American Princess Cruises

I used to work for a whale watching company in California. So ive been on whale watching trip a lot.
This company has a friendly crew. The boat is clean. BUT… some info from the naturalist if wrong. Which sucks for people who are new to this. Besides that it was a lovely trip. Being from California it was a little chilly for me.

The whale watching cruise was wonderful and the crew was terrific! Being that you’re out on the water for the entire afternoon, I would not recommend bringing children. It’s a long day for them. Can’t wait to do this again!

Just went on the Whale & Dolphin Watching Tour and it was wonderful! I found out about this place via Groupon, made the reservations online, showed up today and presented my phone and that was it. Getting on board was easy, especially showing up at the last minute we were still able to find nice seats outside. Halfway through the cruise, I was afraid we weren’t going to see anything but the captain took us to a spot where they’d seen humpback whales the day before, and sure enough there they were! It was just so fun and relaxing, we really enjoyed ourselves.
Tips:
–Get there early and stand at the very front of the boat, you’ll have the best view there as most times the captain is following the whales.
–Find the Groupon!
–Bring sandwiches, there’s a small shop on board but it’s mainly Cheetos and beer.
–Binoculars.

Really well managed operation. Could anyone who captured the whale breaching today please post the pictures up? Thanks!

Had a great time abroad the American Princess. We bought a groupon for whale watching. Though we didn’t see any marine animals during our day at sea, the experience was definitely worth it. The crew and captain were all very knowledgeable and friendly.
Otherwise the boat is pretty runned down in need of a fix. Long wooden booth stretch the mid section of the bottom deck, with a simple concession stand offering snacks while on the boat. Top deck is open, offering 360 views of the waters. Had it not been for the stormy weather, I’m sure we would’ve seen something during the 3 hour long trip.

I went on the Seal & Bird watching tour with my son. It was really fun.
My best recommendations to you would be bring a towel just in case, you may get sprayed just a bit and also bring a jacket because it’s a little chilly on the water even in the warmer months. If you plan on taking photos bring a good zoom lens. The seals seem really close but when you try to photo they are barely visible.
The tour ran for a few hours and we took some awesome photos. We did manage to spot some Seals. Not as many birds as we’d hoped but that’s okay.
I will definitely return on another one of their excursions.

A whale of a good time! Crew was informed and friendly. We saw a pod of dolphins to start and then after a couple hours found a humpback! The crew was very willing to follow leads and bring the ship a few miles out of the way. It was worth it when we stumbled upon the whale! A nice day out on the water!

There is not much to say apart from the fact that I truly fell in love with this mode of transport to get to Rockaway Beach. Ok, so they do only go to Jacob Riis Landing/​Fort Tilden, but what better way to get really away from it all???
And I rather spend my time on an hour long boat ride out in the open than on the subway or the train to get to the beach. The round trip ticket for 30 $ seems steep to some, but you get to see the city skyline and Coney Island like you have never seem before — it’s an experience not to be missed!

I got a voucher for the seal cruise through TravelZoo, but never got to use it. Why? American Princess kept cancelling my reservation! I’d get an email the day before from Groupon that my reservation had been cancelled and the tour was now at a different time and I’d have to make a new reservation. Two tries and I gave up. I paid $ 30 and never made it on a boat.

On yesterday’s cruise, we saw 2 whales and a big pod of dolphins! So gorgeous and stunning. Great experience. Crew is so nice. Water was very choppy, so if you ever get motion sickness, take your Dramamine before getting on the boat.

I’ve gone on about 5 trips with American Princess and have had great dealings with them. Captain does his very best to find the whales — gets all the passengers involved to find whales &/​or dolphins. Went September 15^th 2013 with my brother Tommy & my bestest Desi and we got to see a Humpback whale searching for food. A sight to behold! :-)

Ok, I don’t WANT to write a 3-​star review, i really don’t. Cause I don’t want these guys to go away. Going out on a boat for a day with the mere possibility of seeing whales is pretty cool. And, it dragged me to the Rockaways, which is pretty cool and landed me on an adventure of swimming and eating on the water. BUT, I have to write a review based on what actually happened.
The staff and crew are awesome. They were helpful with reservations and directions and once on the boat.
However, today the water was choppy and we were out for only an hour before people started to get sick. I’ve never been sea sick. My son hasn’t ever spent time on a boat before. We were both sick to our stomachs. Four people threw up and the garbage was being passed around inside where people could get sick.
Finally, we were told there would be no whales and we couldn’t get to the spot they intended so they were heading back. We were given a free voucher for use this year or next. I’ll be damned if I’ll ever get my kid to agree to go again though. Bummer. I just wish they’d noted the conditions earlier to avoid so many sick passengers.

I don’t mean to compare seals to children. Something tells me seals don’t yell at their parents, «I hate you! I wish I was never born!» Or that seals nag their parents, «but I want to eat sour patch kids for breakfast. Yes, they are healthy, they are. Look, some of them are yellow like corn or green like spinach». But seals do have the unfortunate coincidence of resembling human little ones in that if you ask them to come out of the water, they simply refuse. «Just one more minute, Ma [turns into two hours]. It doesn’t matter that I’m actually 5 but starting to look like a wrinkly yet moist 105 year old!» I’m well aware that seal’s, as opposed to childrens, natural habitat is the sea. However, seals do occasionally come out of the water and sit on rocks to sun themselves. They did not when I went on a seal-​watching tour on American Princess Cruises a few months ago. I was notably dissapointed, however, through no fault of the cruise company.
I did get to see the top of their heads and sometimes their face from a distance. And as our informative and friendly naturalist on board who provided us seafarers with aquatic factoids explained, going on the cruise is part of an adventure of discovery. And it’s relaxing and the cruise company makes the experience easy. We arrived at their parking lot which was just a few feet from the dock. We went straight on board and quickly worked out our voucher redemption. From thereon, it was smooth sailing (hyuck, hyuck, hyuck).

You can rely on the staff at American Princess Cruises to try very hard to make sure that you see something. As a prior reviewer mentioned — there is a ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ chance that you will see a whale. Dolphins on the other hand are a lot easier. However rest assured that the staff will work hard to spot one and to make sure that you have a nice relaxing educational experience. There’s a wonderful woman onboard who explains the different species found in this area. She gives a nice powerpoint presentation on whales and has a few sea creatures to show the kids. Overall we had a great time even though we only saw a few dolphins.

I went on the seal watching cruise, as it sounded like something different and interesting to do. Seals in Brooklyn – who knew? We took a ride past Coney Island to a small island that the seals take over for part of the year. The crew was very friendly and shared a lot of info about the different types of seals that have been spotted in the area. We were out on the water for a while, at least an hour to see the seals and take pictures and video. It is a fun thing for both adults and kids. It was a nice way to spend an afternoon.

Took a bird and seal watching cruise. This was a lot of fun. They take you on their boat to a few small islands south of the Verazzano bridge. The boat can hold probably 100 people tops. There’s a small galley that sells simple snacks and Budweiser. The crew was endearing and strangely Boston-​ish. There weren’t any seals above ground, and the few seals that peaked their heads out of the water didn’t come close to the boat. I suppose you can’t fault them for that. My girlfriend got terribly sea sick at the end when the boat went fast. All in all, this was a fun and different experience.