We had a Memorial Service for our Father on Labor Day. Everything was perfect from start to finish. I was impressed with the staff and their attention to detail. We spread his ashes under the Golden Gate as request and it was a perfect day to be on the bay. We can't say enough how enjoyable it was to work with these folks. We would used them again in a minute. Thanks again for the great service. read more

We just had the worst experience ever on the Sausalito Empress. We were worried about the weather in December and it turns out that was not an issue but the food and crew were. Our company decided to host our holiday party on the Sausalito Empress. We are a pretty laid back bunch so the idea of a yacht was appealing. We arrived and they clearly were not ready for our group but let us on the yacht after our office manager pushed to get everyone out of the cold. I guess I should have left and gone to a nice pub then.... To be fair, the bartender was trying but clearly not experienced and got behind pretty badly. I finally gave up and grabbed a seat with my girlfriend. When the food was opened we got in line and grabbed a plate. The salmon smelled funny so I opted for the chicken. My girlfriend loves salmon and went for it, saying I was being silly because of the smell. Unfortunately, I was right because she got sick to her stomach the next morning. She doesn't drink so it was not alcohol related, she now agrees that it had to be the salmon. My chicken was decent if you are used to KFC.... To add to it, the waiter acted like I was bothering him whenever anyone from our group asked a question! Caveat emptor!! Never again with this company. read more

I would avoid and use Hornblower or someone else. I've already told my friends who were planning yacht party events in the city to do the same. I planned my 30th birthday party with Empress Events. Negotiated a contract, put down the $1500 deposit and then they called to tell me they wanted to bump me for a better deal...tacky and a breach of an enforceable contract (if you want to get technical about it). Apparently, some company wants to do a corporate event the night of my 30th and offered them more money. Empress offered me some very unsatisfactory and incomparable options (ex: day time on Sunday as an alternative, which is not AT ALL equivalent to a Friday night party on my birthday) and quite honestly didn't seem to give a &^%# about leaving me high and dry. At this point, I have already told everyone about my party and now have no venue. The only other boats available that are of comparable size are all about $2000 more expensive that what Empress and I contracted for. Empress will not compensate me at all for this major inconvenience, additional cost I now must incur if I want to still have this party, and breach of signed agreement. At least I got my deposit refunded. Moral of the story, you shouldn't contract for something and then just bail on your customers. Plenty of other lovely yachts you could use in the city. read more

We hired the Empress yacht to host our wedding. The boat was extremely well presented. The Captain was very down-to-earth and was more than capable of delivering the ceremony without error. I was slightly irritated to see that the coat he wore during the ceremony was not clean. The bar staff were phenomenal. The chef provided some excellent meal choices and all the feedback from my guests regarding the food was positive. The big let-down in this operation is the event coordinator. Prior to the event, requests for information often went unanswered unless we repeated the question. A lot of information we communicated to her was lost or forgotten. On the night of the event there were a few mistakes that were caused purely due to a lack of organisation. With the amount of times we had to repeat information and requests, only to have them ignored or forgotten, I fail to see what this person was contributing to the company. If you are prepared to do a lot of the work yourself then this company is able to provide a stellar venue with, in the most case, a good supporting staff. If you expect to have a well coordinated event without the need to micromanage - go somewhere else. read more

We worked with Empress Events for our wedding. It was as stress free as a wedding could be (I think). The staff was great, the food was great, the boat was a hit with our friends and family. People are still talking about how wonderful everything was. read more

I used Empress to host a large function with over 100 people. The trip was canceled arbitrarily while we literally stood on the dock. Huge waste of both time and money. Additionally the captain started a physical altercation with one of our party. Not professional in the slightest. Save yourself the ordeal and book elsewhere. read more

Had a terrible time with Empress Events. The staff were rude and threw multiple IDs off the boat and the captain at one point pushed one of the attendees. Will never use Empress Events again. read more

It was my bestie's and some good friends' birthdays this past July. She wanted a yacht party... And what my bestie wants, she gets. So we combine all 5 birthdays into one special day! Yes, a quintuple bday celebration! After a few weeks of greuling research, I decided that the Empress was the way to go. Since I was out of town, I tell my bff and the other celebrants to check out the yacht and meet with Deborah (Empress' events planner). Throughout the planning process, Deborah was wonderful, friendly, and a joy to work with. After a few more weeks, that special day finally arrives and it was A-MAZING!! Our guests and we were impressed with the beauty and size of the yacht, every intricate detail of the settings and decor, and the breathetaking views of the SF Bay. Deborah and the staff worked closely with me to ensure everything ran smoothly. Hence, the party was perfect and everyone enjoyed themselves to the fullest! Thank you Empress (Deborah, Captain and the staff) for this most magical evening! read more

