Jolly Breeze Whale Adventures — Attraction in Town of Saint Andrews

We took this tour due to great reviews and it being kid friendly, however, we were very disappointed with the staff, the service and the prejudice we received on our trip considering it costs us $200 ! We took the 1245 pm whale boat tour on the tall ship. First, it was advertised that you have a "marine bioligist" on board, no, you have students studying to be marine bioligists on board, not yet marine bioligists. These "biologists" we had particularly, treated the caucasian passengers far better than those that were of different race including my family. They took the time to show the caucasian passengers the touch container ( not a tank as advertised but a plastic bin with sea animals in it) however skipped the only 3 other families that were not white. They also took the time to explain and answer the questions of every other whit families there but did not do the same when the non white passenger was asking them questions. One of the "bioligists" even snapped at one of the my non white kids when he touched the seasponge but she was very polite with the other white kids who were squeezing it. At the end of the trip the "biologist" handed each white kid and even some older white adults a pirate coin token, but not the other nonwhite kids who had to ask for theirs. So, yes, you will be aboard a tall ship, you will see some whales but if you are not white be prepared to be treated differently.

in response to jolly breeze' comments. There were 2 women and 2 males, both women stated that they were studying to be marine biologists when they introduced themselves, one male was the captain steering the ship and the other one was the engineer/bartender/face painter. And yes, children do need to be reprimanded at times, however, one of the "bioligists" chose to only pick and be very harsh to the nonwhite children. Also, the plastic bin touch tank seemed to be intenionally only shown to the caucasian families. 14 years in business and your staff is not able to make every paying customer feel welcome. We've been to other whale tours and ship tours and this is the first time we've felt unwelcome and treated disrepectfully because...

Went there last summer, their boat was as broken but they didn’t tell us before we drove 300 KM to St. Andrews, they checked us in, suited us up, when our departure time came, they told us the mechanic has been trying to fix the boat and we had to wait for 2 hours and hopefully it would be ready.

We had kids waiting in another park and couldn’t take late schedules.

If would have been a unfortunate incident and I got ready to leave.

Then I saw the girl trying to sell the same boat to other walk in tourists, she just told us the boat was broken but she turned around and told the couple the boat was under maintenance and would be ready soon.

This was outright lying. They already messed up our schedule, I couldn’t get on any other companies because we were weren’t told about the broken boat.

Now they didn’t feel any sorry and tried to cheat others.

I couldn’t help arguing with the girl. How can you do that? The girl gave me all kinds of excuses and didn’t feel shame at all.

What’s funny, the manager called me next day, said the girl cried after we left because I argued with her, and it was my fault that I didn’t wait.

I didn’t make a review until one year later, the incident still caused some unhappiness, it would have been a nice vacation but all ruined by the unprofessional unethical operation of the company.

I can’t review their tour I can only say they are not putting the customers interest first. And they don’t feel shame even they cause your whole schedule messed up.

I would suggest a backup plan if you have to use them.

PS. Not surprised by the owner's response, you totally disregarded the fact your sales girl try to duped other people into the tour even when the boat is being repaired without a firm timeline.

PPS. No, we may not speak perfect English but we understand what customer service means, and we are not "challenging" to work with. You messed up in this case, own it and fix it, not trying to talking yourself out it and blaming non existent...

While visiting in Nova Scotia in late October, all of the whale tour companies had already shut down for the season. I had previously been in Saint Andrews 2 weeks before and thought I would try Jolly Breeze and they were still open later into the end of October both with their tall ship and their zodiacs.

I wanted for my family of 2 adults and 3 children (ages 5, 7 and 9) to have the zodiac experience and this was one of the companies who could take children as young as 5 years as they have a special zodiac that also has a bathroom. Seats have soft padding which makes it so comfortable to sit even when it gets bumpy.

We came with our winter coats, boots, hats, mittens and neck protectors which came in handy especially for the kids. They were given a windproof jacket and also pants with a lifejacket on top. Without their winter coats underneath they might have been frozen in the open waters while the boat was blasting at 40 knots. Essentials to enjoy a 2.5 hour tour for young kids!

Bring sunglasses or eye protection for everyone especially if you wear contact lenses as there will be quite a bit of wind and reflection from the sun depending on the time of day your tour is.

Captain and all staff we came into contact with were just wonderful, friendly, answered all our questions about the whales and the business. Never made us feel rushed even if we were the last tour of the day.

Not sure how often whales are spotted at this time but we saw an Atlantic Right whale breech and other whales, porpoises, group of seals rearing their heads spying on us while we spied on them and eagles.

We all welcomed the hot chocolate and big ginger molasses cookies (plus all the leftover...