croisieres 2001

I did two boat trips departing from Tadoussac - one down the Saguenay Fjord for 3 hours or so and the other a whale watching excursion out into the St Lawrence River..Both were great experiences.I enjoyed the ambiance of the smaller vessel for the Fjord cruise and the crew were friendly too.We saw a minke whale as well of lots of stunning scenery.The whale watching excursion was excellent also. Saw a humpback from about 30 metres away, had a minke come alongside the vessel about 8 metres away and saw another whale fluking about 8 - 10 metres from the vessel. Also had a group of cheeky sea lions swim along side us for quite a while.Both trips were great. Highly recommended.

Went VIP enjoyed it thoroughly? Seen many whales. Water was very rough but just the same the staff were ver excellent and courteous

I bought the tickets on Groupon with half price, great croisiere for whale watching. Tips: somehow cold on the boat, bring some coat .

We went on a whale watch tour and it was very disapointing. We saw some white beluga's which we never saw before so that was nice. But the real big whales were not at home. We only saw two of them and they did'nt cam out of the water. (maybe we are spoiled because we went whale watching in Harvey bay, Australia, and that was unbelievable)

We went on the big boat as it was pouring with rain that day. We worried if this would be worth it or not but as our guide said "whales don't care about rain!" and she was right. We saw many whales (humpbacks and minkies) along with porpoises and even seals popped their heads out for a look. The company was great at directing us to the next whale. The instructions start in French and then English so as soon as you hear the French language get your camera ready because it means a whale is in sight. My only disapointment was we didn't get to see a Beluga but hey what can you do?

Went on a 24-passenger Zodiac boat and saw 5 types of whales, harbor porpoises and seals. Our guide spoke limited English but that did not detract from the experience at all. He was very friendly and was able to identify all the different whales we saw and to answer a few of the questions we had. He moved the boat multiple times to follow the whales and even took us to another location where we were able to see Belugas. At the end of the cruise, on our way back to the dock, our guide took us into the fiord of the Saguenay River where we were able to see another whale, a waterfall and seals resting on the shore. An added bonus. Would definitely take this cruise again.

Croisieres 2013 from Quebec City to Baie-Saint Catherine. 3 hrs. via deluxe motor coach through beautiful, scenic, mountainous country. Knowledgeable driver, Yves, used both French & English. He was also entertaining. On board the Grand Fleuve boat for 3 hours and saw two humpback whales, top of white beluga whale, several blow spouts, some minky whales. It was cold, very cold & windy on August 15. Used our sweatshirts and jackets - thankfully we had them! For those going, do dress warmly and have a hooded jacket or sweatshirt or both. 11 hours all total in a day but well worth the price and time. So glad we took the motor coach and didn't drive. Highly recommend this excursion.

The tour was great as we did see a hump back whale, some seals, and from a distance we saw Balluga whales ( can't get too close to those apparently). We got on from Ste Catherines, and this was on a Sunday. It was relatively crowded on the boat, but if you went below deck on the first floor where the tables are, it wasn't very crowded at all. So we weren't packed like sardines. I would expect it to be busier on Saturdays for the weekend crowd though. There was certainly more emphasis on the french part over the English, but I think that's fine considering that most of their customers were french-speaking. We were maybe the only people from Ontario, and didn't find anyone else that looked like they were from there. However, after the main speaking was done, they told us the code for when the see a whale, and it was using the clock system (2 O'clock, 5 O'clock, etc). Once a whale was spotted, the guide was very quick to tell where the whales are in both languages, so we didn't miss out from the language difference.We got on from the Ste Catherine town where they have a small office where you park, you can do a small picnic there, go to the washroom, and then they take you in a bus to the dock where the boat picks you up from. It's maybe a 5 minute bus ride and they do it because of the limited parking at the docks. Certainly if you are going in busy season and you're afraid of not getting a seat on the upper deck, I suggest going through Tadoussac where the tour originates from.The tour other than the whales took you into the Fjord nearby and also just before ending the tour they put a camera under the water to show you the life on the bottom of the sea shore. This is alright, but not very fascinatingWe travelled with young children, and knowing how boring it would be for them, we brought them entertainment. This is only good for adults interested in such a tour, obviously. My only suggestion would be to make the tour shorter than the full 3 hours. It was clear once everyone saw the big whale in the first hour or so, that people were wandering (and drinking). The boat and tour are clearly not family friendly due to the sale of alcohol and the allowance of smoking on-board, as a visitor from Ontario this was a bit shocking for me! But again, this is designed with adults in mind only.

This was our first time whale watching (2 Adults, 2 Children). Firstly we got the time mixed up and showed up at the ticket office at 9:28am not realizing the boat left at 9:30am. The lady in the office was so kind and radioed to the captain to hold on ( we drove up 3 hours from Quebec City). She loaded us into her van and dropped us off, where they were waiting for us.The boat was half full and our kids are 9 & 6 so they were able to get up close. We saw 3 whales, the Humpback, Fin and the Minke. They guarantee that you will see them. The lady narrated in french first, than English which was fine.We were in awe seeing the whales, it came fairly close our boat and we got some great pics. At the end of the sailing they drop a submarine camera to see the creatures on the floor of the river and end it by going up the Saguenay Fjord which was also neat.We enjoyed is so much, that we will be making a second trip at some point in the future.TIP: To avoid the crowd, go for the the first sailing of day as the tour buses come in for the mid-day sailing and it's packed. Dress warmly even in the summer months as it get winding on the St. Lawrence.

