Next Level Sailing - San Diego Whale Watching & Private Yacht Charters — Attraction in San Diego

If I can give them a zero star I will. We feel we got scammed by this company with the experience we had. Be aware of this company. Read on if you value real customer service and don’t want to be tricked into a false advertised experience.

We are out of town visitor at the San Diego area, and found this company on our research for dog friendly activities in San Diego. We got our tickets online a week in advance. On the day of the event, we were really excited, and got there on time, a little early to check-in at 10:20am (well before their 10:30am cut off time.) At first we don’t know who to look for or what to expect, and just trust their text based email instructions will get us on board. After we parked, I saw a man sitting on a picnic bench, with his head down looking at the phone, there’s no check-in board, greeting whatsoever. I spotted the mentioned Check-in flag 10 feet away from the guy, so I assume he may be the person who checks people in. I walked up, he didn’t acknowledge me at first, and his head was still down looking at his phone. I had to say “hello?” to make sure he is the check-in person as there are many others standing and sitting around by the check-in flag. He asked for the name and said “You are checked in.”, then went back to looking at his phone. As a host, he did not show much care to tell the passengers what to expect next. As everyone else were standing around, waiting, we figure we use the restroom, that was about a minute walk away from the waiting area. So we went to the restroom, came back by 10:39am (10:45am boarding time), and the whole group completely vanished! We suspected the group went to board, so we started looking around, but we don’t see a sign of any moving group or similar looking sailing boat. So I called the number provided on their email, and the person never picked up after 10x attempts, we left a voicemail and text message for attention. Nothing. What else can you do, right?

We called their “company number”, and could only get hold of a speaking person at the “booking office” to see what else we can do, and was told that we can be transferred to their “main office”. After a couple back and forth, we found out the so call “main office” is the same number we called 10x times, by now we probably called 20x within a few minutes, and NOBODY picked up. Just completely irresponsible.

We suspected that check-in person is that number holder and he is also probably the manager, owner, tour guide and everything else you can possibly think of. A one-man band with close to $100 per ticket, you will expect a little more than just “You are checked-in!” And head down back to looking at the phone. Perhaps, that’s how they (or he) operate and they are just cruising by as long as they can. We started seeing a similar looking boat starting to sail out the dock, we kept calling calling and calling, still no answer. By that point, we know we are not going to be able to board, and may not even hear anything back from them (him). We left voice messages, and have yet to hear back from the number we dials. We felt completely scammed by this company, needless to say.

Their website may look put together, which is easy nowadays to build a professional looking website. the automated emails may seem informative, but it is the personal customer service that will tell you what kind of company it is. As frustrating as this whole experience is for us all, we will continue to try reaching out, but we figure there will be zero chance we will be able to get hold of this “main office” person for any sort of fair compensations or even refunds.

We will update our review should we have any more news, but we highly doubt this company will ever return our calls or care to understand what we had gone through - the way we were treated was very minimal effort and does not worth a penny at all if you ask me. Yes, you will board as long as you stick to the group, but don’t expect anything more than that. Read the other people’s negative reviews and you will see a...

I will start off by saying that our trip was apparently one of only 2 days this year that there were no animal sightings of any kind. This review is not indicative of that, as no one can predict what will or will not be seen on any given day.

The check-in guy (who I eventually found out was also our Captain) was impersonal and almost rude. My husband and I booked “Active Duty Military” tickets, but when we showed him our active duty military IDs, he denied me the military ticket. He told me their military tickets extend to the active-duty member only, not their spouses.

I understand that discounts and polices are completely up to the discretion of the business and if they choose to offer a discount to an active military member only, that’s their prerogative but it should be made clear upon booking. Their website only says “Active Military Member” tickets and I do have an Active Duty Military ID.

He then charged my card without my consent. He did not tell me what the price difference would be and he did not ask if the card on file was alright to be changed. I only found out it happened when I got notified on my phone. Horrible customer service.

The Captain never introduced himself and only talked to the front half of the ship. We were seated in the back and didn’t hear a thing. I can’t believe there’s no PA system onboard. The crew was friendly and knowledgeable, but without name tags they all felt like strangers and we sat on a boat for 4 hours in complete silence with no idea where we were going or how far we’d gone. If you asked the crew, they were happy to tell you but otherwise, not a word.

As others have said, it’s a long and uncomfortable ride, especially if the water is choppy. The boat is lovely, but the seats are either wood or plexiglass, which I kept slipping off in my leggings. The crew provided sodas, water, chips, fruit snacks and granola bars and were attentive to picking up or taking others trash. They also had a sea sickness kit and blankets that secured around your neck and shoulders if you got cold.

The overall experience might have felt more worth it if we saw anything other than a few sea lions as we left the port, but even with their “guarantee” I would not choose to spend another 4 hours on...

We have gotten so good at insulating ourselves from this planet, from the elements, from the experiences that might make us the least bit uncomfortable, vieiwing anything natural from behind glass or through a screen. In our work on a ranch in Arizona, my husband and I sleep outside 60-80 nights out of the year, on the ground, only setting up a tent if it looks like rain, cooking over an open fire. So when I started doing research about a trip to leave our piece of Upper Sonoran desert and go to the ocean to see the whales off the coast of San Diego, I discovered options that would move us out of the bay along with the masses, with options to be up in the wind on deck or below behind glass, and none of them seemed that great. When I saw the option to join the crew of the schooner America from 11am - 3pm, motoring out of the bay and then being under sail out where the whales are both migrating and feeding, I knew it was more our style. And what a great value! Touring the Maritime Museum, a bit before and a bit after, as well as the amazing tour itself was worth every penny. The America is comfortable and beautiful and very smooth. The crew were welcoming and did a great job of passing out blankets when the wind got cold. They were so good with all of the children on board, engaging them and offering an educational talk about the wildlife we saw. We saw many dolfins and sea lions feeding, and then the captain trailed a humpback whale for over an hour so that we saw him again and again. No way could one of the bigger cruise ships have offered such a close to the water experience, no glass between us and the ocean and the animals. After walking around the wharf and the piers downtown, we were even more glad that this was the option we chose. And we will do it again. With a small...