American Princess Cruises — Attraction in New York

My mom planned a trip with American Princess Cruises. Unfortunately, my mom passed away on July 6th and was unable to fulfill her dream of whale watching. Myself, my husband, our 1 year old daughter, and my step father decided to honor her today and go on her birthday. I live in Florida and have worked for a dolphin tour agency so I know that sightings are never 100% promised, however, I know they are incredibly common. I was expecting the boat to be incredibly packed, nowhere to move, and incredibly hard to see the whales. I was so happy and surprised how spacious, comfortable, accommodating, and clean the boat was. We saw a beautiful whale about 20 minutes into our trip and enjoyed watching this whale for hours. It was such a wonderful trip, the crew was phenomenal, and we learned so many basics from the person who spoke with us on the loud speaker. It was very family friendly and even our 1 year old had a blast. We sat on the lower deck and had 0 issues moving from one side to the other to see the whales. There is an upper deck too that you can check out but we stayed down below. It was wonderful to be able to move freely amongst the cabin with no restrictions. There are beverages and food you can buy onboard (and they gave me no issue bringing snacks on board for my 1 year old, they were very accommodating). There is also a bathroom on board. Such a great trip. Another big thing that was so important to me: The marine mammal protection act. We utilize this heavily in Florida and it was so great to hear/see how much they respect these whales. There are many laws protecting marine wildlife and they follow through with all of them. We never once disrupted the whales natural behavior. American Princess Cruises does such a phenomenal job and I am so glad we got onboard today, my mom would have...

The American Princess is a really wonderful yacht to get on for whale-watching,and also much cheaper than the others I checked.The naturalist, Celia Ackerman,and the staff on board are very knowledgeable about the amazing whales and other cetaceans you'll see off the waters of New York.The first time I went was during my vacation.Unfortunately,I arrived at the Riis Landing pier late the day I went and missed the boat.When I checked the American Princess website later a i found out that it was a record- breaking day (12 whales spotted!),I was mad.A local I met at the pier suggested I call AP to see if I could receive credit for the missed day.I called and left a voicemail message.I wasn't banking on their reply,so I made another reservation and just went again the following Sunday.It was a beautiful sunny day,four humpback whales and many pods of dolphins were spotted.Unfortunately,I wasn't able to take really good photos of them. Maneuvering around the crowded boat to try and get a good shot of them was quite challenging.A couple of days later American Princess returned my call and they gave me credit for the day I missed.My make-up day was Sunday,10/6.It was a cloudy day this time and the waters were a bit rough,but at least I was able to take better shots this time around.I saw a pod of bottlenose dolphins and a humpback whale,the ONLY one spotted that day!I was very lucky.It's best to go whale-watching when the day is nice and favorable.You may have a better chance of seeing more cetaceans because they,like us,seem to like the warmer weather.The last whale watching event was scheduled for Sunday,November 3rd but it was extended for the next two weekends due to...

DOLPHINE DAYYYYY (Danke Schoen melody)

Hey, so this event was a 10 year friendaversary trip. We didn’t have high expectations because we understand mother nature will do what she wants. We were excited to see dolphins, whales or whatever.

STAFF & BOAT: for a sold out tour, we had a lot of space around the other people. We were very comfortable. The weather was beautiful. Staff was awesome!! The men put out their hands who are the staff of the boat to help you get on and that was very appreciative. Celia our guide did her job and was educational. Bathrooms are super clean cache is required for snacks like coffee and storebrand sugary stuff.

We enjoyed the route on the boat. With one hour left I learned I needed to be closer to land at that point. The tour said it was from 12 PM to 3:30 PM. We didn’t arrive back on the pier until 4:30PM -5 PM We went with the flow, but announcing arrival time knowing it’s past the posted ending would be something I would recommend for the cruise ship to take into consideration for next time. Only because that would have eased my queasy mind a little bit otherwise I was a champ.

Recommendation for website: PARKING I wanted to make a recommendation just to help anyone else who’s driving from out of town have a smoother experience. I think the website could add free residential street parking and to our only meter parking on Emmons Ave just outside the Pier.

Thanks guys for a nice day and have a...