Finding Magical Jewels on the West Coast...9/18/2015 review (16,000+ photos & videos)

[DEIx15x8]

It’s time for another vacation, and another media overload! Things aren’t anywhere near as crazy as Quantum last year though, I’m saving that for Harmony next year, lol. I’m going to supply a media outline of what’s available and what’s coming and then I’ll start my review below. We had some issues with our water softener a month before leaving so things are still a bit of a mess and that’s causing it to take a bit longer to get the videos together, but hopefully not too much longer. Please feel free to comment and ask questions. I’m going to be posting in chunks.

 

Photos (16,000+)

September 16, 2015: Arrival to Vancouver, BC - https://goo.gl/photos/Y3xAdZZiJNiaEHZT7 (13)

September 17, 2015: Vancouver, BC - https://goo.gl/photos/nVTG7qnHd1LxP9WT8 (440)

September 18, 2015: Jewel in Vancouver, BC - https://goo.gl/photos/mV3ZHjYVFQLF7Bju9 (338)

September 19, 2015: Jewel in Victoria, BC - https://goo.gl/photos/Dd1BMsDv476SjRo4A (1,154)

September 20, 2015: Jewel in Astoria, OR - https://goo.gl/photos/NN3FV46y9meTDg5b9 (663)

September 21, 2015: Jewel at Sea - https://goo.gl/photos/V8zgxgGoyoZGQz2Y6 (488)

September 22, 2015: Jewel in San Francisco, CA - https://goo.gl/photos/xRYadzyJVz4CanHR6 (1,220)

September 23, 2015: Jewel in San Francisco, CA - https://goo.gl/photos/gEAPfJMRQb6o2XQYA (1,050)

September 24, 2015: Jewel in Monterey, CA - https://goo.gl/photos/jsAyKaGXJ7yxM9bQA (1,217)

September 25, 2015: Jewel in Santa Barbara, CA - https://goo.gl/photos/Zvhtn4o1e55RdYgS9 (1,232)

September 26, 2015: Jewel in San Pedro, CA - https://goo.gl/photos/yaYqeGQuNkSVJwmu6 (318)

September 26, 2015: Disneyland Arrival - https://goo.gl/photos/kdSpdGmt3k4t8LVf6 (468)

September 27, 2015: Disneyland - https://goo.gl/photos/sEVveD7qQtqQ9ihe9 (858)

September 28, 2015: California Adventure - https://goo.gl/photos/jMEkhkCJiQVZ2ZTX9 (641)

September 29, 2015: Queen Mary, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Griffith Observatory - https://goo.gl/photos/vRqqepza2EUGGJHG9 (633)

September 30, 2015: Universal Studios Hollywood - https://goo.gl/photos/3rQorMzrkYqzDPd67 (733)

October 1, 2015: Disneyland/California Adventure - https://goo.gl/photos/NZCeYXYKQ7Yyna5m9 (684)

October 2, 2015: Disneyland/California Adventure - https://goo.gl/photos/uBFsFiWFiS8v2N9F8 (1,067)

October 3, 2015: Disneyland/California Adventure - https://goo.gl/photos/yuvQgQYynMzuGw347 (826)

October 4, 2015: Warner Brothers Studios - https://goo.gl/photos/32qk2VQHGKCZEKw37 (739)

October 5, 2015: New Port Beach/Disneyland - https://goo.gl/photos/rf4VKTFeT1wccDpX7 (1,041)

October 6, 2015: Disneyland Departure - https://goo.gl/photos/CT8eWRADZtBoJfUf8 (281)

 

Videos

Port Videos (coming soon):

Port Time-lapse

Vancouver Arrival and Departure

Victoria Arrival and Departure

Astoria Arrival and Departure

San Francisco Arrival and Departure

Monterey Arrival and Departure

Santa Barbara Arrival and Departure

Los Angeles (San Pedro) Arrival

 

Ship Videos (coming soon):

Captain’s Welcome Reception

International Crew Flag Parade

70’s Party

 

Other Videos (coming soon):

Jewel of the Seas Complete Ship Tour

theCruiseView 8 episode series

Disneyland videos (Evening shows and parades)

 

 

