Red and White Fleet

San Francisco, United States

4.2

20 reviews

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Telephone:
+1 415-673-2900
Website:
www.redandwhite.com
Address:
Pier 43 1/2, San Francisco, CA, 94133
Fisherman's Wharf, North Beach/Telegraph Hill
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Bussiness info

Good for Kids
Yes

Today

Today 9:00 am – 7:00 pm
Local time (San Francisco) –

Business hours

Monday 9:00 am – 7:00 pm
Tuesday 9:00 am – 7:00 pm
Wednesday 9:00 am – 7:00 pm
Thursday 9:00 am – 7:00 pm
Friday 9:00 am – 7:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 7:00 pm
Sunday 9:00 am – 7:00 pm

Description

Specialties

We are a family-​owned business, offering San Francisco’s original sightseeing cruises out on the bay since 1892.

Our public bay cruises are available 8 to 16 times daily, and range in length from one to two hours.

Our Golden Gate Bay Cruise includes headphone audio in 16 languages about the history of San Francisco and its famous landmarks.

Our California Sunset Cruise is a very casual and relaxed cruise of the bay at twilight. We include appetizers by Boudin, a beverage, and live guitar music, plus amazing views of the surrounding bay.

We also charter out our boats for private events, including birthday parties, company events and more. As a special treat we can offer are private cruises aboard Franklin D Roosevelt’s Presidential Yacht, USS Potomac.

History

Established in 1892.

In 1892, seventeen year old Thomas Crowley launched his company with a rowing boat that was just eighteen feet long, carrying goods and passengers across the bay. During the 1906 earthquake, Crowley’s operations increased, as his boats crossed the bay carrying people and their belongings from the battered streets of San Francisco.

In 1913, the Panama Pacific International Exposition included sightseeing excursions to the U.S. Battleship Oregon. When the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge were completed in the 1930’s, the Golden Gate Bay Cruise originated as San Francisco’s longest operating sightseeing tour.

In the late 1940’s, Crowley repainted the vessels — red and white — and the ticket booth re-​opened at Fisherman’s Wharf.

In the immediate aftermath of the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, Red and White Fleet provided free transportation to 15,000 stranded commuters. In 1997, Tom Escher purchased the Red and White Fleet to continue offering his family’s tours of SF Bay.

Meet the Manager

Louise W.

Manager

Hello Yelp Community

Thanks for looking us up on Yelp. We hope to provide everyone with a fun and interesting experience out on San Francisco Bay.

Our daytime cruises are a great way to see San Francisco and learn about its history and landmarks in up to 16 languages. Plus our sunset appetizer sailings are a good way to just sit back and relax.

Having cruised the bay as a family owned business for over 120 years we are quite passionate about what we do and hope to do a good job at it. So if there ever is anything that you want to share with us please do. We want to hear from you so we can continuously work on making things better.

My team and I hope to see you out on San Francisco Bay. Have fun and be amazed by beautiful San Francisco Bay.

Louise

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20 reviews of Red and White Fleet

