In 1980 the original owner, Ward Proescher, sold the business to Terry MacRae and P. Michael Watson.

Proescher later went on to start a competing charter yacht company in the Bay Area, Commodore Cruises.

By acquiring existing charter yacht companies, Hornblower was able to expand into San Diego in 1984, followed by Newport Beach in 1987.

The corporate headquarters were (and continue to be) located on the historic ferry Santa Rosa, which is moored at Pier 3 in San Francisco.

Hornblower announced that it would be suspending all future operations for its American Queen Voyages brand and placed it up for sale as the company plans to focus on its other subsidiaries.

[6] Today, Hornblower operates out of 19 different ports: San Francisco, Berkeley, Sacramento, Marina Del Rey, Long Beach, Newport Beach, San Diego, DC, Alexandria, Boston, Chicago, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Toronto, Baltimore, Port of New York and New Jersey, London, Poole and York.

[citation needed] Under the name Alcatraz Cruises, the company provides ticketing service and transportation to the one and a half million visitors to the island every year.

[8] All ferry riders are subject to security screening, similar to airport procedures, prior to boarding.

Separately from its Liberty and Ellis Island service, Hornblower operates a fleet of six New York-based yachts operating from Pier 15 on the East River and Pier 40 on the Hudson River, offering scheduled sightseeing cruises and special-event charter excursions.

[17][18] Two additional routes to Soundview, Bronx, and to the Lower East Side of Manhattan started operating in August 2018.