to eat, chat, and explore the boat and take in the beautiful night skyline of downtown San Diego. Although it was freezing it was still nice to wander.

The meal itself was a 3 course meal. We each got to choose from a selection of appetizers, main course meals, and desserts. The food itself was ok. The presentation was great but it wasn't anything spectacular. I was worried if the 3 course meal would be enough to fill me up but I'm glad to say it was the perfect amount. We were pretty full halfway through our dessert. They also had an additional menu provided at the table in case you wanted to order more side dishes or drinks.

I want to note that even though this was a pre-paid package the servers kindly let us know at the beginning of the service that Gratuity was not included in the package so if we would like to leave it they would greatly appreciate it. My boyfriend didn't know so we kind of wished we brought cash beforehand but thankfully we ordered drinks so he was able to add a tip on his card at the end.

Overall, it such a thoughtful and cute date idea. The food isn't amazing by any means but you're really paying for the experience. I loved the little touches they added such as the rose on the table, DJ playing love songs, rose petals on the ground, and valentines day ballon decoration photo station.

City Cruises seems to offer a variety of cruise packages, so whether you're celebrating a birthday, holiday, or anniversary for a loved one it'll definitely be an experience to remember.

Great experience with City Cruise for the first time. We booked a brunch cruise on New Year's Eve. Was a little afraid of the rain and wind the night before, but it was fine on the cruise, probably because it's the bay. We arrived about 30 minutes before boarding and were able to find a spot right out front (metered parking - 3 hours max). Upon walking up to the boat, we had our picture taken which you could purchase later (digital download or physical copy containing several sizes).

Our table was right next to the buffet which made it very convenient to make a trip for seconds. The food was great considering it was all prepared on the cruise. The menu changes by season, great selection of land and sea to enjoy while cruising. Don't forget the bottomless mimosas, the server will make sure your glass is always full.

Attentive service along the trip, we went out of the cabin to see the view the server still came around to top off our glasses. The cruise was also surprisingly smooth and not once did I lose my balance, nor did anyone else (even with bottomless mimosas). Awesome experience overall, definitely recommend booking for any special occasion or just to enjoy San Diego Bay. Cheers!

Such an amazing, narrated tour cruise of beautiful San Diego. We booked their 'Sightseeing Cruise' and paid about $92 overall total for 2 of us (they also offer brunch & dinner cruises).
We got there about 1 hr early and struggled to find parking on a busy Sunday afternoon. Once we got to the meeting spot, we noticed there was a parking lot right on Hornblower Pier (which is next to the meeting spot). We walked over to ask, and their rate was $15 (cash only) to park.
As we were boarding, a souvenir picture was taken and was later available for purchase.
All crew members were super friendly and attentive. You can purchase snacks and alcohol beverages at the bar, which was awesome!
Plenty of restrooms and very clean.
Overall, we had such an amazing experience and can't wait to go back and enjoy their dinner cruise.

Groupons are often available for this!

Amazing tour of the San Diego bay. I opted for the two hour tour and wasn't disappointed. Multiple times slots to choose from. For the first hour, they go to either the north or south side of the bay, then they return dock for 15 minutes and continue with the second half. Drinks are a little pricy but they hit the spot on a warm day. Crew is fantastic. Highly recommend.

My boyfriend and I went on the hornblower dinner cruise to celebrate my birthday and had a wonderful time. All of the staff was wonderful and the views were great. The dinner was delicious as well! Variety of options. I enjoyed having a drink brought quickly to the table as well. We were able to walk around the whole ship and go out on the top deck to enjoy. I liked that the DJ announced when food was being served so if you were outside you were able to go back inside to have your food. Wonderful experience!

This cruise was everything!! The staff was extremely professional and the food was out of this world. I'm still dreaming about the chocolate cake and I don't even like chocolate. The DJ was super nice and accommodated everyone's taste in music.

When in San Diego, you must book this cruise. It was worth every penny!

The boat leaves from a pier very far away from where the map says City Cruises is. So you will miss the boat if you try to walk. So obnoxious.

Whale Watching Cruise Review!

I've lived here for years and never said to myself "I should go on one of those cruises" but there I was, in line with my tourist mother, having bought some tickets to sightsee whale tails at 9:30 on a week day. I made sure to read the FAQ- dress in layers for warmth (though for me that meant sun protection as my Casper-looking ass burns instantly), wear sunglasses so the light bouncing off the water into my delicate little eyes wasn't blinding, and of course- Dramamine for all the motion of the ocean.

