A holiday “booze cruise” turned chaotic late Saturday when dozens of people were not allowed to board and told they would not get refunds, and some allegedly threw bottles and tried to jump onto the boat.
Ticket holder Amy Fan said in a Reddit post that the “Friendsgiving” event thrown by Skyline Yacht Cruises was overbooked by 60 people, who were turned away and told it was their fault for not being at the dock on time.
A video shared with The Standard shows a Skyline Yacht Cruises employee who identifies herself as “Jeanette” initially offering refunds to people left behind on the dock. She later walks back the promise, saying the company will issue a credit for a free cruise if customers send a screenshot of their ticket and their email address. As she tries to speak, one person shouts, “You wasted our time” as others are seen attempting to jump onto the yacht from the dock.
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“You guys cannot jump. You guys cannot jump over,” Jeanette says in the video. “I need you guys to separate from the dock.”
A video accompanying the Reddit post shows people pushing customers away from an entry gate leading to the boat as staffers yell, “We have to close this.” “Please, we have tickets,” a woman says as a man appears to push her away from the gate.
Fan said she saw three people throw bottles at the ship’s hull. A representative for Skyline Yacht Cruises told The Standard no one threw bottles and claimed police were never called.
The San Francisco Police Department confirmed that officers responded at 10:06 p.m. to a report of a verbal dispute at Embarcadero Street between Howard and Folsom. When officers arrived, they found there had been a pay dispute, and no police assistance was needed, the department said.
Fan, who was among those not allowed to board, said she arrived at Pier 3 seven minutes into the cruise’s 30-minute boarding period.
Because of the overbooking snafu, Fan and 29 other guests for her friend’s birthday party were left behind. Each paid $27 for tickets.
“It was awful,” Fan said. “This was my friend’s 30th birthday party, and she had had a hard week.”
Skyline Yacht Cruises denied overbooking the cruise in an interview and a text message to a passenger that was reviewed by The Standard.
A company representative, who declined to provide a name, claimed that the passengers who were left behind didn’t follow instructions on the Eventbrite page and didn’t show up early enough to board.
“There is a cutoff time. If you aren’t on the boat on time, we have to leave,” the representative said. “We can’t override whatever plans the captain has in place. All we do is sell the tickets and provide music.”
The Eventbrite page said boarding begins at 9 p.m. and ends at 9:30 p.m., and sales are final, with no refunds or exchanges. Fan said the 30-minute boarding period for such a large cruise — there were 452 people aboard, according to the company — is poor planning and bound to result in people being left behind.
Getting 450 people onto a ship in 30 minutes means having someone board every four seconds, with security checking bags.
The ship used for the event, San Francisco Spirit, is meant to carry only 400 passengers, according to the website of operator Hornblower Group, not the 452 who were onboard. The company did not respond to a request for comment.