Princess Monterey Whale Watching Cruises

I loved it. It was a great experience. I took my 11 yr.old and 7 yr. old grandsons. The 7 year old had a wonderful, fun time. The 11 yr. old got a little motion sickness and did not enjoy the ride at all. But that's him - he has always had motion sickness problems since he was a child. The person who talked was wonderful in explaining everything to us. She was a very joyful, enthusiastic person. The other help on board were very caring, and attentive to us at all times. It was a great crew to be with. I could do this trip over and over - I enjoyed it so much. I loved it.

This was the first time we went whale watching out of Monterey Bay. My wife and I were celebrating our 31st wedding anniversary and decided to go on this trip as part of our vacation. We weren't first timers as we have been on two trips out of Santa Barbara and one out of Morro Bay and this trip was in the top two of our short list with Morro Bay being a horror story. The first thing we noticed was that many of the people obviously hadn't read the additional information provided when booking the trip. There were people who wore flip flops, without jackets and no hats. These are all essential things for your survival. One thing that is also needed for survival is BODINE in case the seas are rough...common sense should come in here especially if you haven't ever been out to sea before. When we left the dock, it was a nice calm warm day. By the time we got into the open sea, the day was cool, windy and seas were rough. This caused a lot of people to be very miserable without going into great details. FOR EVERYONES SAKE, TAKE BODINE! After what seemed like forever, we started seeing the tell tale spouts that told us we were getting close. In time, we saw about a dozen humpback whales but none really close. We saw a couple of breeches in the distance and tale flukes to go along with the other stuff. The only disappointment was that by the time we had gotten to the whales, we had burned up a good portion of the trip and couldn't hang out as long as we had wanted. This is where their 4 hour trip would be very beneficial for those that want to enjoy the sight of these creatures longer. We were extremely pleased with the captain's handling of the boat in the rough seas, the information provided by the naturalist who was great, and the two crew mates who kept an eye on everyones well being that sometimes they should get hazard pay for. We enjoyed this trip very much and will go with the Princess Monterey again.

The Princess Monterey is comfortable (for a whale watch vessel) and the crew was attentive and helpful. The tour guide was initially a little "over-enthusiastic " but we learned a great deal from her and appreciated her experience and knowledge. About 25 humpback whales were spotted, many quite close to the boat. We even got a good look at a whale's face, eye and barnacles - right next to the bow! The antics of the sea lions were also fun to observe. There were many species of sea birds including an albatross! The weather was perfect but the ocean swells were enough to make some folks seasick. So take your dramamine the night before if you are prone to seasickness and make sure you bring enough warm clothes. It was warm at the dock but very cold out on the ocean. WE LOVE WHALES! THANKS PRINCESS MONTEREY!!!

First things first- they recommend that you arrive 30 minutes before departure. In our case that would have been a bit excessive but if a large number are on the same tour that mnuch time may be needed. Don't arrive 5 minutes prior to departure like we did or you'll miss some of the intro! The departure point is easy to find. There's a large car park right at the end of the pier and you can't miss the signs for the tours. We chose the longer tour as it promised a wider varitey of marine life- and we weren't disappointed, although you can still see plenty of varitey on the other tours. After about 3 1/2 hours I was ready to start heading back but that's only due to the 6 foot swell. That doesn't look very bad but if you're prone to motion sickness it can start to feel bad quite quickly! Taking something to combat motion sickness is a MUST if you suffer from it even a little. I'd assume the swell could easily be better or worse than for us so it's better to be safe than sorry- or to watch the fish rather than feed them! I'd strongly recomend sunblock too- even on cloudy days. I wore it but forgot my forehead, which got a serious roasting! Our tour guide said she has been working on tours for something like 15 years and informed us that she's never had a day where they've seen nothing, so it's extremely unlikely that you'll be disappointed. At one point a humpback whale surfaced no more than 15 feet from the boat- most impressive! A warning though- whales have really bad breath! The ride out can be a little bumpy depending on the swell, but a good 2 hours is spent idling in different locations, just watching the whales. We only saw one pair of dolphins later in the tour but there were plenty of seals and sea lions in the same locations as the whales. The ride back to the coast tends to be smoother than the ride out too. All in all, if you're going to Monterey to take one of the tours I'd recommend the longer of the 2. If you want to see Marine life why not take the time to see as much as possible? It's well worth the cost even if you get sea sick. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and will remember it for a long time to come.