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Place rating: 3
Pittsburg, CA
The view is wonderful, the music isnt good. The food was not that good. And cold! !!! You get a ticket for a beer, wine or soda. Premium liquor is 8 $
Place rating: 3
Oakland, CA
This is in amazing opportunity! Riding around on a multi-​leveled, boat in the bay during New Year’s eve is a fantastic idea. At $ 150 it’s an okay price. It sure beats waiting all day, camped out to reserve a spot to watch fireworks for the night.
The views from the boat were phenomenal. The views around the bay, all lit up at night, were simply gorgeous. They had bites, drinks, a fun photobooth and DJs that kept the place lively. Top it all off with fireworks and it’s a sure fire hit.
With that said, aside from the glory of the pyrotechnics, this left so much to be desired. I felt I was mislead.
To start, come early, and yes they tell you that, but what they don’t tell you is that if you don’t come early, it will be hard to find a seat on the boat. Baby it’s cold outside and so everyone is struggling to find a comfy place to rest themselves during the cruise inside. Space is REALLY limited so find a place to sit and camp out.
The food was almost non-​existent. They had several platters from Costco it looked like. Small bites of charcuterie and small bites of dessert. 30 minutes into the event and these are picked apart and gone!
Then there is the so called premium open bar. Which has no top shelf drinks, or even selection for most of their liquors. They’re best I think was the black label. They had a variety of whiskeys, but only sky vodka, some lesser known gin and… I just can’t go on. The line for these bars wraps around the length of the inside of the boat all night. It’s slow going with only two bartenders and everyone of course orders multiple drinks to make the wait worthwhile which only extends the wait
I wish the event was better executed. I wish they only sold enough tickets as there were seats inside the boat. I wish they had more food to offer that came out slowly through the evening even if it wasn’t better quality. I wish that they added an extra bartender to expedite the process. I wish they actually had a premium bar…
All these wishes aside, I couldn’t have wished for a better view of the fireworks for the new year.
That’s my peace
Place rating: 3
Houston, TX
Took a 1 hour bay cruise. Thought it was good. Bay was clam although my wife got sea sick nevertheless. Don’t rush to get on board in order to sit on top. Why? Because everyone else will stand around the rail blocking your view. So just join them. A bunch of seats open up after everyone figures this out. If you want a bay cruise for half the price (15 dollars) then go around the corner (towards the ghardenelli square) and there will be a lot of smaller fishing boats offering the same tour. But be warned those ships look like they’re packed so if you want space to walk around you won’t get it on those.
Place rating: 5
Arnold, CA
Very nice tour, clean boats, great employees, and helpful on the phone.
This isn’t even mentioning the fact that the price was perfect for this long, detailed tour!
Best in the bay.
Place rating: 1
Berkeley, CA
Came for the bridge to bridge, I could’ve bought it online (it was available) but decided to see in person. It was sold out (while available online), why? Overbook much?
Ok, decided for the golden gate one. Bought tickets for 1.10pm. The girl at the counter told me to come 10 mins before at gate 1. I came back at 12.50 and saw a long line at gate 2. I asked and they said the captain changed gate. I started queuing and after 15 mins they tell me it was full and I had to go to the 1.40 one. Why are you selling more tickets than the spaces available on board? Awful organization and scamming policy! To be avoided!
Place rating: 5
Woodland Hills, CA
Fair prices, friendly staff and great photo ops!
I did the Bridge 2 Bridge Cruise and you’ll get some amazing views especially if it’s around the sunset time. The tour was an audio tour with plenty of seating on the boat inside and out. There was even a snack and drink bar to get either of those. They have bathrooms as well, but since I didn’t use them I can’t say how clean they were; I’m sure they were good enough.
You’ll get some great information from the audio tour about San Francisco and the bridges. Very informative.
The ship is large enough where you won’t get sea sick or anything like that, so I’m crossing my fingers for you and I hope that’s the same for you as well.
I lost my ticket unfortunately but had some help with retrieving it back and being able to go on thanks to the staff at hand!
Place rating: 5
Tulare, CA