After getting a souvenir pic taken of mom & me with my freshly showered hair looking unprepared, we boarded and everyone else immediately went up to the top deck. I had no clue where is the best area to sit, but I found a nice shaded table on the back deck that served me well. The thing about whales is they are, well, they're big but they go below the surface and the ocean is giant. You might see them up close, you might see them from far off, and maybe you won't see any at all. Sit where you're comfy, you're in for a long trip. To add to your comfort there are restrooms, drinks and food can be ordered from your table and delivered to you (I recommend doing that before you get too far out in the ocean and lose cell service), and there are plenty of sick bags if you mistakenly believed you "didn't need" Dramamine. In case you'd like to know a bit more about whales and their migration- look for the folks in the yellow jackets, though they may just introduce themselves to you first. Those are volunteers from the Natural History Museum who join every City Cruises boat to educate and answer any questions you have. They come equipped with pictures, charts, and info aplenty!

It was a beautiful day for taking in the sights of the bay from the ships to Cabrillo, you'll see it all if you keep your head on a swivel or are comfortable walking around the deck to see both sides. Keep your eye on the little channel markers while in the bay. The sea lions LOVE them and you'll often see groups of them sleeping. Then you'll be out in the ocean, smooth or bumpy is a mystery, where you'll see...well, again, a mystery. To kind of get a rough idea of what you MIGHT see, their website has a log that tracks what they saw on which cruises. We lucked out in that we saw a whale, several times, but then we came across dolphins, a lot of dolphins actually. First we came across a big pod, hundreds of them jumping around and playing in the boat's wake, before we headed off after a report from another boat of an even bigger pod- a mega pod. Thousands of dolphins!

Between the dolphins, the mostly smooth ocean, and the bag of Funyuns I had squirreled away in my bag for primo snacking- we had a great trip. I recommend the trip to anybody who is looking for something to do, like a lazy exploration to see nature and sights vs. hiking, locals and tourists alike. Concerned about the price? You should check out Groupon if you're looking for a very good discount.

That's actually why I booked another cruise not even a month after my first. I was hoping to recreate the magical trip with my partner. But womp womp, very little magic and very much boat rocking didn't make for an excellent trip for him. We still saw plenty of dolphins, sea lions, and even a ocean sunfish/mola mola! Those are truly strange looking fish. Unfortunately the lone small whale sighting was like a half sighting. Given that, the captain had his team issue return vouchers to everyone as we exited. Customer satisfaction and all that. Now given that a fair few of the visitors are tourists, I think City Cruises still come out ahead and nobody was grumbling about a bad trip- people love dolphins! But for me, a local- oh I'll be using my free ticket. Even if I don't see a whale, that's cool. I still enjoy the sights, the cool salty breeze, and time being sea-chauffeured around eating my favorite crispy snack- that's right, more Funyuns. Going to be a good time!

Pro's: Service, free champagne upon entry, being on a boat in the SD harbor
Cons: Food was okay. If you're a foodie, you will be disappointed. Seems fancy, but tastes microwaved. Dessert was super rich. And if you're young, you will be disappointed with the DJ. Not that the DJ was bad, probably just catering to their main audience.

Overall, we had a nice experience with our family and our nieces loved being on the dance floor. Very kid friendly boat. It was just way too expensive for what it was. And the drinks were super expensive and not included in your ticket. And the tip too... ended up being about $300 per person when all was said and done.

Not worth it. Wish we found a more cost-effective way to spend time with our family while we were in town.

What a fantastic experience! We came here for a work event dinner cruise and had a fantastic time on the boat. The cruise itself lasted about 2.5 hours and they drive you to a marina area where the water is calmer before they serve dinner.

We were seated at 3 round tables but managed to move the tables closer together in order to talk to everyone. For dinner I got the seafood chowder to start, salmon for the entree and finished with cheesecake. Food was pretty average with the chowder being the highlight as it had a good amount of clam and more of a Manhattan chowder than a super creamy New England chowder

Really the views were the highlight of the cruise and we set off at 7pm which gave us a perfect time to see the sunset as well as the city nights once the sun set.