Because of global warming, the captain explained, gray whales delayed their departure from Alaska to travel to Baja California. We did not see any whales and received a free ticket to return again. We went on Christmas Eve day and whale watching started on the 15th.

Despite all that, we did get a close up on California white-side dolphines and rare brown pelicans. You can't beat the scenary of Mexico coast and San Diego coast from the ocean.

I would definitely return again or bring my out-of-down guests.

It was ok ,We happened to get a day with choppy waters so we saw nothing but it was a fun ride for us.

The cruise was exhilarating. We did spot several whale spouts. However, there was really too much other boat traffic to allow the captain to get us in the area in which the whales were coming up.

The crew, particularly the captain, was knowledgeable and entertaining and the docents were really pleasant. My five year-old great granddaughter got a bit disinterested after awhile and the docent, Uli, brought out whale and dolphin pictures for her to color and from which to do rubbings. She had a good time doing that.

I felt the entire voyage could have been thirty to forty-five minutes shorter. But, it is understandable that, given the distance one must travel to get to a whale-pregnant area, it couldn't really be shortened.

One downside is, they do not allow you to bring food aboard. That was fine except for the fact that the snack bar had about four or five ham-and-cheese, total, on board. Thus, there was really nothing to eat. Full bar though.

We were told we were to have been on another ship that had a fully snack bar with hot food as well as drinks and a gift shop. Also, because pictures were taken of each group prior to embarkation, I did not bother to attempt a group picture on board. However, when we returned to dock, no one was there with to offer the pictures. A real disappointment.

I would take other visitors on the cruise. It was an enjoyable time overall.