Background

This was another one of our mega trips, the third that we’ve taken. The first being 18 nights between London and a TA on the Indy in 2012, the second being the 19 night B2B on Quantum in 2014 and now a 20 night west coast adventure with 2 nights in Vancouver, the Jewel of the Seas 8 night Pacific Coastal repositioning, and 10 nights in Disneyland to tour LA. This seems like a bit of a break from the usual cruise centric vacations but it’s really more about getting back to my original vacation roots. Growing up we used to go to Disney World roughly every other year. In 2000 we paired it with the then new Disney Cruise Line for our first ever cruise and that changed everything. I returned once more a year later with just my mom but it was nothing but cruises after that. I’ve been all over the Caribbean, to Florida, and around my area of the north east, but have never been west of Pittsburgh. Thanks to the westbound TA home from London I had never even been on a plane flying west. In 2013 though I got invited on a vacation to WDW that changed all of that. I never lost my love or interest in Disney, but became more interested in cruises which were far more cost effective so this was a return after 12 years away, the first time I was old enough to actually enjoy it on my own. Before I even left I decided I needed to get to Disneyland and since it would be a one time thing I needed to make it count so the 60th celebration in 2015 would be best. The problem was that Disneyland was not cost effective, the reason we had never been. Without a cruise to balance things it would not be worth it. As things often seem to with my trips, things began to align about a week later when rumors started flying about a ship returning to the west coast and Jewel ultimately showed up on the port schedules for 2015. When the sailings finally opened for booking in February of 2014 I had everything planned out for a few days in Disneyland, then a 7 night Pacific Coastal sailing, and a few more days in Disneyland. I originally even booked it as that the moment they loaded into the system, a few hours later when they were available online though I saw the repositioning sailing available for nearly the same price with an extra day and more destinations. Flying from the east coast it was the same price regardless of where we started but more value to do the repositioning so Vancouver was added and Disneyland was moved to the end. From that point on it was two vacations; a 10 night west coast cruise to see everything and a 10 night Disneyland vacation with LA sight seeing. The cruise helped make the Disney part feasible but it was still on the pricier side. The only thing that seemed to make it doable was to purchase a Disney Vacation Club. So after months of consideration in June 2014 the Quantum of the Seas annoyances finally got me to pull the trigger and make a purchase that setup this vacation as well as several more combos in the future.

 

So for me this was a trip of new. First time to the west coast. First time on a Radiance class ship. First port intensive itinerary. First time to Disneyland. First time using my DVC. A major break from the mega ship and lengthy sea days I prefer. With just a single day at sea this was the fewest sea days of any sailing since our original 4 night Disney cruise in 2000. In the end though this vacation of firsts and breaking from routine quickly became one of the best. While there are some items I would change in the future, there really weren’t any parts that were not great or could have been different this time. Without a doubt the scenery dominated the whole vacation, here’s a preview of what’s to come.

 

 

 

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Thank you for taking the time to do this review. I look forward to reading it.

 

Can I ask you to please include more paragraphs in your text? I am not trying to be snarky, but it is very difficult to read long blocks of text. Thank you in advance. :)

[The Big Booper]

We were also on the Jewel repo with you and look forward to the review.

 

I second the above poster, it is hard to real large blocks of a single paragraph, especially as one gets older.

 

Thanks

[DEIx15x8]

Hope this size paragraph is a little bit better.

 

Vancouver (9/16-9/17)

We did a 5 night cruise on the Carnival Victory to Canada from NYC in July of 2002, but this was our first time to Vancouver. We flew with Air Canada (booked through United) from Newark. Originally our flight was supposed to be in the morning so that we would be there by noon, but while on Quantum last year we received an email that our flight had been changed and instead were not leaving until after 6pm and arriving in Vancouver after 9pm so we ended up losing our first day there. The airport is one of the most beautiful I’ve seen though. Since we were arriving and not departing we only got to see it as we walked through, but it looked more like the lobby of a ski lodge than an airport and all the staff were incredibly friendly and helpful. That was something that remained true for our entire stay in the city. Reminded me of London.

 

We took a taxi to our hotel which took about 30 minutes arriving a little after 10pm, but it gave us a nice view of the city and surrounding area at night. We had booked the Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Hotel which was walking distance from Canada Place, the location of the cruise terminal making it an incredibly convenient location. Our room was higher up and offered a beautiful view of the city, river, and bridge. Arriving late at night we could barely make it out, but in the light of morning you could see all the mountains across the way covered in haze and clouds.

 

 

 

From the concierge lounge that offered breakfast and an evening snack we could see the Olympic cauldron and had a great view of the river (only one floor higher but a slightly different angle).

