Princess Monterey Whale Watching Cruises

The whale watching was fantastic both from an organisational and whale spotting position. When we arrived our booking was confirmed, the staff were very enthusiastic, especially the lady that spoke knowledgably about the whales throughout the trip. Absolutley recommend it.

Plus: view of the Monterey coast and time on the water Minus: did not see any whales up-close; boat overcrowded; marine biologist spoke non-stop on the loudspeaker for most of the trip; crew did not provide instructions on remediating sea sickness

very happy with the enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff. Saw more whales than expected and had a wonderful time with my family.

When you check in you are told that there is an additional $20 fee to use the upper deck. Well, everyone pays then it is more crowded than the lower deck. Also, unlike other whale watch trips I have been on where they make sure both sides of the boat have a chance to see the whales, the captain of this boat not only kept the whales on one side but turned the boat so that the whales were pretty much only in the 12 o'clock to 3 o'clock position. If you made the mistake of choosing the wrong side of the boat when you got on, you had to look over the heads of three row of people. Often the whales couldn't be seen because the pilothouse was in the way. There were many unhappy folks near the stern and on the port side of the boat.

We saw 3 blue whales at the surface at the same time. This was a once in a life time event. Humpback whales were feeding - up close and personnel -and there were hundreds of birds. It was great!

It was a great tour. Our boat and some others went out at the same time riding parallel and saw some Killer Whales. Not long after spotting the whales the other boats turned back. We continued to search for the Killer Whales again and found them. They were a rare treat and our boat made it so we could enjoy it longer than the other boats. After the Killer Whales we found Hump Back Whales and other animals along the way. Another plus was that our boat was a lot larger than all of the others. The other boats were straight fishing boats and ours was more like a fairy type boat. Staff and crew were very caring and great!!! I didn't take a trip with any other boats, but just comparing it from what I saw, I wouldn't even try the other tours.

Superb! Boat was comfortable with plenty of space (restrooms clean and snacks available). Crew was omnipresent, friendly and knowledgable. Saw many whales of several varieties and at close proximity. Marine biologist narration really added to the experience. We took anti-motion sickness pills prior to event and felt great the entire time! Recommend doing this even if you aren't nornally prone to motion sickness. Some on the tour didn't do this and were queasy when the seas became a bit choppy. Whale sightings made up for all of that. They were beautiful!

My wife and I had a great time on the whale watching tour. We were lucky to have a beautiful day for the cruise. We spotted about about 6 pods of whales during the trip. I think it is well worth going on the cruise as along as the weather is nice. Don't waste your money on renting binoculars. They are not very useful.

First off I like this company. Have used them before and will probably use them again. The bay was extremely rough which I thought was fun as I'm an ocean man. However most of the people on our tour were older and were either throwing up or hanging on for dear life and were not able to walk to get to the rails for viewing. I would say 90% of the tour was complaining they would never go on this tour again as the company should have told them how rough the bay was. My point is the tour operators should have told people in advance about conditions. Most likely they would have eventually gotten their business. Now however I would say these folks won't be returning and will spread negative word of mouth. Its not like the operators didn't know about the rough water as their morning tour had just returned and they are also in contact with other operators. Hated to see a ruined trip for so many on what is usually very enjoyable. Shortsighted on operators part to grab the money and throw their reputation into the wind.

Warm reception when we checked in. Offered free coffee and snack and given current information from recent trips and activity. We were also given opportunity to watch a video in the warmth of the ticket office. They really made us feel welcome. Captain gave us a safety briefing on shore and off we went. Crew mate was very friendly and it was a beautiful ride out into the pacific. Unfortunately the whales were swimming to a beat of a different drum and we only spotted three from afar. From our position they looked more like logs. On the way back we spotted three porpoise which I see all the time from our home in Santa Cruz but the kids on the trip enjoyed. The boat was very clean, captain gave it a good try to find whales and if anything I enjoyed my time out on the water.