My hubby and I recently took this cruise, and I totally recommend it to anyone whose looking for a nice evening ride. We really had a great time, the staff was great and although it includes appetizers on their advertisement, honestly it’s far from appetizers. They served ham, Turkey and roast beef sandwiches, deep pit pork, different pastas and salads, cheese & fruit trays, brownies etc. There were lots of people on board, different age groups, yet it never felt crowded and there was lots of food left over. Seeing San Francisco at night was breath taking, life is too short so take the ride :)
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Groupon, hello!
During a moments buy-​on-​the-​fly purchase, the sunset cruise sounded pretty amazing. For two people, the one price of $ 58 sounded reasonable to me.
Loading takes place right on the cusp of where Pier 39 empties out into a large parking lot before joining hands with the next strip of touristy shops and restaurants. The next two hours is out in the bay, going around Angel Island, Sausalito, then right under the Golden Gate Bridge then back again. Don’t forget there is also a mini buffet downstairs which consisted mostly of cold cuts and sandwiches but still, a great deal. Smooth boatride with narration, the crew were well informed.
The views are amazing, the deck provides great views, and get ready to stand back and take in the classic SF sunsets out on the sea :)
Place rating: 5
Glendora, CA
Audio boat tours are the future!
What a great way to learn so much about SF and the views were amazing!
Awesome photo op moments if you can get your feet secured and fight the breeze and ocean waves! Loved it!
Place rating: 4
Los Angeles, CA
Plan extra time to get there due to Wharf traffic jam. We thought we have a whole hour before boarding time but somehow ended up racing against the clock. And when we got to the Triangle Parking lot, only to find out they are not letting any cars in, although tons of cars were heading out of the lot. Go figure.
Anyways, we were getting way too close to boarding time and risk experiencing the joy of watching the sunset cruise sail off sans us. I hopped out of the standstill car to go scout the parking situation and luckily there was another wharf parking structure 20 feet away, behind the huge tourist bus. After a nerve racking 20 minutes maneuvering our way in super close proximity to cars coming out of the parking structure, we parked and raced to the Tickets booth with 5mins to spare and get in line. Whew!
After all the excitement of parking, glad to report that the Sunset sailing was relaxing and fun. I’ve done the Blue & White Bay cruise ages ago. A whole other experience with the Sunset cruise. Love the mix of daylight, sun setting and night views! So serene just cruising the Bay for 2 hours while enjoying a drink (included in your ticket). Also included is a buffet that turned out to be pleasantly filing. Nothing fancy but pretty good I’d say: Asian noodles, cold cuts, roasted veggies and olives, assortment of fruit platters, a whole casserole of Pulled Pork, turkey/​roast beef/​veggies sandwiches and cookies that disappeared fast. By the time we came back to the buffet, there were no more cookies but plenty of fruits — that are probably better for us anyways :-)
It was nice that the cruise wasn’t packed s there were lots of tables open and room to move around and enjoy romantic moments away from people.
It would have been a full 5-​star except for the barely «sailing under the Golden Gate». Basically we kind of got «under» the bridge but didn’t go under per se. Kinda miffed about that… Oh well, moving on.
Place rating: 4
Rowland Heights, CA
Hello everyone! On the seas of a nice big boat that is traveling on the waters under the Golden Gate Bridge and the side of Alcatraz.
So first off the tickets are going to cost you but in my opinion it’s worth it. Getting on the ship and finding a seat is relativity easy but you want to decide if you want to be on the first floor of the ship near the snack area and bathrooms. The second level has a inside and outdoor area and has a great view.
I can see it being very cold during the winter time however because there are some strong winds and it got a little chilly and that was during the summer!!!
A great experience to go to especially if you are visiting. There is also a great audio tour for you to listen too that teaches you a lot about the bridge and Alcatraz!
Have fun everyone! !!
Place rating: 5
Oakland, CA
If you don’t get sea sick, you can’t help but love this cruise! The bay is gorgeous and the boat is perfect for enjoying the view. They offer a really good spread for satiating the tummy, and even had live entertainment!
Place rating: 4
Orange County, CA
The Red and White Fleet, in San Fran Harbor gives 3 different tours.