 

For our one full day in Vancouver we went whale watching. Vancouver Whale Watching is located on the other side of the airport so it was a distance to get to but they offered a bus service for $15 Canadian that was round trip and conveniently picked us up right at Canada Place. As an Olympic fan that gave me time to check out the cauldron and scenery in the morning.

 

[Yorkvillain]

Nice! I'm looking forward to the rest of this. I love your reviews and all your little details.

 

Your effort on these are second to none.

[The Big Booper]

Much easier to read. Thanks

 

Now that tax season is over, we can start our own photo review. I know we did some things that are different then what you and the other poster did.

 

Keep it coming!

[reallyitsmema]

We were on the same cruise and also stayed at the Marriott Pinnacle. We too enjoyed the concierge lounge, though it was very crowded at breakfast. We were in Vancouver 3 nights and the first night were unaware of the 9pm cannon that is shot off from Stanley Park. We were in our room on the 30th floor at the time and were a little concerned when the concussion of the blast reverberated off our windows. We visited Stanley Park the next day on Vancouver Trolley and the driver pointed out how they shot off that cannon every night. We were in our room the night before the cruise at 9pm, so we turned off all the lights and opened all the blinds and were able to see the flash as they set it off.

[reallyitsmema]

View from our room at Marriott Pinnacle.:D

[DEIx15x8]

View from our room at Marriott Pinnacle.:D

 

Looks like your room was in the same location as ours, just higher. This is the first I'm hearing about the cannons. We arrived after them the first night and the second night I think we were in FlyOver Canada at that time. Never heard them or even heard someone mention them. It's a shame our flight was pushed back because the original plan was to spend that first afternoon evening walking the river walk and visiting that park.

[DEIx15x8]

The whale watching offered us the opportunity to get our first glimpses of nature, something we didn’t realize at the time we would never escape. The boat was incredibly smooth, I believe we got very lucky with the water that day as it was almost lake like with just a little movement. Right from the start we saw a bald eagle perched high atop a fishing boat right in the harbor. I got a new camera with an 83x zoom for this trip so I could get some great shots. The whales were a distance away near Victoria and heading towards the Washington state border so it was a lengthy ride. Along the way though we saw all the beauty of Canada along with plenty of seals and sea lions before reaching the orcas.

 

 

 

 

 

These were a bit off from what I had expected. They don’t look as big in person and are rather calm, more closely resembling sharks that just slowly reveal a fin in the water and come out a little bit before going back under than the whales we often think of that jump, slap, and play. The waters by the whales were incredible to look at as the sun had come out by that time and an eerie fog was rolling through as well.

 

[DEIx15x8]

 

 

On the way back the weather was beautiful with the sun shinning and clear blue skies. We saw even more nature during this sailing as well.

 

 

Throughout the journey they were plotting our course and marking nature sightings on a map at the back of the boat.

 

Afterwards we returned to Canada place and spent some more time exploring the area. We did Flyover Canada. An attraction located right in Canada Place that is a port of the Soaring Over California ride in Disney’s California Adventure and Epcot, but using a film that flies over areas of Canada instead. It was a certainly enjoyable ride that gave us glimpses of the rest of the country and even featured a pre-show that they proudly announce was created by Montreal based Moment Factory (the creators of everything in Two70 on Quantum Class ships). IMO Disney’s version is superior though. Canada’s relied heavily on mist and water but rarely used scents where the Disney one is the opposite and I think a more immersive feeling as a result. There ride system is a cheaper loading setup that involves everyone loading in a stacked vertical manner and then each of the three rows pushing forward away from the platform. Disney’s involves all three being horizontal and then pivoting into a vertical position. The difference was unnoticeable for the ride and beyond that the physical ride was the same experience so if your a fan of Disney’s I would recommend trying it out. It was about $20 canadian per person and the whole experience took about 30 minutes to get through. During different parts of the year they also substitute different ending for the different holidays to keep it fresh for the locals.

[DEIx15x8]

As mentioned earlier Canada Place is also home to the cruise terminal so we took the time to explore that area and find out where we would have to go the next day. It’s a bit deceptive compared to other terminals as it is not it’s own building or area, but actually located within the lower level parking garage. When you know where it is it’s easy to get to but not obvious to find at first.

 

 

We finally ended our night enjoying the scenery and like much of my trip, taking the time to get photos. Canada Place itself and the Olympic Cauldron were both beautiful at night.

