Princess Monterey Whale Watching Cruises

My husband and I with our two sons (age 13 and 15) had a great time on our cruise. We saw humpback and blue whales, one swam within 25 yds of the boat, What a wonderful experience! It was really something to see! Will do it again! The crew on the boat were very good and attentive, the guide was very knowledgeable and provided us with alot of information about sea life.

More whales than usually were seen.

This was an enjoyable trip though we did not really see many whales (obviously not the company's fault), not did we get as close as we had visualised. One complaint was that the PA system was inadequate as we were unable to hear any of the commentary. The directions to the pier were also inadeqate and the description of the building did not help us. Fortunately, we managed to find it anyway.

The naturist was very knowledgeable in both explaining marine mammal behavior as well as giving the clues as to where a whale would surface. We saw several humpbacks and one blue whale. The highlight was when one of the humpbacks did a back flop not far from the boat!

Saw a number of humpback whales (small pods). Captain was able to get fairly close to the pods. Would definitely recommend spending the extra money to go up to the upper deck. Wasn't as crowded and good vantage point for looking for whales. Saw some smaller boats out in the waves and they appeared to be tossed around quite a bit. The 75 foot boat was a good size to handle some of the bigger waves. Would recommend tour and will go again in the fall to see different whates.

My friend and I had a great time as the boat rose and sank with the choppy water and we looked out for whales. I anticipated seeing blue whales as well as humpbacks and, perhaps, some dolphins or otters (in part because some women from the earlier tour ranted and raved about all they had seen). After an hour or so, though, I feared the only whales we were going to see were in the signs on land. Then, we saw one whale. Shortly afterward, we saw another. Then, we saw a consistent stream of humpbacks, including a momma and calf. While we saw two dolphins and one otter, we never did see any blues. That said, we had a great time and I would do it again without hesitation. Thanks to the tour guide, I now have a better knowledge of what whales are in the bay during what months and the best times to see them.

When our group arrived to board the boat we were surprised that an additional $10.00 was required if we wanted to sit atop the boat for viewing. This has never been our experience with other boat trips we've booked. That was a let down having only half the boat available to us. Most importantly is we saw whales, lots of whales! That was exciting. The guide did a good job spotting the whales and telling us all the essential habits, history, of the whales and other informative trivia. The day we were whale watching the waves were rough and high. Even with dramamine, I still got sea sick. My recommendation is to stay outside and look beyond the horizon if you get sick! Overall I'd recommend the trip especially if you've never been out before.

We have always talked about going, so glad we did. 8 of us, 3 kids under 7. Everyone loved it, 2 of the kids got a little seasick, but still really enjoyed the trip. Saw humpback and blue whales. Staff was great, walked around checking on everyone.

My boyfriend and I booked the tour last-minute when we were passing through Monterey on a road-trip, and we were so happy we did! We went on the 9 am tour, got there about 15 minutes early (even then a lot of the "good" seats were taken, so you might want to get there early). We saw some kind of whale immediately (so quick that the announcer wasn't prepared yet), a blue whale (we even saw it come up out of the water while feeding, so we saw its mouth), 3 different species of dolphins, several humpbacks including a couple of mothers and babies, lots of jellyfish in the water, sea lions, lots of sea birds... it was incredible. The marine biologist on board was very knowledgeable and did a great job. I don't have any complaints at all, the company was terrific. Take some kind of motion-sickness medication (take 2 if it's an option, even if you don't think you'll get sick-- better to be safe than sorry, there were a few very unhappy people on the boat). It was cold even though we were out on the water on a fairly warm day, so definitely bring a good jacket and I would recommend a hat and gloves as well. If we're ever back in Monterey, we would definitely go with Princess to go whale watching again.

I loved the trip and love seeing the whales. Things that would make it better include having less people on the boat so it would be easier to move around and getting closer to the whales. Other than that, clean boat, great guide, friendly staff.