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Red Bay showcases whales and the best Fish and Chips in Newfoundland

Itinerary, Menus, When & Where and Entertainers

During our sail away from Corner Brook, the Captain said that the good weather we have enjoyed would be coming to an end. The weather at Red Bay was expected to be cold and raining. The wind and seas might be too much for safe tendering so we would not have been surprised to learn that this port would be canceled.

Red Bay as seen from the ship about 1 mile offshore. The ship didn’t drop anchor but hovered in place using its thrusters and engines

Our plan was to go ashore around noon to avoid any lines with the tenders. We learned that 4- and 5-star Mariners don’t need to get tender tickets and we can join any tender queue by showing our cruise card. More about our priority tendering HERE

Fog rolled in and out all morning, which made the navigation for the tenders challenging. The seas were a little rough and you can see the movement of the tenders in this pair of photographs below.

Tender tickets were distributed in the BB King lounge. They won’t give you more tickets than you have people present. You can’t go down and grab tickets for others in your cabin and you have to stay near the BB King as they don’t announce when the next tender is leaving anywhere except in the BB King lounge.

We headed down to Deck A to catch the tender at 12:30 pm. There were 31 guests onboard for the 10-minute ride and 5-minute wait before we could tie up at the pier and begin touring Red Bay.

The Town Manager, Alice Moores, was behind the counter in the Information Booth. She gave us a quick overview of Red Bay along with a map.

Alice Moores, Town Manager, was very friendly and helpful

We headed off to the Whaler’s Restaurant, about ¼ mile away up a slight rise. There is a gift shop inside the restaurant selling souvenirs and T-shirts.

This photo was taken from Whalers Restaraunt. The road to the left heads toward the tenders and the road to the right heads toward the Church and Town Hall. The pick-up trucks offering $5 shuttle rides are on the left side of the picture

Normally you sit down and a server will take your order, but today, due to the crowds from the cruise ship, you ordered at the cash register and they gave you a number. The menu was pretty simple and you can read it in the picture below along with the prices.

Doreen was working the cash register. Very friendly and helpful

Service was quick, and the food was piping hot and delicious. We always get fish and chips in most ports when available and this was some of the best we have ever tasted. A thin, flaky crust covering a firm yet moist cod filet. Poutine was also on the menu and we enjoy trying this when offered as we have learned that every restaurant usually has a slightly different twist to their poutine. Poutine is not diet food, but delicious – don’t miss it when you are in Canada – It’s everywhere.

Great food, served hot and fast. Seafood chowder, Fish & Chips,and a big plate of Poutine.

A few pickup trucks were nearby displaying “Shuttle” signs in their windows. They were offering to take you anywhere nearby for $5 CDN.

After lunch, we walked up the rise to the Town Hall. We stopped at an interesting church along the way. We missed the other museum near the church as we intended to stop on the way back, but it started to sprinkle so we went straight back to the tenders.

Walking to the Town Hall from Whalers Restaraunt

The Town Hall was staffed by the very friendly Ava and Tiffany. We spent a few minutes chatting and learned that they have a 1-hour bus ride each way to the nearest school. Admission is $5 CDN and the main attraction here is the large Whale Skeleton. Ava gave us directions to a shortcut that would save us some time getting back and it was starting to sprinkle so we wanted to get back in case the weather got worse.

Here we are walking down the dirt road short cut back to the dock

We arrived back at the Dock and browsed thru the gift shop. Whalers Quest Welcome | Whalers Quest Ocean Adventures had a table set up and we enjoyed chatting with Amanda and Shena and learning more about life in Red Brook.

Here is our walking route from my Garmin GPS

At 3 pm we were back on the tender and headed out to the ship. It was very foggy and the ship was no longer visible from our position. Poor visibility, combined with 40-knot winds and choppy seas made for a challenging tender operation. Our tender driver was a little uneasy with the situation, so he circled a nearby buoy for about 15 minutes until another tender arrived and we traveled back to the ship together. We all received a plate of chocolates later for our minor inconvenience.

The ship was sometimes completely obscured by fog. You can see one of the buoys in the foreground

Our route back to the ship after circling the buoy for about 15 minutes

Our tender, with an escort, en route back to the ship

The main dining room featured – you guessed it – Fish and Chips for dinner. Normally Fish and Chips are not one of the best dishes on HAL ships, but today they knocked it out of the park – delicious.

Hyperion Knight was the featured entertainer this evening. We have seen his show 5 times before but tonight he presented a new edition that made full use of the giant display screens on The World Stage. He perfectly integrated a fascinating story about various composers, along with a little personal history. His brilliant piano keywork was displayed on the big screen and the performance was breathtaking. Before and after the show, Hyperion mingled with the audience, answering questions, and provided some insight about his performance. Don’t miss this superstar when you see him on the schedule.