Valentine’s Day Cruises in San Diego

If you find yourself in San Diego for Valentine’s Day and are in need of a romantic idea for a date, look no further than a Valentine’s Day cruise. There are several excellent cruises designed to celebrate the holiday in San Diego, ranging from private gondola rides with The Gondola Company to elaborate dinner cruises with Hornblower and Flagship. Below we outline the Valentine’s Day cruises in San Diego, pointing you toward the companies that offer them and detailing their offerings.

Like San Francisco and New York, the Valentine’s Day cruises in San Diego are primarily geared around meals, especially dinner. However, San Diego’s range of options is distinct thanks to The Gondola Company. Instead of offering relatively long cruises that feature an entire meal, they simply offer 50 minute cruises through the canals and waterways of the Coronado Cays. The details of Gondola Company’s Valentine’s cruises are laid out on their website, but the essential details are that you can take the cruise during the day or at sunset, and that a dessert platter, an ice bucket, and two souvenir wine glasses are included in the price of your ticket. You can bring your own alcohol, most likely champagne or sparkling wine given the arrangement, on board. The standard price for one of these cruises is $145, with the price jumping to $175 on Valentine’s Day. The sunset cruises are $20 more across the board. These are the prices for a couple taking out one of the boats for 50 minutes, but up to four additional guests can come, at a price of $20 extra per person.

The Valentine’s cruises offered by Hornblower and Flagship are more like the cruises we have written about in other cities. Indeed, Hornblower operates out of ports around the country, and their Valentine’s Day cruises are fairly consistent regardless of where you take one. Hornblower’s Valentine’s cruises in San Diego consist of four, three-hour dinner cruises, two of which are offered on Valentine’s Day, and one each is on the day before and after. The cruises on the 13th and 15th are substantially cheaper and not quite as elaborate – your dinner has three courses rather than four, and the champagne isn’t “free flowing” – so these are good options to consider if you are tied up on the 14th or want to save a little money. Hornblower also offers brunch cruises, which are only two hours long and are offered on the 14th and 15th. Flagship’s Valentine’s cruises are very similar to Hornblower’s dinner cruises. Flagship offers cruises from 7:30-10:00 PM on both the 13th and 14th, and these cruises feature three-course meals and unlimited champagne. At $119.50 per person, they are more than the Hornblower’s cruises on the 13th and 15th ($89.95 per person), but less than Hornblower’s Valentine’s Day cruises, which start at $169. The exact details about each of the companies’ cruises can be found at the links above, and you can also make reservations through their websites.

San Diego therefore has a nice spread of Valentine’s Day cruise options. You can take a short gondola ride, a dinner cruise, or a brunch cruise, which are all quite distinct. If you are interested in additional ideas, check out our more general article on Valentine’s Day cruises.