We have taken MANY whale & dolphin tours- from Alaska to Florida, to Cape Cod... and Cape May, NJ. These tours have been during different seasons, weather conditions, various lengths of tours, etc... all that shared to say the recent tour we took aboard one of the boats of the Cape May Whale Watcher (7/30/17 @ 10a.m.) was by far THE worst tour we have ever taken over the past 15 years.
It had started out fairly pleasant... sunny skies, cooler temps- we had our three daughters and our Japanese exchange student pose near the boat we were to ride (which is primarily WHITE with red lettering- though the bottom portion is indeed red- for SOME reason this company promotes their boats as 'the big RED boats'?!) ANYWAY... after what began as smooth sailing- and spotting several dolphins, the captain evidently decided to go in a direction/area that had rougher waters.
HUGE waves were crashing up onto the boat- hitting not just the windows, but the passengers who either didn't heed the warning given- or didn't HEAR (as it was chaotic and loud with the wind/waves, people screaming in surprise, kids crying, etc...) The boat was rocking and felt EXTREMELY unsafe where we sat together inside the lower cabin- right in front of the lifejacket storage area. It finally became SO bad I asked a crew member 'When should we put lifejackets on?' and he either didn't hear- or ignored me because he just kept walking by us. Granted- it WAS loud, chaotic and frightful to see so many people slipping and falling, trying to get their small children inside the cabin, etc...
We witness one poor woman that had been on the outer deck and had been holding a young Down Syndrome baby- stumbled into the cabin- both of them SO completely water soaked that water was running off the baby's head! Seeing this really frightened us- how difficult it had to be, to walk around out there in such conditions and stay SAFE?? What if a child slipped on it's own, or from someone's arms and fell overboard? What if someone older fell and was injured? It was like nothing we had EVER experienced in ALL of our whale & dolphin tours- EVER.
I finally made the decision to call the ticket office to let them know what was happening on the boat, while we were still at sea. THAT was a HUGE mistake! Instead of being concerned, reassuring and sympathetic at receiving such a call from a passenger during a tour, the woman I spoke with (Brigit) seemed to take great offense that I was calling and questioning the judgment of the captain. She demanded my name and phone number (which I more than willingly gave) and within a few minutes I received a VERY agitated call from a man (who never identified himself completely)
that basically tried very hard to convince me I had called and complained to the wrong company! Why? When asked what color boat we were on, I answered 'white' as a good 2/3 or more of this boat WAS white with red letting while around 1/3 of the LOWER portion is red. He then scoffed and said that proved I was calling the wrong company and their boat was red! SERIOUSLY?!! I knew exactly which boat we were on, which company I had called (theirs!) and finally ended the call by telling him that if he was so adamant that I was calling the 'wrong' company then there was no reason for me to continue the conversation with him!! We were floored that they were responding in such an unprofessional manner!!
The ride continued to rock from side to side, waves crashing wildly onto the boat... and we watched as more and more people went from enjoying the initial ride to looking fearful and upset. We watched people comforting children who were soaked and crying, We were comforting our own children, including our exchange student from Japan who was VERY overwhelmed and scared.
Finally after several more minutes of what felt to us like erratic, haphazard speeding through wild waves and reckless navigating, the boat was returned to calmer waters.
Once we returned, I went directly to their ticket office to let them know I WAS calling about THEIR boat, THEIR captain and THEIR company- and certainly was not calling the 'wrong' company about another boat or captain!!
HUGE mistake. From the snarky condescending Brigit, to the heavyset, older man who's face appeared hatful and beet red as jumped from his chair, wildly waving several of their brochures towards my face, yelling- "Our boat is RED!!! Can't you see?!! Our boat is not white, its RED!!!" To which I was SHOCKED that he was SO upset and wild about- but I calmly replied it must be in their perspective- because to US looking at the boat docked (we took photos beside it before boarding) the boat is WHITE with red letters, and we only noticed the lower RED part after he kept screaming at us about it!! Oh my word. Here I am hoping for a sincere concern over our experience with the reassurance that their captain will be questioned about his poor judgement and crazy navigation- the lack of safety (though I was later told a safety briefing was given, and we even asked a crew member when we should out lifejackets on- as we sat right in front of their storage compartment) NO safety briefing was EVER given- maybe they normally do, but THIS time they most certainly had not. Knowing how rough that tour was, it felt like a miracle that no one had fallen overboard!!
The whole point of calling DURING the ride was to alert them of what was happening as we had no idea if the captain was impaired in some way either from distractions, drugs, alcohol... or ?? we just felt that whatever his reasons were for continuing into such dangerous waves and windy conditions- it had become unsafe- and we no longer trusted his judgement!!
My reason in going to their ticket booth AFTER was (as I already stated) to let them know I had called about THEIR boat, THEIR captain, THEIR company- not another that they were trying to blame!! I never once mentioned or requested a refund from them- though I was falsely accused of that later by their ticket employee.
So based on our experience, we could NEVER recommend the Cape May Whale Watcher to anyone. From the horrible judgement we felt their captain used during our tour, to the lack of safety briefing (which they claim they did make, but we were seated inside the cabin right in front of the lifejackets, and could hear announcement and occasional commentary given about dolphins, and well remembered waiting for a safety briefing and NOT hearing one), to the absolutely unprofessional, rude, obnoxious way their captain, owner (we later found out that the heavyset, older man that screamed at me with the brochures was the owner!), and basically seeing the common thread from reading other reviewers when it comes to dealing with concerns, problems, safety, etc... and reading that they also experienced the same attitudes- we would NEVER recommend this company.
We would highly recommend another company (they have a similar name and are near by) that we have also used, and found the polar opposite of the Cape May Whale Watcher... being professional, feeling safe, knowledgeable, and FUN!
Best wishes!