We went on the 1.5 hour tour of San Fran and Oakland bridges. They gave you a radio that you could listen to in 10+ languages. I chose English though porque no hablo otro linguas. Yep. :P You could listen to them talk about the history of the landmarks around, like Ghiradelli Square, the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges. You can also listen to history about Alcatraz and Angel Islands as well, the hills of San Francisco, the views– there’s rarely a dull moment with the radio. You can get pictures on the top deck, but people are standing on the sides to get pictures already. The floor below has windows on the sides and railings on the sides, so you can probably get pictures there as well. You could walk around, go about, left or right (I mean port or starboard xD). It was a beautiful sight to be UNDER the bridges and see Alcatraz (had never done so before). So get out your selfie sticks, or your camcorders, and take pictures!
And when we started out? Sunny.
When we came back? It had started to rain alittle.
Close to Boudin SF!
Place rating: 5
Roseville, CA
Great Tour!
The Pier sits at the heart of Fisherman’s Wharf at Pier 43−½, near Boudin, the famous sourdough bakery. We waited at Gate 1. Boarded the Royal Prince ship. I’m not sure how much I paid for the tour but it was a Groupon deal so that was sweet! As we boarded the cruise ship, headsets were provided and came in different languages to accommodate many of the different multilingual tourists visiting San Francisco. I believe it was channel #65 or #66 for English. It was open seating where you can sit indoor or outdoor and you are able to roam around to your heart’s content, just don’t fall overboard.
So off we cruise! As we passed by points of interests the narrator would give a brief history and mention trivia about the subject: the U.S.S. Pampanito (
), Alcatraz Island, Angel Island (
), Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Bridge and other interesting points and historic landmarks. I was excited to cruise underneath the Golden Gate Bridge as I’ve never seen the bridge from this angle before… it was a different view of this engineering masterpiece. So cool! There were many photo opportunities as everyone busted out there cameras, smartphones and recorders to take advantage of the awesome views. The Golden Gate Bridge, stretching over 4200 feet, it is every bit as awesome an accomplishment in suspension-​bridge engineering today as it was over half a century ago. The cruise lasted about a little over an hour. At one point we thought we saw a porpoise swimming along the ocean.
It was very windy but still turned out to be a gorgeous day in San Francisco as the boat circled back towards the City passing by the Alcatraz Island and we got a glimpse of the perimeter of The Rock (
) and once again we were able to see the beautiful San Francisco skyline. The end :)
Place rating: 5
Brooklyn, NY
My boyfriend and I bought Goldstar tickets for the sunset cruise on the Red and White Fleet harbor tour. An absolutely INCREDIBLE way to see some awesome sites in San Francisco. Normally I find these cruises to be a little corny, but this was a great experience. The sites were impressive. We passed very closely to Alcatraz Island and the captain slowed down for photo ops and to give us the history, this was great for us because we did not get a chance to do the Alcatraz tour. We also passed Angel Island and went under the Golden Gate bridge. Magnificent views. I really enjoyed the on board entertainment, a live singer named Bob Ring, very talented and very funny. The performance began after dinner. Dinner options were highly impressive and definitely offered a lot. Hero sandwiches, salad, pasta, cookies, fruits, vegetables, cheese platter, pretty decent spread and selection with plenty to go around. The ticket also go us one free drink at the bar. I really enjoyed going at sunset because the views and photo ops are absolutely perfect and very romantic. Cruising around at night too was incredible. A must do for first timers in San Fran! We loved it!
Place rating: 4
San Jose, CA
I bought a Goldstar deal to take my boyfriend for his birthday. God must have been smiling down on us because we were somehow able to beat crazy traffic and got lucky with a quick spot in the parking garage only a few hundred feet from the pier. We checked in easily at Pier 43 ½ and ended up being the very last passengers to board on our scheduled 4:00pm departure!
Boarding was seamless and we each received our headphones and tour guide set to the English channel. We bought our drinks at the onboard bar (margarita for him, chardonnay for me!) and took our seats. I was expecting with the great weather for the tour to be packed but we were lucky as it must have only been about half full, with plenty of room for roaming and exploring the various levels of the ship. My boyfriend at first wasn’t interested in the tour but once he heard me pointing landmarks out that were being discussed, he turned his tour on and enjoyed it quite a bit. I am a Bay Area native while he has only lived here for 6 years but he knows much more about its history than I do, I’m ashamed to say!