 

 

Since we are going to Disneyland Paris next year as part of our Harmony sailing I’ve been trying to learn French for the past eight months. I knew that French was big in Quebec but had no idea we would see it in Vancouver. This was the night I realized the reality of having two national languages in Canada. During our flight to Vancouver we were on Canada Air and everything was in English and French. Even the safety video was French first then English. It wasn’t until I looked closer at my can of Ginger Ale that I realized that it was dual printed in French and English. I’m not sure why, but I found it amazing, lol.

 

[martincath]

Some great pics. If you found the soda cans entertaining, next time you're in Canada wander a supermarket, especially the breakfast cereal aisles. Capitaine Crounche is my favourite... although 'chicken milk' during the holidays is by far the most ridiculous food item translation .

[JamesEM]

Following along and looking forward to your reports.

[DEIx15x8]

Some great pics. If you found the soda cans entertaining, next time you're in Canada wander a supermarket, especially the breakfast cereal aisles. Capitaine Crounche is my favourite... although 'chicken milk' during the holidays is by far the most ridiculous food item translation .

That's awesome! When we went to London I visited a grocery store to see what unique products they had, but it was all in English so not as funny. Capitaine Crounche is brilliant, wish I had been able to stop in a store.

[Yorkvillain]

I can't believe it was Schweppes and not Canada Dry ginger ale. :D

[Susie51]

Thank you for your review with sooooooo......... many pics. I'll be on Jewel OTS in Jan.

 

Looking forward to more!

[DEIx15x8]

Jewel of the Seas Embarkation: Vancouver, BC (9/18)

Having a hotel with a view of the water of course meant that I had to get up early to see the Jewel arrive. This is only the second time I’ve been able to see our ship arrive the day we boarded, the previous being Oasis on January 2, 2010. This time I had a much better view and it was intentional though (Oasis was a 4am fire alarm). I got up about 5:45am and watched the AIS map as she slowly made it closer. At just before 6:30am she was finally visible passing under the bridge.

 

She continued making her way past the park visible above and beyond the trees.

 

Eventually she made it between two buildings in open water where I could finally see her in all her glory.

 

Just before making the turn to pull into her berth and out of my view.

 

For some reason the Radiance class has long been my white whale. I’ve been on every current class except for it and the Sovereign class. But I’ve seen sovereign class ships on many occasions. The same is not true for the Radiance class. In fact the first time I ever saw one was not until January 2014 when we passed the Brilliance of the Seas in the middle of the night while on Grandeur sailing between Cozumel and Grand Cayman. (Photo from Grandeur)

 

In December 8, 2014 while on Quantum I finally got to really see one for the first time as we docked right next to ironically the Jewel of the Seas in St. Kitts. So this view for me at least was rather new and a bit more exciting than the many times I’ve seen the other classes arrive and depart ports. (Photo from Quantum)

Edited October 20, 2015 by DEIx15x8

[cruiselife4me]

Loving it so far! Can't wait for more,

Mary

[DEIx15x8]

That morning we ate a breakfast in the lounge at the hotel and then were walking to the ship. We decided to split it into two trips, one to drop luggage and then a second with carry ons. The weather wasn’t calling for much rain that morning, but as we were getting ready it of course started drizzling. We still walked our luggage to the ship under umbrellas. The terminal was surprisingly dead for a cruise morning. Their was very little activity in the area and it was easy to walk right down to the terminal and drop our luggage off. I of course then took the opportunity to walk up top and get a nice shot of the Jewel tied up waiting for us.

 

I took the scenic route around Canada Place back to the hotel. Unfortunately since it was raining I didn’t risk my camera. I was surprised how well the crew was cleaning her. It’s common to see them scrub a ship on turnaround but they seemed to be taking it to another level with how well they were scrubbing every inch of her while it was raining out. Once back at the hotel we checked out, grabbed our carry on luggage and headed back to the ship. By this time we got lucky and the rain had mostly stopped and was just a scattered mist.

 

This time back at Canada Place we cut through the convention center and took the elevators down to the terminal. Skipping the luggage drop off it seemed like some more cars were starting to show up, but it was still by far the emptiest and least chaotic terminal I’ve ever seen. Inside the check in area it was like a time warp back to 2007, the last time I’ve experienced the classic check in process. They were splitting things by the usual categories including C&A but all the lines were rather short (1-2 families per line) and about equal so they were more directing people by line length than anything else. We had all of our paper work ready so that went relatively smoothly. There was some issues with our onboard expense account due to a website issue I reported in July that unfortunately came up again. It was quickly taken care of though and we were on our way to the ship in no time. As we got onboard we did the usual card swipe and they took our photos just like the old days.

