Princess Monterey Whale Watching Cruises

I heard that there were more than a typical number of whales in the bay this year, and I'd never been whale watching, so I decided to go with my Dad. The Wharf was a little hard for us to find, but once we did we were able to park and easily walk to the building to check-in. The boat left a little late that day, so we waited for a while outside of the dock. I think we must have gone on a particularly windy day because the ride was really rocky! I spent most of the time holding on tight to the railings, and got pretty queasy toward the end. But, seeing the amazing blue and humpback whales surrounding our boat was worth it.

We saw tons of humpback whales and one blue whale....It was cold, but fun. The tour guide even said that she had never seen as many whales at the same time as she did on that day.

Going out on Monterey Bay to see the whales is always a treat. Our decent was very knowledgable and was very busy calling out the locations of all the whales around us. It was a very rough day on the water, with 6 to 7 foot swells, but that's not something our tour host could control. We had a safe time, if a little uncomfortable with all the heavy wave activity. We'll be back!

We enjoyed the outing. The naturalist on board added much to the experience. We enjoyed looking at whales backs and spray. It would have been better if we could see more of their body and tail. The large, choppy waves made viewing the whales more challenging. It's a gamble on what you may see. We followed instructions and did not get sick unlike at least 3 others around us who did.

The guides were informative and clearly enjoyed doing what they do. We found the boat to be comfortable and the company's website was furthermore clearly organized and provided useful tips of what to bring. All in all, recommended!

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.

The whale watching cruise was very good. All the staff were very professional and knowledgable. It was a great time!!

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.