Live review: Quantum of the Seas May 6-13, 2024

[CatLadyFemme]

y’all are so nice!

 

In Juneau, where I knew we would have decent signal and a way to order a cab in an emergency, we did a non-royal excursion. It was a tour of the AJ Mine (the only underground mine tour in Alaska!) and gold panning, through Viator. 
 

 

The mine has been shut down mostly since WWII, with much of the mill and other pieces being used for scrap. They tried to open it again in the late 80s, but milling was too expensive, and the state (rightly) would not let them use mercury mining techniques, as it would flow right into the water shed. Also! It was totally accessible; folks with wheelchairs were on it before us. It is shockingly hard to find accessible tours, so I really appreciated it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After going into the old mine, and then learning about the presses and the former town, from three different folks, we got to try our hand at some gold panning. Growing up in Colorado, I had done this on field trips as a kid, but MxCatLady was totally new to it! So fun, and we wound a few flakes of gold (and some cool mica flakes to take back too). As my (also nonbinary) love would say, there was gold in (they)/them/their hills!

 

 

However, most importantly, WE SAW A BEAR. This is what MxCatLady wanted to happen most this trip! Back in 2018 when MrCatLady and I were on Explorer of the seas, I did see a bear off the train in Skagway, but MxCatLady and I had no luck in 2022. Just casually seeing this bear made their trip, and therefore, it made mine too seeing them so happy! Most importantly, they did not go running towards it to give it a hug! Sorry the pictures aren’t great; we were frozen in the spot as it looked at us, and we looked at it, and then only got pictures once someone clapped to make it go away.

 

 

 

 

After returning to the ship and doing a later than usual dinner in the MDR (appreciate them fitting us in), we met us with our friends to catch up and hang out a bit. By this time, with the four hour time difference, Northern Lights pictures started filling up my social media timeline from all our Michigan people. I had never seen them before, and was going to be so upset if we missed them while here.

 

Not to worry though, because look at we we saw (just through my boring phone camera 😞

 

 

 

 

So while I did NOT get to see or be touched by an octopus this trip, I’d say the bear and these lights were two amazing bucket list items for us. It really was a wonderful day, and we listened to our book in bed for a bit (we have moved on to Thud, also by Terry Pratchett). All in all, it’s been an amazing trip 💜

[CatLadyFemme]

Yesterday was a sea/cruising day, and we legit just rested. Three days of port adventures in a row did a number on us; I currently have horrific shin splints, worse than I have had since I was a tour guide in college in the early 2000s. Lots of rest and napping and book, with a delicious stop at Jamie’s. I brought water colors and keep meaning to use them, but just have been too tired. That long Covid life though. Glad I brought meds; wish I had also brought some KT tape too.

 

it was formal night #2 (I’m sorry, “dress to impress” or whatever they are calling it now; also Lobster Night in the MDR), and again, while we didn’t go all out like we have before, we did dress up a bit. As we have a sunset whale watching cruise tonight (day 7) in Victoria that has us coming back after the MDR’a last seating, so we said our goodbyes, placed an order for today’s Mother’s Day brunch, and handed out the bonus trips to our waiter, assistant waiter, head waiter, and the chef in charge of the allergy food.

 

 

 

Then we met up with our friends for some fun pictures before they headed to their dinner. We spent a little time on the balcony, had some other adventures, and then enjoyed our second to last night on board! 
 

[Piper934]

Nice whale pic at ISP.  You catch a whale breaching right from the ship?

[AKR2011]

I absolutely love your reviews!  Thank you for taking us along on another adventure with you ❤️⚓️

[CatLadyFemme]

10 minutes ago, Piper934 said:

Nice whale pic at ISP.  You catch a whale breaching right from the ship?

Yes!! First time I have seen a full on breach like that. Lots of spots and tail flukes too; there was a whole pod of them. This was from the deck outside of Windjammer by the kiddie pool. It was amazing.

[CatLadyFemme]

7 minutes ago, AKR2011 said:

I absolutely love your reviews!  Thank you for taking us along on another adventure with you ❤️⚓️

Awww thanks so much 🥰

[Piper934]

@CatLadyFemme What time did they allow the folks carrying off their own luggage to disembark?

[zencruisers]

Enjoyed the review. Thanks for taking the time to do it.