The tour was worth every penny, deal or not, and I would gladly take it again :)
Place rating: 5
Los Angeles, CA
This tour came as part of a tour package I did with tower tours. This was a great tour and a wonderful and quick way to learn about San Francisco and its history. Some of th3bh8ghlights include Ghirardelli square, alcatraz island, and sausalito. It was very windy, cold, and foggy but the view of the Golden Gate Bridge was worth it. When it got too cold, I would go down to the other levels away from the crazy winds. The audio tour is very informative, and comes in a variety of languages for tourists. I would love to do it again on a clear day and experience it all over again!
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
Any first-​time visitor to San Francisco MUST take the Red and White Fleet harbor tour.
The one hour tour is probably the best bang for the buck, at $ 30 per adult, and I imagine the sunset tour would be quite spectacular. Maybe next time.
It all begins with each person boarding and picking a device and headset hanging from a line down the centerline of the tour boat, in the cabin. A chart indicates the channel for your language, and English is Channel 65. There are many, many languages to choose from. The narration is quite good (at least in English, who knows about the other languages?), and very informative about local history and objects as the boat passes by. I noticed that the timing of the narration was very accurate.
Our one-​hour daylight tour took us past a few retired military vessels, one a submarine, and closed military facilities. The main attraction, of course, was cruising under the Golden Gate Bridge, and it was far more interesting than I had expected. Cameras were clicking away as the flog partially obscured one of the uprights on the Marin County end, and the sight was quite artistic. Happens all the time, probably, but picture-​worthy anyway.
The boat made a gentle turn back to an easterly heading and passed close by Alcatraz Island, which looked quite foreboding, at least until you see herds of tourists walking around. Then, not so much.
Angel Island is off the port side as Alcatraz slides by off starboard. Ahead is the unforgettable, iconic, even romantic San Francisco skyline (Don’t ever call it Frisco, pal.)
The wind, the spray, and the chilly air add to the ambiance. The seagulls do their part, as well. For those so inclined, there are drinks and a snack bar inside. Many decided not to brave the elements, and viewed everything through Plexiglas. It was their loss. Most folks bravely manned the rails and took in the sights.
Do. This. Tour.
Place rating: 4
Los Angeles, CA
Great tour of the harbor!
I took the tour that goes under the GG bridge and around Alcatraz with my family on a recent trip to SF. The boat has 3 levels and you can go out on the bow for a better view. They offer an audio tour as the cruse moves along so you learn about all of the sights you’ll see along the way.
My favorite part of the tour is when you get to go under the GG bridge. All of the history of the building of the bridge is related during the audio tour. It’s an amazing sight and a very interesting story.
The tour was about 45 mins to an hour long. The guides on the boat are friendly and there is a snack bar that sells liquor if that’s how you like your tours ;) I highly recommend this tour.
Place rating: 4
Logan, UT
Ahoy there, matey! If you enjoy people, boats, and sightseeing – then you are reading the correct review. This ship comes with all of that, and much more.
If you check in, you get $ 4 off per person. And who doesn’t like free stuff? After you snag yourself a ticket, I would recommend finding a seat in the inner cabin. There are many windows to look out of and you can see perfectly fine through the large windows. It’s not too crowded, so check out the deck if you want to take a walk around.
There are many languages to choose from, so whether you are from Mexico or China, you can change the settings on your audio tour tape to listen in a language you’re comfortable in.
Be sure to check out the snack bar too, drinks and treats for about $ 3 – and who doesn’t love a good bag of popcorn or Fritos as you bounce along the waves.
TIPS & TRICKS:
* They take your photo at the beginning and allow you to purchase them at the end, if you desire. Make sure you look nice though, because I was completely caught off guard and ended up looking like a cat in the road.
* If you’ve already purchased your tickets, try using the Unilocal coupon at the treat bar, there’s no sense in not asking!