Total Noob Lens Question: EF lens recos for Alaska cruise

[GRAYWOLF69]

I have used various P&C digital cameras, but I have minimal experience with a DSLR. I am going on a cruise to Alaska in a few months.
I am looking to rent a Rebel T7i. I am wanting to try to get some shots of wildlife and other interesting sights from the ship. Basically looking for how to pick the right telephoto lens. I do not understand how the numbers translate into anything meaningful.

*I did try to search, but only got a post about matching lens and camera, not about decoding lens labels.

[Ron888]

Hey neat.I'd forgotten that was a thing

[ebiggs1]

BTW, always shoot raw never jpg.

[GRAYWOLF69]

 this is what I took that in. So, I should shift it to just Raw?

[Ron888]

You'll likely get different answers to this because people tend to use a variety of workflows.Like you i set the camera to have both RAW and jpeg.
JPEG is convenient for browsing pictures on the computer,while the RAW version is perfect for the best images (when i get them,not often 😅)