Princess Monterey Whale Watching Cruises

I booked a cruise with Princess Monterey Whale Watching in August. They told me that i have could seen many variety of whales and may be any orchas although it was summer . I saw only dolphins and sea lion.. not recommended in summer, may be in winter..

Good overall tour. Was able to see whale within 5 to 10 minutes of arriving at designated location. Saw Blue, Humpback, and Orca Whales.

We were rather unlucky not to see any whales on our first trip, but took advantage of the offer to take a second trip and were rewarded with excellent views of a humpback and blue whale - fantastic

I've never had a problem with motion sickness myself however our whole group opted to take Dramamine prior to our trip knowing that this would be a rocky ride.. all of the adults got sick.. when the boat is moving it's not too bad, but when it stops to try and find the whales the boat rocks horribly (I touched the water from the railing once) and the captain told us the day we went was extraordinarily smooth.. At least 1/2 of the people on board got sick.. As far as the whale watching went, well.. if the captain hadn't told us it was a whale we wouldn't know it, they don't/didn't get close to the ship like pictures on the website show, we saw a nose and a part of the back from a great distance, but it wasn't much.. when we got back to shore we all decided it's not something we'd ever do again.. The staff, captain and ship were all clean, friendly and helpful, it just wasn't what we had expected.

This trip was alright. The captain and the lady who talks through speaker phone sits on top and all the visitors stands at the bottom deck of the boat. So while lady is yelling look at the whale its 42 fit when you stand at the bottom looking at its tail and wondering okayy !!!! They kept showing up sea lions and some birds for 2 hr...we did not see any freakin whale...we were almost going to turn away and then suddenly they spotted dolfins and a hump back whale at a distance. We saw it for 15 min and then had to turn back. I would not go back again at least not with this company.

The trip overall was good, however the boat had to go really far out to see one whale and 3 dolphins...at least we got to see something! However, the bad part was the facilities on board, the toilets were dirty and smelly so my children wouldn't go, so they had to hold it for about two hours...they were miserable!

The Princess boat and crew are a great time! The chance of seeing something is always a gamble, but they certainly do their best to make it happen. We saw a couple humpbacks, some dolphin and an albatross! We recommend light gloves if you plan to stay out on deck. Best to stay inside the boat until you get out a few miles, just to stay warm. It was sunny and 75 when we left the wharf, but it was still overcast and 50 out on the water. Go prepared with layers, sunscreen and chapstick!

We went on the Princess boat which was one level. The afternoon was windy and the ocean was choppy. The boat ride was great fun, lots of splashing, rocking and rolling. But not recommended for those with motion problems. We saw a group of dolphins jumping and riding the waves from our wake which was terrific. The problem came when we found a whale. The whale was on the other side of the boat and it was a brief encounter so we did not see him. This occurred at the 1 and 1/2 hour point so we had to go back. We took another trip the next morning and went on the bigger boat and paid extra to go to the upper deck. The sea was calmer and the whales gave quite a show and we were able to see everything since we were looking down and not at wave level as on the previous day. But no dolphins as it was very foggy and I guess they didn't feel like playing. Bottom line - I would recommend going in the morning on the bigger boat if whales are your goal. AND go in June or July don't wait until August!

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My 16 year-old daughter & myself went on the whale watching trip with the hope of seeing some whales but with the realistic expectation that we might not. The weather was not good the morning we went out & was quite foggy and the sea 'bouncy'. The boat was really comfortable & warm and the marine biologist on board gave an informative running commentary throughout the entire trip. Despite the poor weather conditions we did see two humpback whales (a mother & calf) harbour porpoises, sea lions & an albatross, which made the entire trip worthwhile. I think the only reason we did see the whales was because of the perserverance of the crew and their contact with other whale watching trips out at the same time, otherwise we would have been disappointed. Overall a very enjoyable & memorable experience.