 

Once onboard we did the usual day one items. We visited the MDR to check our table, and once again got exactly what we requested, a private table by the window. We went to the Windjammer for lunch. Unfortunately I think this was the worst day 1 lunch I’ve had and not because of the food. It’s always packed and hard to find seats, but at this time the ship was still rather empty and the windjammer was beyond full. With the weather cold and the rain being off and on it limited everyone to the inside section which was nowhere near large enough to accommodate everyone (a problem that continued throughout the start of the cruise). We did eventually get a table though and the food was the usual Windjammer quality. Nothing I would consider above or below average, but they did seem to have a better desert selection than most ships. This was our first time on a Radiance class ship though so everything was new and exciting for us which meant that we also needed to take the time to explore the rest of the ship. And we certainly did that, seeing every area before the cabins were even open. I’ll touch on some areas in other parts, but the one area that jumped out for us was The Pit Stop bar. As a family of race fans this was cool for us. It’s not often that you find NASCAR or IndyCar areas on ships. Unfortunately the different art pieces were the extent of the racing as there was still no races broadcast onboard throughout the cruise that I could find.

 

 

 

By the time we were running out of places to go look at the rooms were finally available so we headed back to ours. We had an easy one to remember (for any NASCAR fans anyway) with cabin 8088 on the port side right next to the elevators. This cabin features a HUGE balcony! It was a bit darker in the cabin as a result, but we rarely spend any time in the cabin when the sun is out anyway and it in no way interfered with our ability to see arrivals in the early morning. It did give us a ton of space though. We had two chairs and a high table (could easily eat at if you want) as well as two of the nice lounge chairs and a low table.

 

I always like seeing where we are going so we normally stay in forward cabins, typically the first one. This one I picked for the balcony and the angle allowed us to see forward a bit better as well. Being on the hump we were in line with the covering allowing us to see strait down. We were a bit exposed to the other balconies when at the railing since we were out farther, but IMO the other balconies were far more exposed to us than we were to them.

 

It was a great cabin and the location as the first cabin in the hallway also meant we had easy access to the seating area for the C&A person. The Centrum is extremely loud (mainly the live bands) and can be heard inside the cabin though. We never tried it, but if we had closed the hallway door it probably would have helped since the noise was likely going under the door and not through the wall. If you had the TV on it wasn’t noticeable, but if your trying to go to bed early (not me,lol!) you could hear it. The cabin featured the bed by the door and a pullman bed over top of it. That made it a bit more compact for sleeping at night as often time it seems like the pullman on balconies is over the sofa instead. There wasn’t as much storage as Quantum obviously, but we didn’t really have any trouble finding room for everything. All of our suitcases fit under the bed (the larger one didn’t on Grandeur). A lack of outlets seemed to be our only issue with the cabin. We use a significantly higher number of outlets than most because of all our phones, watches, and then my video and still cameras. On Quantum though the extra outlets and USB ports actually offered more than we needed. We didn’t even use our powerstrip on her, where as with Jewel we had to ration our time with an outlet even when using the strip.

[jimbri]

Wonderful review!!

[JamesEM]

Thanks for the review and photos, but I must say your balcony looks like a cave.

[DEIx15x8]

Typically our luggage has always been available in our cabin right when we got into it or within minutes, but for some reason the luggage did not show up until just before the muster drill. There was no real luggage movement going on in the halls compared to most embarkation days. Not sure if it’s a Canada Place process that slows it arriving on the ship or the Jewel, but it was noticeably later than any other cruise. With the 4:30 Muster Drill, 5:00 sail-away and 5:30 dinner that meant for a busier than normal period to unpack.

 

The Muster Drill was the most efficient I have ever experienced though (something that seemed typical for the Jewel). Everyone was in there spot on time, things got going right away, and at the end we were held a few minutes while they looked for some passengers that skipped before releasing us. In total I think it took 15 minutes and we were dismissed before many of my recent muster drills would have even been able to begin. It was really impressive how quick it went. Our location was in the Schooner Bar on deck 6 so we got to avoid the cold and rain. There were a few different muster stations located in there that were all lined up in the usual style along the entry way, but for some reason our station was allowed to sit in the seats and occupied the entire space of the Schooner Bar. I’m not sure what was different about it since we obviously were much more comfortable and had far more space allocated, but I wasn’t complaining, lol.

