Princess Monterey Whale Watching Cruises

Seeing the whales first hand is amazing, never experienced anything quite like it. One thing I wish I had known when we set out - BRING A COAT! We traveled to Monterey from Sacramento in July. Back at home the temperature was 105+ so I had no idea how cold it would get out on the water. Hat, jacket and gloves would have been nice. (Sure, the interior of the boat is heated, but I found that most of the whales were out in the water, not inside the boat.) Have fun!

We all enjoyed the excursion, despite the cold weather so if you are considering going be sure to wrap up, it's colder on the water. Staff were informative and moved amongst the crowd answering individual questions. Although we did see whales it wasn't the spectacular sights that you get used to seeing on TV so don't expect that or you will disappointed. I was happy with the numbers that we saw ( about 10/15) and one did come quite close to the boat whcih was exciting. My only criticism would be having bought the tickets online, when I arrived to board I was asked that if I wanted to go on the top deck I would have to pay extra. When you've budgted your trips the extra money does irk!

My family and I thoroughly enjoyed to time aboard the boat to see the whales at sea. We will do it agian very soon.

It was a wonderful experience that we had. I would definately recommend this tour of whale watching.

OVERALL IT WAS A WONDERFUL THING TO DO AND SEE! DAY WAS OVERCAST AND FOGGY BUT CAPTAIN OF THE BOAT KEPT GOING, AND LOOKING, UNTIL HE FOUND THE WHALES. ON A PERSONAL NOTE, I DID EXPERIENCE SOME SEASICKNESS, BUT PEOPLE WORKING ON BOARD WERE VERY HELPFUL IN HAVING ME CHEW THE GINGER CANDY. IT WAS AWE INSPIRING TO SEE THESE ANIMALS IN THE WILD! I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE!! FOR PEOPLE MY AGE, THIS SHOULD BE ON EVERYONES BUCKEY LIST!

Loved seeing the humpbacks up close and seeing them feed

It was July but it was COLD on the water. I had read to wear warm jacket and hat but wished I had worn gloves too. Took Bonine and hour before and had no problems with sea sickness. Saw lots of whales and enjoyed the trip immensely.

The whale watching tour was successful, as we did see several humpback whales, but we did not see any other marine mammals such as the blue whales seen the previous day by the tour. It was worth the experience.

My wife and I have lived on the Monterey Peninsula for nearly 30 years. The Shake Family is known for outstanding restaurants, but it is a little known fact that the eldest brother owns this whale watching business. He and his staff bring the excellent customer service for which is family is known to this fun and educational experience. Once on board the Greatland we found seats along one of the sides of the boat which was a nice place to watch the coastline slip away. And when the bracing breeze got too much we were able to duck inside the heated cabin to warm up and still be able to have a good view. After 30 - 45 minutes we were at the mouth of the undersea canyon and saw our first blue whale. The naturalist on board was able to provide a good background on this great animal and pretty soon everyone aboard was able to quickly spot when the whale was surfacing and where. We stayed with the blue whale for a while, but not long enough to get bored, and then moved on to some humpbacks nearby. Due to the information we had been given earlier, we were able to see the differences between the two types of whales more quickly. After a time with the humpbacks, we again ducked back inside for the warm ride back to the dock. If you want to be able to get warm while on the ocean and have an educational experience this is the way to do it. Also due to the size of the boats, there was minimal wave action on board. The price is right, and the comforts very nice, and the staff are competent and friendly. Another fine example of Shake Family Fine Service.

We did this in July which is not the best month for whale watching but we saw one blue whale and probably two or three humpbacks (or one very active one), would do it again

Thrilling, OH SO COLD! Water was rough but that added to the thrill! It's been a long time since I've bee on a roller coaster and this was GREAT!!! Can't wait to take another trip!

This whale watching trip was awsome! The only sucky part of it was getting sea sick after having some hot chocolate on the boat. We were both fine for the first half then decided to get something warm to drink since it was so cold and after that we were both sick. If..and when..i go back i will stick with water.

We loved our experience. We saw somewhere between 30 - 50 whales. The marine biologist was very informative and helped us to understand all that we were seeing. The crew was professional and very friendly and accommodating. Since we hadn't brought warm jackets with us from the east coast, they lent us some of theirs to make our experience much warmer. We were so happy that we had decided to brave the rough seas.

We had a wonderful outing with sightings of many blue and humpback whales. The crew of the Princess Monterey were attentive and the naturalist made it an informative and educational trip. Great day!!

Was lots of whales on our trip, both blue and humpback whales! Warning if you get sea sick come prepared! Day we went sea pretty rough, lots of people got sea sick.