| Rating |
Date Attended [v] |
Reviewer |
Gender |
Age |
Where From? |
Group Type? |
 |
Great Trip |
| |
Sat, Jun 16, 07 10:00 AM |
fgillespie |
Female |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| |
My husband and I went for the first time to see the whales and boy were we thoroughly impressed.We had good cool weather,the whales came right up to the boat several times.It was not too crowed and the accommodations were good.I would advise anyone to take a trip on the Princess!!! The whole staff was very friendly and made for an enjoyable trip. |
 |
Well worth the time and money spent. |
| |
Fri, Jun 15, 07 1:30 PM |
SGrabau |
Female |
20-29 |
Combination |
Family Without Children |
| |
I took my Mom (visiting from WI) down to Monterey for whale watching on the Princess Monterey. We went on a Friday, so the packed "Weekend Crowds" were not en force.
Our trip was originally scheduled for 4:30, but was changed to the 1:30 trip when low attendance and choppy water cancelled the 4:30 trip. I received a phone call from the staff at about 10 am the day of the cruise, to tell me we'd been put on the 1:30 trip. We rushed down to Monterey (from SF) and made it in time for the cruise.
Plenty of parking, although it is a bit confusing. You can either use quarters in the meters or purchase a ticket from a little shack on the east side of the parking lot. The cruise leaves from the pier closer to the ocean (there are two piers at Old Fishermans' Wharf).
They usually have 1 of 4 naturalists on each boat, but there was not one present for our trip. Our captain told us a lot about the whales, however, in sort of a random fashion throughout the trip.
We went out about 8 miles into the ocean, total, and it WAS pretty choppy, with big swells -- my Mom actually found out she loved that and was one of only 4 people who stayed out front the whole time :) Those prone to queasy stomachs headed to the back of the boat.
We saw whales :) Mostly backs & a few tails -- they were definitely there, but not playing around too much. The whales are in the area to feed, and they were down to business that day.
It was really cool to see the whales up close -- just a few hundred feet away -- and the boat ride itself was very neat. We had thick fog roll in, which made it a little chilly -- especially after being splashed by the swells over the boat! |
|
Fun Stuff! |
| |
Fri, Jun 15, 07 1:30 PM |
MHarris |
Female |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Individual |
| |
My husband & I had a great time.! It was a good ride on the open water, fresh air, & enough of rolling water to make things interesting! We did see a few whales as well (although briefly, they weren't being very "showy" this day), and the captain had a good arsenal of facts about the various species and their traits for us.
There were some people on the boat who entertained us as well, as they were very unprepared for the trip in terms of having proper footware (which are NOT flip-flops or clog-type shoes!). Some were wearing shorts, and didn't even bring even jackets! We enjoyed the trip, and are glad we were prepared & recommend others do likewise!
M.H.
Mesa, AZ |
|
very enjoyable for all ages |
| |
Thu, Jun 14, 07 1:30 PM |
ShelleyReddy |
Female |
30-39 |
Local |
Family With Children |
| |
Hi. My parents and 2 nephews (15 & 9 years old) came out to visit me and we decided to take the whale watching cruise. It was a wonderful experience for all of us! I was hoping to see more than just Humpbacks, but they were wonderful none-the-less. I would highly reccommend this to anyone looking for something new and exciting to do. |
|
Professional and Great Central Coast Knowledge |
| |
Thu, Jun 14, 07 10:00 AM |
tlaws0n |
Male |
30-39 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family With Children |
| |
This was our first trip to the Central Coast and this was also our first venture out into the bay. No fault of the crew, the swells were a little much for my 5 year old after the first 20 minutes or so. He did love it up until then. Beside that, the trip was wonderful. We saw 4 humpback whales and a jelly fish. Our naturalist guide was great! We learned an incredible amount of history of the area and the description of what we were experiencing out in the bay was top notch. Thanks for a wonderful experience!
|
|
Great experience |
| |
Wed, Jun 13, 07 10:00 AM |
stuart47 |
Unspecified |
Unspecified |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family With Children |
| |
The crew was skilled and courteous, and the naturalist on board was very knowledgeable. We saw several humpbacks. It was a great way to spend a morning. |
|
nice experience |
| |
Tue, Jun 12, 07 10:00 AM |
eriksen |
Male |
30-39 |
International Tourist(s) |
Individual |
| |
. |
 |
A complete waste of money and time :-( |
| |
Sun, Jun 10, 07 1:30 PM |
idontwant2 |
Female |
30-39 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Unspecified |
| |
Bad service is the perfect way to describe Princess Monterey Whale Watching company. Bad service because this company only has one boat operator and when we arrived with our tickets in hand we were told by the "owner" Benji " sorry, but my only boat operator has the flu so we had to cancel your trip". If this company really cared about the satisfaction of their customers they would have a back up boat operator. Instead we were given no choice by Benji who sounded like this was common practice and told us to come in the next day for the cruise. Wow! It's amazing how the only boat operator with the flu made a full recover in less then 24 hours. So we return the next day ( paid another day's worth of parking ) and boarded the boat. On this company's website they state that ALL their boat narrators "have more then 10 years experience" as marine biologists. This is totally false because our female narrator could not have been more then 25 years old which means she was a marine biologist and or narrating when she was 15 years old! On the cruise she wasnt very informative at all. She spoke for no more then 30 minutes on our 3 hour tour ( maybe she also had the flu ). We witnessed ( 2 ) whale sightings ( just their tails ) and that lasted for only about 30 seconds. The rest of the cruise we saw ducks, ducks and more ducks. I would never use nor recommend this company ever again. Not because we didn't get a chance to see more then 30 seconds of whales but because of the poor customer service mentioned above. |
|
Saw whales but trip seemed short |
| |
Sun, Jun 10, 07 10:00 AM |
elbimmer |
Female |
20-29 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| |
The other operator runs a trip that is an hour longer. However, the boat was modern and clean. The crew was professional. Overall, an 8 out of 10. |
 |
wasn't to impressed |
| |
Sun, Jun 10, 07 10:00 AM |
scoot7070 |
Male |
20-29 |
Unspecified |
Couple on a Date |
| |
i was hoping to see a lot more than we did. we really didn't get a good look at the whales. we only saw the top of the backs of them and a couple tail shots. it was better then not seeing them at all but we wanted to see more. i know there is no way to predict what they are going to do but as far out as we went (10 miles) we were hoping to see more of them. i would recommend it just for an experience but that is it. i wouldn't go again. |