I made the wrong choice in booking this boat. We had done a zodiac tour earlier in our trip from Sainte-Simeon and thought this boat would be a nice way to see the humpbacks. We had stopped in earlier and talked to the crew and were told that they were usually taking 50-75 people on their trips so we booked for later that week. We had a beautiful day so instead on 50-75 people the boat was at capacity. When we checked in the lady at the office said they were talking out 2 boats which was not correct. We were packed sardines watching whales. We also made the mistake of boarding at St. Catherine - BIG mistake. The boat was already full of passengers who had boarded at Tadoussac. The trip out was much rougher than I would have thought. The naturalist was bi-lingual but always spoke in French first so the English customers received their information after the sighting was passed. They said that the captain would turn the boat so that both sides could get a good view but I couldn't tell that he did. Since we were a larger ship we had to watch the whales from a distance and constantly fight for even a sighting due to the large number of passengers. We did see a Blue if you got to the right place on the boat in time and several humpbacks. I would only recommend this trip for those unable to take a zodiac trip and maybe families with small children. The cost was higher than the zodiac tour we took and just not as comfortable or informative.

The boat is perfect, big, with two floors, with a guide (a woman) very educational and prepared.We did see a lot of whales, grey and fin whales and some seals. From the upper deck you see better. The only thing is that on our first "trip" to Baie st.catherine" to catch the other group of passengers, we see some beluga's tail very far. We stopped but the beluga was just a white spot away. For the reason they need to go to the other pier for the second group of passenger, they did'n reach the beluga!! So when we passed again back in front of Tadoussac, the Beluga was already far inside the saguenay Fyord. This is not correct. User experience is the most important thing, and we had the lucky chance to see Beluga, but we did'nt do it! We were disappointed for that, but anyway the great number of whales we have seen has pleased us a lot.This is just a hint, i hope for them.

This trip was so worth it! The cruise was only about C$170 for our family of 6 because they had a family rate. It was abou 3 hours long which was perfect. We got on in Tadoussac, not many people got on at that spot and so we were able to stake out a perfect spot for us before the larger groups got on at the second stop. The staff was very friendly and the tour guide did an excellent job speaking in French first and than in English. For one whole hour we saw whale after whale . . . minke, fin, humbback and sea porpoise. After an hour we were ready to do something else. We went inside to our table in the front of the boat where they had a movie showing with additional footage of the seaway. There was also some educational material in drawers in the front of the boat at this level for kids to look at (like bones and posters of the whales). After a short time we were in the Saguaney Fjord (hoping to see the beluga - but we didn't). It was a photo opportunity and the cruise boat drove right up next to the Caribou Cascade. The waters got a little rough between seeing the whales and getting into the fjord but most people had no issue with it. Dress warm because it does get cold outside of the boat watching the whales. We found the front of the boat, second level to work well for our family. We could easily go outside to view and hop bac inside to warm up if needed. This was our first whale watching excursion and it was the highlight of our summer trip! One word of caution for this area . . . though the boat was very English friendly and there was one English person who could speak a little bit of English at the Information Center, many of the other places did not speak English well and communication was challenging at times since we do not speak French.

This is a must do if you ever have the opportunity. We saw blue whales, minke, Finn & Belugas! It is a nice boat with good food & drink options. I could have stayed out on the water all day!

We took their big boat cruise in mid-August with another family and got really lucky. A blue whale stayed near the boat for about 15 minutes, surface feeding. Even the boat employees were excited and happily shared their excitement with us. We saw lots of other whales, throughout the three hour cruise, many close, while the captain still stayed within the rules for approach--whales can swim closer to your boat if you stop near them, but boats mustn't drive closer than the regulated distance from the whales. I know seeing such a lot of the blue whale was lucky, but I still give the captain and crew credit because they found the whale first. Ours was the one boat there when the whale started feeding, then a zodiac came over, and other big boats began to converge only as we moved on. We chose the big boat over the zodiacs because we have a two-year-old, and it was fine. It had upper and lower decks, and inside and outside parts on both decks. The view was best from the lower outside, but I could see from anywhere--a fact I really appreciated when my two-year-old noisily insisted on moving around a lot. It was also nice to be able to walk from one side of the boat to another to look different ways as whales moved around. People lined the decks but mostly one or two deep, so but the boat didn't feel too crowded. The children and I appreciated the free coffee, juiceboxes, and cookies on the morning cruise. The staff at the snack bar were friendly, suggested the free coffee, and didn't make me feel guilty for not buying any of the items that weren't free. The woman with the microphone who told us about the whales seemed to make a point of starting sometimes in French and sometimes in English, and switching between them often, sometimes after each sentence. I noticed that that meant no-one had to wait long to hear about anything--cleverly done and much appreciated, too.

I went on this cruise with my wife and my daughter (5 years). We enjoyed the whales (yes, plenty!!) , seals, belugas and we were impressed by the large number of northern gannet diving for fish. A plus for the submersible camera that showed us images from the underwater world. A great experience! PS. I think the regular price is not so cheap, but we bought the tickets on Groupon.PPS. I strongly recommend a previous visit to the local CIMM where you can get great info about the St.Laurent's fauna so be prepared for this trip