I had my wedding aboard the Empress! Everything was beautiful and my guests had a great time! I would recommend this to anyone. This is the only way to do a wedding! The wedding was in September and everyone is still talking about it! The Empress is a beautiful boat! read more

While I can't share the number of times that I've actually been on the bay, I can tell you, without hesitation, that I shall never forget the awesome experience Empress Events has provided every time. From the beauty that she beams, to the stellar crew at your beck and call, oh, and the food, it wouldn't be a complete review if the high quality of the food wasn't mentioned. Allow me to simply leave you with this suggestion - book the Empress for your next event and take pride as your guests share in a very special memory! read more

I had my wedding back in 2009 on the Empress Events. Fell in love with the boat the minute I saw it and Captain Gerry is such a delightful man. The planning of my wedding started out smooth. The food tasting was wonderful and I thought things would be pretty simple. Well the wedding planner assigned to us was not a pleasant woman. She constantly messed up my order or tried to charge me for extras that I did not ask for. Come my wedding day, we were assigned a different wedding planner. She introduced herself to my husband, but never once to me. I didn't know who she was until my husband pointed her out during our reception. Also, she stayed behind the bar the entire night. Never helped with getting things organized. Our DJ kept coming up to us (the newly weds) asking us the timing for everything. She never once stepped in to take that burden off of us so we could actually enjoy our wedding. On another note they completely left out a table so the DJ and my husband and I had to straighten out the situation. Such a mess. I wish she would have stepped up. My husband and I shouldn't of had to deal with these mix ups. When the food was served the menu was completely different than what we tasted. We order a vegetarian lasagna and it was a very different recipe. Not at all what we had tasted and not even half as good. The DJ they recommend was great. The only complaint I have about him is that he cut off the last song of the night right at 10:00 pm exactly. Apparently our time was up and he couldn't even let us finish the last 30 seconds of the song. The boat itself is absolutely gorgeous and Captain Gerry made the experience wonderful, but if I had to do my wedding all over again I think I would have gone a different route. read more

Captain Gerry & his staff wowed us with service and sensitivity for our special event this weekend. Vessel was very cleans, lux & had plenty of room. kudos. read more

I celebrated my husband's surprise 40th Birthday on-board. Our hostess Deborah Birmingham receives the entire credit for coordinating the entire event from start to end and accommodating the little extras I requested, such as setting up my own karaoke, playing my own music (they have i-Phone & i-Pod compatible speakers) and decorating the yacht from inside. The servers were constantly available during meal times and the bartender was fun! The veg and meat selections are delicious, plentiful, and the Hors d'oeuvres were served all over the boat by the servers. We could see dolphins from the deck which was very exciting for the kids. In all, it was a very well coordinated event and the overall experience was - well more than expected! read more

Captain Gerry has one of the most professional high class yacht chartering operations I've ever seen. You can tell that he's in the business to make his clients happy not just to make money unlike the rest of the operations out there. There is a reason why Gerry gets repeat business because he truly cares about his customers. The food, yachts, service and views are all amazing. I highly suggest Empress Events to anyone looking to charter a yacht on San Francisco Bay. Bravo Captain Gerry!! read more

Ok, everyone. I have been on several of Cap't Gerry's cruises in the last 3 years, and I have to say they have all been pretty terrific. When there is music involved, it gets even better, as he seems to have a love of good music. When there are fireworks involved, he has managed to get us situated directly under them, resulting in the most exhilarating fireworks experience I can remember...like being a kid all over again. And the food has always been somewhere between very good and outstanding. Yesterday, I was lucky enough to be taken as a guest for the Mother's Day cruise, which was a gorgeous experience. Granted, it is pretty hard to beat a cruise on the Bay, and especially on such a gloriously beautiful day as yesterday turned out to be, but the Captain seems to give you views that you never knew existed, and often we were so close to land, it was amazing. One photo opportunity after another. The service was lovely, professional and ready to help with any request. Our party felt totally taken care of, in fact, we felt like the cruise was for our enjoyment alone. The Empress is spacious, clean and kept up beautifully. The crew, including the Captain, was friendly, approachable and professional. What more can I say? Get out there and book a cruise of your own! Thanks to the Captain and crew for a beautiful afternoon on the Bay. read more

Empress Events was really great! The food is great, the customer service is great, and the boat is amazing. I would highly recommend them to anyone! read more

