Solar eclipse cruises March 2015

Hi all

I am on Breamar in March 2015 for the solar eclipse cruise and was wondering if anyone knows if special glasses will be provided? I have found somewhere online where I can purchase them for a reasonable price if I need to.

I'd be very surprised if solar eclipse glasses weren't supplied owing to the danger of looking at the Sun without them. Besides, they cost very little money. When we went on the Boudicca to see the northern lights we were all supplied with free snow grips. I wish you all the best of luck in seeing the eclipse because I'm on the same cruise. For what it's worth, I have a good track record of seeing these events which may bode well. But the Faroes in March is a huge challenge so be prepared to be disappointed. :)

I'd be very surprised if solar eclipse glasses weren't supplied owing to the danger of looking at the Sun without them. Besides, they cost very little money. When we went on the Boudicca to see the northern lights we were all supplied with free snow grips. I wish you all the best of luck in seeing the eclipse because I'm on the same cruise. For what it's worth, I have a good track record of seeing these events which may bode well. But the Faroes in March is a huge challenge so be prepared to be disappointed. :)

Thanks for the info and lets hope we are both lucky.

I don't know if you have found this out already but I checked with FO Admin and yes... they will be providing safety glasses for the eclipse.

All we need now is clear weather!

Thanks for the update :)

Yes we are dependent on the weather now. At least being on a ship they can try to get us in the best spot.

They will be brand new and issued to every passenger on a non-return basis. Basically they are constructed from cardboard with plastic lenses made from Mylar which prevents both light and heat transmission. Nevertheless, you should check the lenses carefully for damage and not use them to continually look at the Sun. Be cautious and you will be fine.

They will be brand new and issued to every passenger on a non-return basis. Basically they are constructed from cardboard with plastic lenses made from Mylar which prevents both light and heat transmission. Nevertheless, you should check the lenses carefully for damage and not use them to continually look at the Sun. Be cautious and you will be fine.

Yes short looks only but really looking forward to it.

FAO anyone on board, was the sky clear?

We saw it through cloud right up until the moment of totality when we lost it in thick cloud. The moment totality finished it became visible again. But we saw Venus appear to the left of the Sun. It was a good experience nevertheless. Both the other Olsen ships were apparently better placed and saw everything.

we were on Black Watch for the Solar Eclipse Cruise

see what we thought

http://www.frintonite.blogspot.co.uk

we were on Black Watch for the Solar Eclipse Cruise

 

see what we thought

 

www.frintonite.blogspot.co.uk

Thanks for you blog.

In your blog, you ask where Oriana passengers went on the night you went out with Glod in Alta. I was onbaord Oriana and can tell you they were taken to the golf course, which is quite local. From what I understand they saw the lights for a short period, but they were dancing a bit, as you reported seeing the same night. I have not looked yet, but Glod said they would post photos on their website and/or facebook page.

My husband went the night that you had left Alta and lots of lights were seen, but were not visibly moving. He did not see them in colour - more a wispy cloud by eye, but he got some good pictures. I was ill on that night, so missed the trip, but I saw the lights as a very bright green, rainbow shaped, band in the sky about 12.30am the next night, when we were sailing south near to Tromso.

We also saw the solar eclipse during totality, but no thanks to P&O who would not give the captain permission to be anywhere other than in dock in Torshavn as per schedule, even though the weather forcast for there was not good. As it happend the wind got up as we were going into port, so the captain deemed it unsafe to enter and we had to stay at sea and view the eclipse!! I reckon there was a lot of calculation being done on the bridge at that time, so we could drift past one of the small areas of clear sky for totallity, which we viewed completely, including the 'diamond rings'.

Cannot say a lot to my enjoyment of P&O in other ways though - we look forward to our return to Fred.

Glad you saw the eclipse as well.

Barbara

Thanks very much for posting the photos of the eclipse. It shows that the captain of the Braemar was completely incompetent by losing the Black Watch which saw the entire event. Most ships appear to have seen it so it goes to show that not all captains are created equal.

Coravel, I do not mean to decry your opinion as you are entitled to that, but having been present on a ship in the area, I would say it was more a miracle that it was seen by the other ships as there was almost complete cloud cover at the time.

Drifting into a clear area is one thing, but there would have to be a clear area to drift into and there was more than one layer of cloud cover, so it really must have been extremely difficult, and even then, with an element of luck. I would certainly not use the word incompetent.

It was, however very unfortunate that the eclipse was not visible from all ships, and I do offfer my sympathy to those who did not see it.

Obviously the ships could not be too near each other as there would have been a risk of a collision whilst manovering.

...really looking forward to it.

Hi Lanky Lad,

You mentioned elsewhere that it didn't live up to your expectations. Was this due to the disappointment over the eclipse or something to do with the ship or the rest of the cruise?

I'm curious as we're booked for the Caribbean & Cuba next Jan.

Regards, Colin.

Coravel, I do not mean to decry your opinion as you are entitled to that, but having been present on a ship in the area, I would say it was more a miracle that it was seen by the other ships as there was almost complete cloud cover at the time.

 

Drifting into a clear area is one thing, but there would have to be a clear area to drift into and there was more than one layer of cloud cover, so it really must have been extremely difficult, and even then, with an element of luck. I would certainly not use the word incompetent.

 

It was, however very unfortunate that the eclipse was not visible from all ships, and I do offfer my sympathy to those who did not see it.

 

Obviously the ships could not be too near each other as there would have been a risk of a collision whilst manovering.

Thanks for your sympathy Tring and I'm not going to disagree with your comments which are probably more sensible than my own. ;)

Thanks for your sympathy Tring and I'm not going to disagree with your comments which are probably more sensible than my own. ;)

I can understand your feelings, you must have been bitterly disappointed.

I wish you better luck on whatever your next venture is.

Barbara

Oh I wouldn't say "bitterly disappointed" because I had already seen two total eclipses of the Sun and I didn't really expect to see anything at all from the Faroes. I'm just mildly annoyed that the Braemar captain failed to do what all the other captains managed. Not to worry. My next cruise is "The American Deep South" on the Balmoral in September and no eclipses are expected. :D

It's a tricky business, eclipse spotting. The BBC did live coverage including a group on land in the Faroes; with ten minutes to go they were in the sunshine, but when the eclipse started it was cloudy. The sun's shadow (from memory) moves at about 1,000 mph, and cruise ships aren't really all that mobile, so if the clouds move across at the wrong time there's not a lot you can do about it. The Braemar captan didn't necessarily do anything wrong of different from the other two, he may have just got unlucky. (As did his passengers, of course.)

Hi Lanky Lad,

 

You mentioned elsewhere that it didn't live up to your expectations. Was this due to the disappointment over the eclipse or something to do with the ship or the rest of the cruise?

 

I'm curious as we're booked for the Caribbean & Cuba next Jan.

 

Regards, Colin.

Hi Colin, we did Caribbean and Cuba this February and had a wonderful time as I am sure you will too.

Hi Colin, we did Caribbean and Cuba this February and had a wonderful time as I am sure you will too.

Hi, Yes, you mentioned it on the roll-call here. Any hints or tips to pass on? Probably better to put it on the roll-call rather than hijacking this thread.

Regards, Colin.