Princess Monterey Whale Watching Cruises

VERY small boat+ Way too many people+ Way too few whales=Hell on the high seas

Enjoyed our trip thoroughly. After seeing the other boats in the bay that were doing tours the Princess Monterey was by far the nicest. The crew was very frienly and informative. Overall a good trip and I would definitely recommend it.

We had a great time. But if you go, be realistic. This isn't Seaworld, so whales aren't going to come up to the boat or anything. To me, it was more exciting seeing them off in the distance in their natural habitat. Also make sure to wear really warm clothing - it's cold out there. Several people were seasick - if you're prone to that, be warned that it's not a smooth ride. It's the Pacific Ocean, people. You're going to be bouncing around on waves, even though the captain tried to keep it to a minimum. The crew were very competent and caring to those who were sick, though.

The boat seemed much smaller than described and upon boarding guests were told not to worry there would be plenty of seating for everyone outside which very much not true. I was also very bothered when i saw a women so sick she couldn't feel her hands, get herself to a garbage, which looked very difficult. What bothered me was it was apparent she could barely move and a male staff member, rather than help her repeatedly yelled at her "over the rail!" I could not believe how he treated her!! He was ridiculous, i was ready to yell at him myself!

Don't underestimate how cold it gets on the water! Take a jacket, sneakers, gloves, and a snug hat. And wear sunscreen on your face! Even though it was 58 degrees (on shore) we still ended up with sunburns! Now, all that aside, the whale watching was fun. My husband, siblings, and I wanted to take my mother since she'd never been on a boat. She had a great time. We saw several whale's blowing, though it was difficult to see much more of the whales than that. We did get to see a whale tail though and ofcourse some sea lions too. We were all very glad we decided on the Princess tour rather than the longer trips. At 2 1/2 hrs it was long enough to get out far enough to see the whales, any longer would have been too much since many people on the boat were suffering from nausea - most of our party included. Take some gingersnaps or peppermints and be prepared to share. Glad we finally did this activity!

It was a great trip - we saw many whales blowing and gliding in the waters - what marvelously big creatures they were! and some seals swimming near the boat too. We all felt somewhat seasick and toward the end of the trip, wished it were a shorter trip. Staff were great as they went around checking in on the passengers, and advised us to stay cool (as opposed to keeping too warm) and to take some ginger candy to get relief from the motion sickness. Overall inspite of our motion sickness, we still highly recommend this fun adventure!

Quite an unforgettable experience. Highly recommend it.

It was a lot of fun and the guides were informative, helpful & nice as were the other cruisers. We all embarked and disembarked quickly and orderly. Saw humpbacks and blue whales. Very awe inspiring. I recommend this excursion. Lots of sea lions to see along the pier as well. Went to Cannery Row afterwards, very nice shopping and food.

The person giving the oration of the tour said before we boarded and shortly after boarding that the boat would keep rotating so everyone would be able to view the whales, but the majority (I would say at least 75%) of the time was spent with whale visibility at 11:00. For senior citizens like myself, it was difficult to try and manuever side to side or back to front and vice versa when we were told to stay put and the boat would rotate - didn't happen. My other complaint on this particular boat was visibility at the front was severly limited by virtue of that extension (don't know what it is called, but where harpooning would take place) in the front blocked the view. Seeing other boats in the area with people having full visibility at the front of the boat just exacerbated the situation. Seeing the number of blue whales was exciting and not an everyday occurance and that I appreciated. I have been on quite a few whale watches (not only in Monterey), and I would go on another whale sighting excursion in a heartbeat, but not on this boat ever again.

With my friends from out of town and visiting for the weekend, we wanted to pick certain activities that really showed Monterey off. This whale watching fromt he Princess Monterey was exactly the type of experience we were looking for. And along with the crew, pilot, and naturalist being extremely professional and courteous, the whales we saw were fascinating and numerous. Thank you for the wonderful experience, and I will definitely recommend the Princess Monterey to my friends and family in the future.