 

After we were dismissed I ran up to our cabin to set my GoPro on the balcony for the departure.

 

And then headed up to the top deck to watch the sail-away. When it comes to forward facing views the Radiance class is easily the best in the fleet. Not just in terms of the views and number of locations, but the ease of access is incredible. Many ships have an accessible bow (Voyager, Radiance, and Freedom classes) like the Jewel does as well, but the open upper decks are becoming more sparse and are often spread out. Most have a single deck, some two, but the Jewel has three forward facing decks. To make it even easier only deck 12 is accessible. Both decks 11 and 13 have full forward facing views that are only available via stairs located right at the front of deck 12. It’s a small detail, but it really helps spread the crowd out along all three levels of railings instead of everyone crowding the single popular deck and the others being empty. Deck 13 was also without a doubt the closest public deck I’ve seen to the forward mast of a cruise ship I’ve sailed on so it made for a great bridge passage location.

 

 

Right on time at 5:00 the Jewel blasted her horn and started to pull away from the pier. She slowly backed out into the open water and made a 90º turn to face the Lions Gate bridge. Surprisingly even with the ship moving in the area the seaplanes continued taking off and landing near by. After a day of raining we got lucky with a dry sail-away so some people came out to watch from the end of Canada Place.

 

 

[DEIx15x8]

It took about 20 minutes to reach the lighthouse in Stanley Park that marked the entry into the narrowed stretch up to the bridge.

 

The park stretched up to the bridge on the port side while the starboard side was more industrial and offered the great mountain views we’ve enjoyed the previous days.

 

 

There were some scattered people along the bike path of the park watching us sail up to the bridge. It took about 15 more minutes as we didn’t pass under until 5:34. It was one of the more anticlimactic passages I’ve been on. Even the Grandeur at her small and relatively similar size had exciting close passes under the bridges in Baltimore. The Jewel easily passed under the bridge with a massive gap above her.

 

 

On the other side many more people were standing on the lookout point watching us sail by and cheering to the ship.

[DEIx15x8]

The waters were then wide open, smooth, and dotted with all sorts of cargo ships waiting to load and unload.

 

 

It was then off to dinner, about 30 minutes late. I have the menus and pictures from each day in the album for that day. I would consider the Jewel’s MDR like the Windjammer to be typical. There were some items throughout the sailing that I think they did exceptional with and item’s I think they weren’t that good with. Overall though it was fairly standard middle of the road food and not a meal that I would consider to be bad.

 

Afterwards there was a single welcome show for both seatings so we had to rush out of dinner and missed the first few minutes. The Jewel’s theater was surprisingly empty though so we had no issue finding a seat. This was our first introduction to Dennis Charles and Daniel Dornas the CD and AM. Right from the start it was obvious how good their chemistry was and their natural humor. The best pair I’ve had since Joff and Rob on the Indy in 2012 and one of just 3 CD pairings that I’ve experienced that just seemed to work seamlessly together. Following the lengthy introductions and humorous act we then had a guest comedian that performed for the second half of the show. theCruiseView will be more in-depth on these entertainment acts and include clips, same with more detailed comments on the daily menus (honestly can’t remember my daily thoughts on each entree) filmed that evening.

 

Later that night I went out on deck 5 and put my new camera to the test. It has an incredible zoom and geotags all of my pictures, but it’s not the greatest in lowlight. Amazingly though on the automatic setting if you can keep the content of the image steady enough it can maximize the smallest of light. In person this was just a few dots of light on the horizon, but the camera magnified the atmospheric glow and even lit the ocean. Since it was so far away it surprisingly came out clear.

 

Using the night portrait mode took photos that were more accurately lit and forgiving in low light. Here is a picture of the horizon without zooming in at all.

 

I wanted to know what that slightly brighter and taller white spot to the right end was so I zoomed in to check it out. It turned out to be a crane at a cargo yard. Using a tripod, my phone to click the shutter, and very slowly rotating the camera counter the speed of the ships movement I was able to capture a single clear image of it at max zoom.

 

It was rather amazing how easily it could be seen. When not taking a picture it was clear as day, but the snapping of the picture required perfect stillness at such a distance in such low light. In Disneyland I took a few photos on automatic that turned night into day.