Whale Dolphin and Bird Watching Ecotour Cruise

NEVER AGAIN! Rude Staff + Rocky Ride! I stand strongly by my one star review. Why Did I take the time to write this? This review is compilation of a back-and-forth that I’ve had with the owner/captain Matt on two other platforms and in a phone conversation. I’ve never ever left a review on three platforms before for a company. I took the time because I’ve never felt so disrespected by a business owner before. I also wanted to share my experience across multiple platforms so there is a clear record of my experience and review and that he won’t try to be so dismissive of others in the future. What is particularly disappointing about the owner’s responses on two other platforms (G and Y) prior to this is that they redirect attention away from my actual complaint. The Original Complaint I will state my actual complaint again. My complaint was, and still remains, about customer service (Kathy), the rocky ride, what I personally witnessed aboard the vessel, and the way the owner (Captain Matt) subsequently spoke to me as a paying customer. I never, ever criticized the qualifications of the naturalist, the marine science program (see photo the Captain has a lot of knowledge), or the wildlife we saw. In fact, I specifically praised Dan (tipped him $5) and the wildlife. I want to address a few things. 1. The owner states I hung up on him. Yes, I ended the telephone call. What the owner leaves out is why I ended it. At first, he wouldn’t allow me to speak. During that conversation, Captain Matt told me that my review made him “sick to his stomach” and accused me of “bashing” his company. His tone became increasingly aggressive, and I made the decision to end a conversation that I no longer considered productive or professional. 2. Elderly Customer Regarding the elderly passenger with a cane, I know exactly what I personally witnessed. I watched an elderly woman with a cane become very sick. I asked Kathy (husband veteran staff member) for assistance, and Kathy yelled at me, “I’m moving as fast as I can!” and continue saying inaudible things to her coworker. Another passenger initially gave the elderly woman her own fountain drink cup because she needed something to vomit into. The elderly woman’s daughter then expressed to me that she was also shocked by the way Kathy responded to me. Please see the photos of other people that had the same experience as I did with Kathy. Whether employees assisted passengers at other points during the trip does not erase that interaction. Both things can be true. Crew members may have assisted passengers during the cruise, and I can still have experienced an unnecessarily rude interaction while trying to get help for someone. The owner also emphasizes that I personally did not become seasick. That is correct, and I never claimed that I did. I go on boat rides all the time. My partner was sick. Approximately 15 other passengers appeared to become seasick, some were vomiting, and my partner spent essentially the entire excursion inside because he was so ill. Please see the photos of passengers who also complained about being seasick. This was after taking Dramamine, which was given to us by a nice passenger. For him, this experience was a waste of money. I booked this experience for him. The fact that I personally did not vomit does not somehow make what I witnessed irrelevant. 3. A 5 Star Review? I also find the owner’s statement about the elderly woman’s group particularly interesting. He publicly states that this group “went out of their way to thank the crew” and “even left us a 5 star review on another platform.” I posted my review on G, Y, and Tripadvisor, the same three platforms passengers were encouraged to use in an email sent by this company. I have since looked for the 5 star review the owner referenced and, as of the morning of August 19, I have been unable to a review that speaks about a 3 boat ride, where we saw a whale and dolphins on 8/16 at 1:30pm. The reviews I saw since 8/16 were from other trips. If that review 5 star review exists from that family, I respectfully invite Captain Matt to identify the platform and the review he is referencing in his reply. I would be more than willing to read it. I am not going to accuse any one of dishonesty without evidence. However, when a business owner uses an alleged 5 star review from the very passengers involved in an incident to publicly challenge my account, I believe it is completely reasonable to ask where that review can be found. And to be clear, even if that family ultimately gave or gives the company 5 stars, that would not invalidate what I personally experienced or witnessed. Two customers can experience the same thing differently. 4. The Boat I also never claimed that the boat was operating illegally or outside permissible weather conditions. I described the ride exactly as I experienced it. It was the roughest boat ride I have ever experienced, and I have been on many boat rides. I have traveled to more than 30 islands and have traveled by boat around many of them. I have been on whale watching and dolphin watching both before. Telling me that three foot seas are considered normal operating conditions does not change how the trip affected the passengers aboard that day. The boat rocked so violently that you could barely walk or stand without being tossed around. People were being tossed left and right and grabbing onto poles to steady themselves. There was vomit throughout the boat. It was seriously one of the worst boat rides I have ever had. 5. The Phone Conversation The most revealing part of this entire situation is what happened after the cruise. A negative G review did not have to turn into this. The owner could simply have acknowledged that this was my experience and addressed my customer service concerns. Instead, I received a phone call in which I was told my review made him “sick to his stomach,” I was accused of “bashing” his business, and now my experience is being publicly minimized in his responses. Why am I being spoken to so poorly because I shared exactly what I saw, heard and I felt. If you take the time to read his responses to all the one or two stars review across platforms, it is totally shocking how a CEO can speak or write in the matter that he does. That is precisely why I stand by my one star review. I also wanted to share my experience across multiple platforms so there is a clear record of my experience and review and that he won’t try to be so dismissive of others in the future. 6. The Positive The wildlife was beautiful (see photos of the whale). Dan was wonderful. He probably needs to be the one to respond to customer service issues and not the captain. I did not have a positive experience in totality, even though I made a great video compilation of all the beautiful animals I did see. The animals were definitely the highlight. I paid for this experience. I was there. I know what I personally witnessed and experienced, and I have every right to truthfully share that experience. Closing NEVER AGAIN. There is another boat company in Cape May, and the next time I visit, I will use their boat.