only negative was the incredible loudness of the PA system...the docent had some good stuff to say, but it was way too loud, and there was no place to escape it except the front of the boat and all the seats were taken there. my wife and I stood at the bow on the trip back to avoid the ear-splitting...we would have preferred to sit,

we all thoroughlt enjoyed our trip. We were right along side hump back whales watching a mother and baby , and then the baby played around for ages. The dolphins were amazing swimmimg under the boat and able to see 3 different sorts at once - absolutelt fantastic!!

The whale watching has been very little, only few tails from a long distance. I would not do it again.

This was a special treat for my myself and my sister and my nephew. They had never seen whales before and I was so excited that we actually saw them upclose. The staff was very knowledable. The seas were rocking and the weather was cold. But it did not keep us from being excited to be where we were at that moment. Great time had by all!

This was a one of a kind experience. This Whale Watching Cruise had a marine biologist on-board that was fantastic. She was great with people, funny and very knowledgeable. When whales were sighted it was often difficult to define who was more excited. She definitely loved her job and made it a great experience for our family. We saw about 20 humbacks and were able to get within 100yards. It was quite cold for mid-July, but worth it. I'd advise taking the necessary pills to stave off sea sickness. We were out for the full 2.5 hrs and the seas were rolling pretty good. There were a few green faces by the halfway point. But a small price to pay to see these magnificent creatures in their natural surroundings.

This was our second whale watching trip. The experience was awesome! The whales (humpbacks) were breathtaking, to say the least! The naturalist/marine biologist was not only extremely knowledgeable, but very energectic, which was awesome! It was well worth the money, which I thought was incredibly reasonable.

My family (including two children age 13 and 10) and I thoroughly enjoyed our trip out on the ocean to see the whales. It was such fun and the guide/staff was very informative and quite entertaining. We were very lucky to see four whales which surrounded our boat and another boat near us. I suppose your can either be lucky or not on the day but we were certainly very lucky to see these beautiful mammals so close.

It was a hazy Sunday morning trip when we joined the Princess Cruise. Large group of people got on board in short order, and off we went. Quite a swell so there were a few green faces (and consequent food for fish), but when we got out to sea and the whales were spotted, everything seemed to become calmer. We had a pod of 4 swimming around us and another boat, and everyone had a good chance to take a photo or 30. Overall a very successful, and recommended, boat trip. Hints: yes it can be cool offshore so wrap-up / take whatever coats or oilskins you took to California with you. - Don't eat a big greasy breakfast before getting on board. - Keep an eye out for the cool birdlife on the ocean, and the sealions flapping their flippers as if they were snoozing on a mid-ocean raft.

The trip proved to be one of the best per our guide as we saw as many as 25 humpbacks over the course of the trip. Most notable was the pod of 4 whales that circled our boat for about 30min offering excellent upclose views. We would highly recommend the trip to others, one other advantage was the large ship size compared to many other, which minimized the sometimes rough sea.

First of all, I want to thank the crew who were patiently waiting for our group as we were running a bit late. They could have set off without us but they did waited for us. That is a really nice gesture. We have never seen whales before and this trip is really amazing. We were very lucky because there were two humpback whales that came really close to our boat. I could almost touch them from the boat. The two whales were very curious about us and they did many flips infront of us and blew their top too. That is really an incredible feeling to watch the whales from such a close distance. I highly recommend anyone who is interested to watch whales to go on the Princess Monterey.

We saw several groups of humpback whales. A mother and calf were close and we were able to observe them for ~45 minutes. It was amazing. The calf was curious about a fellow tour boat and got up close and personal with that boat. The calf even breached out of the water once. We saw the other whales from a further distance. The guide was very knowledgable and entertaining. She seemed as excited as us. My boyfriend was disappointed that we didn't see any other wildlife (besides sea lions) while out on the cruise but the humpback whales were enough for me:)