Quantum May 9, 2022 7 Nights Alaska Not Very Live

[twangster]

It's so breathtakingly beautiful.  This is why I don't do the shows in Alaska.  I'd be outside taking all this in.

 

 

 

 

A bunch of these guys in the water around the ship.  They have the "zoomies".  They surface briefly and make a mad dash then disappear below the waves again.

 

 

 

They are smaller than a full sized Orca but have the markings similar to an Orca.  I'll have to look into them.  Whatever they are, there are a bunch of them zipping through the water.

 

 

 

 

Sunset was consumed by the clouds.

 

 

 

The moon is getting larger.

 

 

 

 

Barge traffic tonight.

 

Edited May 12, 2022 by twangster

[twangster]

Day 4 Cruise Compass

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

Th "Extended" ride version of the North Star time lapse.  This is the $19.99 version.

 

 

[celoplyr]

I really appreciate everything you've done to help us understand the Quantum in Alaska.  Thank you very much- heck I even got my mother (the hot chocolate addict) to read your entire thread to date.  I'm only slightly in trouble!! But she went through every picture, ever comment!!

[CatLadyFemme]

Your pictures are amazing!

Edited May 12, 2022 by CatLadyFemme

[ChanaC]

I think you spotted Dall's porpoises! Picture below.

[hammo]

Thankyou - much appreciated .

[Jimbo]

On 5/10/2022 at 1:31 PM, twangster said:

The Noodle Restaurant on the pool deck still appears to be a Noodle venue...

 

 

 

 

...but it's actually Splashaway Cafe right now.

 

 

Fish & Chips

 

 

Chicken Tenders and Chips

 

No charge for Splashaway Cafe items.

 

What is the coating on that fish, did it taste better then it looks, is that one chicken piece an actual tender or something else? weird shape?

[twangster]

37 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

What is the coating on that fish, did it taste better then it looks, is that one chicken piece an actual tender or something else? weird shape?

 

The fish tasted like fish.

 

I suppose they could call that one "tender" a "nugget" or a "boneless wing".  Whatever you want to call it, it tasted like chicken. 🤣

[twangster]

1 hour ago, ChanaC said:

I think you spotted Dall's porpoises! Picture below.

 

Thanks for doing the research for me!

[twangster]

The morning of day four started in the Pacific Ocean where it was very smooth.  About the time I shook off the cobwebs and put on my cold weather gear to head up to the top deck we had turned inland towards Sitka.

 

Last week while on Serenade for our Sitka arrival it was overcast and rainy.  Today was magnificent.

 

 

 

 

 

The suite sun deck was a great place to take it all in.

 

 

An Eagle looking for a meal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mount Edgecumbe is a dormant volcano and stands out from the other mountains in the area.

 

 

 

[twangster]

 

 

 

 

 

At one point the town of Sitka is visible through a gap between some islands and with a small craft you could take a more direct route but large ships have to follow a deep water channel that involves a less direct path.  All the better for our sight seeing pleasure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

We dock a few miles from town and they run complimentary shuttles back and forth.  They use large motor coaches and school type buses but with over 4,000 guests there can be a line.

 

At its peak this morning the line stretched back down onto the pier.

 

 

You are definitely better to get going as soon as clearance is given.  After an hour as people finish breakfast and get ready the line reaches its peaks.  By 11am the line was nearly gone.  

 

Guests who book excursions will have their own meeting point and avoid the free shuttle line.

[screwsmcernst]

Loving your pictures!  The scenery is absolutely beautiful.  

 

Do people still need to reserve times for the ping pong tables in the seaplex?

[twangster]

4 minutes ago, screwsmcernst said:

Loving your pictures!  The scenery is absolutely beautiful.  

 

Do people still need to reserve times for the ping pong tables in the seaplex?

 

I don't think so.  Bumper cars doesn't use reservations either.

[tallgirl97]

Lovely photos! Curious how much zoom you have on your lens and whether you’re using a crop sensor or full frame  camera?

[twangster]

The line for the free shuttle at 11:15am was about 10 minutes long.

 

 

 

Many ship excursions meet in this building.  Since it rains a lot in Alaska they built an indoor place for shore excursions.

 

 

[twangster]

1 minute ago, tallgirl97 said:

Lovely photos! Curious how much zoom you have on your lens and whether you’re using a crop sensor or full frame  camera?

 

I have two full frame bodies with me, a 14mm wide angle, a 24-105mm, a 70-300mm and a 200-600mm.    One of my camera bodies has a higher pixel count so I can crop quite a bit and eek out some additional zoom in post.

[screwsmcernst]

6 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

I don't think so.  Bumper cars doesn't use reservations either.

Thank you.  😃

 

[twangster]

My goal was to finish the forest hike I started last week.  Last week it was raining pretty heavily so the hike was cut short. 

 

First I returned to the Bayview Pub for Fish and Chips and a local beer.  Last week I had the Beast Burger but wanted to try the Fish & Chips. 

 

The Pub is right across the parking lot from where the free cruise shuttle bus drops and picks up. 

 

 

Lunch was great but I was so hungry I just dove in... no pics.

Edited May 13, 2022 by twangster

[twangster]

Sitka is very walkable and very scenic especially on nice days like this.

 

Last week was overcast you couldn't see any of the mountains.

 

Lots of these signs to help you find your way around.

 

 

Mount Edgecumbe in the distance.

 

 

[Btimmer]

Thanks for your postings and pictures.  We board next Monday, 5/16 and it'll be our second ever RCCL cruise after many, many HAL sea days.  We're most intrigued by the ship and its offerings as we've been to the ports many times (except Skagway).

[twangster]

Looks like my cloud provider where I store my images is having an outage.  Next post once they are back online.  

[perfect match]

@twangster every time I think your pictures can’t possibly get any better, you prove wrong. The shots on this page and the previous one are spectacular. Thank you.

[snaefell]

Looks like the sunbed police on Quantum aren't needed much these days!😆