Had a beautiful day out with family, even though we didn't get to see any whales, we did get to see several pods of dolphins. Crew was pleasant and gave some fun facts and information during our trip. We booked through Groupon which saved us almost half the cost per ticket, highly recommend.

We got sea sick as did roughly 25% of the boat. We understood this happens to people and it's not the companies fault. However, there was NO warning, information, or notification ahead of time or during the voyage. The Captain and the crew basically ignored telling us anything about this over the loud speaker. They loved pointing out wildlife and tour information, but a good portion of your ship is sick and no information. We were basically left to ourselves to suffer for 3 hours. If the sea was calm I'm sure its lovely, but you should be getting this information from NOAA and other vessels ahead of time and inform your guests.

Great experience with a super friendly, very knowledgeable crew. Love all the information they shared about the animals. Highly recommend!

I joined this tour specifically to see whales, but unfortunately, we did not see a single whale. I completely understand that wildlife sightings can never be guaranteed. However, after paying a considerable amount and spending three hours on the tour, the experience was still very disappointing. We only saw a few dolphins from a distance, which was not the main reason I booked the tour. I can see dolphins much more closely elsewhere and even swim with them. That said, the crew was very friendly, professional, and helpful, and I sincerely thank them for their efforts. My criticism is not directed at the crew. I am sharing this feedback because the tour did not meet the expectations created by the advertisement, and I believe this should be communicated more clearly to prevent future guests from experiencing the same disappointment. I would also suggest using a whale-tracking app or a more effective real-time whale-tracking system to improve the chances of sightings.

Fabulous afternoon cruise; we saw lots of dolphins, plenty of birds, but the whales were shy and didn't cooperate on our cruise. Very relaxing and informative ecotour. The Captain, Marine Biologists, Interns, the entire cruise team was terrific, I highly recommend and would definitely go again!

Truly enjoyable and educational experience! Highly recommend!

Great tour seeing many dolphins in multiple pods. Also appreciated the commentary on the cape May coast line with many different historical landmarks pointed out by the guide. Informative and the boat did not feel overcrowded especially on the bottom deck.

Loved it, great way to escape the crazy heat. No whales but multiple dolphin sightings. We chose this tour because it said wheelchair accessible. Once on the boat it was easy to navigate the first floor. However, there are steps to get on and off boat, so would not recommend fr handicapped who cant do a few steps.

Very informative. We saw 3 dolphin pods. There were hundreds. Staff very knowledgeable. We did not see any whales. Very relaxing .