Wanted to celebrate a 30th anniversary of church ministry. Used Empress Events to charter a dinner cruise for 45 people. Had a very professional and satisfying experience with the entire staff. Every person who attended was very pleased and impressed with the service we received, the great food served and the attention provided to every need. Highly recommend Empress Events....worth more than the cost in satisfaction. read more

Fabulous! The service was great. The staff was gracious and helpful. The yacht was fantastic. I am not one to take the time to give a review, but I had to step up and let everyone know how great our experience was with Empress Events. Deborah, Andrew, Sophia, and the rest... thank your for a great time. We had ~90 people for my wife's birthday party, and all the guests raved about how great the party was. Bravo, and thank you! read more

I went to a work party on a yacht with Empress events and had a wonderful time. The bartender Andrew was especially great! He was kind and funny and can make an amazing specialty drink. Find Andrew if you want an excellent cocktail! read more

I going to make this short and sweet....We scattered my brothers ashes today and it was as I say "horribly perfect." It is never an event you want to do, but Empress Events and their staff were so great and helpful that it made the day perfect. Great pricing, great staff, great view, horribly event...Will recommend it to everyone. read more

Mixed feelings.... the venue was beautiful. Hard to beat a sunset under the golden gate and the twinkling of lights on the water. The wedding cake never arrived, but Deborah saved the day by offering petite fours. ( Big hugs Deborah!) The guests all commented on how much fun they had and the music was great. The photographer that was recommended by the boat took some beautiful shots and the florist they recommended was outstanding. Now the not so great things.... The chicken was so over done that it was hard to swallow and there was no water on the tables to help wash it down. It was pretty embarrassing. The bar was supposed to offer free champagne, sodas, water and juice all night. I found out that they were charging people. NOT COOL... we had already paid for it and it was in our contract. When I called the bar tender on it he played dumb. When my hubby asked for champagne a little later the bar tender acted like there was none and tried to get him to buy a drink. He got called on it and guess what, the champagne magically appeared. Item number 2 of contention: After reading other reviews about the DJ announcing a reminder to tip we made a point to ask him not to do that and asked Deborah to make sure that was not announced. We would make sure everyone was tipped. Sure enough at the end of the night he asked for tips...( Everyone but him had already received generous tips) Really pissed my son and daughter in law off as they ended up having to tell several of their guests to put their wallets away, it had already been covered. VERY TACKY! The bride was so upset that she refused to tip the DJ. The last thing that was really bad was getting back to the dock at 9:35 and being rushed off the boat. We had paid until 10. Guests were still gathering their things when the basket with all the cards was taken off the boat by staff and put on the dock. Thankfully we had no wind or the cards could easily have blown into the water, as it was the crew started spraying down the deck and got a bunch of the cards damp. I ended up ruining my shoes and the bottom of my gown was soaked as we had to walk back and forth through the water to get all of our things off of the boat. If you do plan on using Empress pay for an extra hour. 4 hours really isn't long enough when you consider time for people to board and the fact that they expect everyone to be off at the end of the four hours, which really only gives you about 3 1/2 useable hours. read more

Unfortunately, my experience working with Empress Events for my rehearsal dinner last month was a little difficult. At first, everything was great. Deborah was very responsive and friendly; they hosted a lovely tasting for my husband and I; and we were really impressed with the yacht itself. But then, things got a little stressful. First, Deborah got harder and harder to reach. And, twice, she called to tell me we had to send a deposit to book the yacht after we have already paid $4000 months earlier. Then, there was lots of back and forth about how we could do speeches and a slideshow that my mom prepared. They told me that they did not have a microphone (a little weird) and that my mom would have to find a way to use their dvd system to do her presentation. Since my mom is not too tech-savvy, we ended up asking whether a powerpoint would work and Deborah said it would. One week before the event, they told me that the menu we chose (and that my guests had already selected from) was too expensive and we would have to change. Although we eventually agreed to downgrade the salad and apps, I was already a little weary. Then, the day of the event, when I was busy planning and enjoying time with my family, the captain called to tell me my mom couldn't do the presentation she had tried so hard to do. I ended up having a crazy screaming match with the captain (part my fault, part his), and getting pretty upset. By the time of the event, things between us were pretty strained. Deborah immediately asked me for my check and we discovered that our playlist on our ipod was not working well and the microphone we bought especially for the event would not work. Then, the service staff started serving food directly in front of my mom during her presentation and literally would not stop until someone asked them to. In the end, the night turned out ok but it was not chill and easy like I had hoped. In the end, I probably could have done a better job communicating but definitely so could they. read more