Has anyone done Stargazing Discovery at Sea?

[RRFPresident]

I was excited to check out this activity on our Alaska cruise on the Grand last August as astronomy is of great interest to me. Unfortunately, the night it was scheduled was cloudy and rainy so they moved everyone into the wedding chapel. One of the cruise entertainment staff told us all about how he was certified in astronomy etc. as he plugged his laptop into the chapel's TV screens and ran the app. He certainly seemed to know his stuff as he lectured using the app to illustrate but then he went off on such a long winded history of mythology that my attention span just gave up.

 

Pretty well attended event but sitting there in pitch black darkness on lined up hard back chairs, I found myself nodding off. I'm just hoping that I didn't snore too loudly. ;)

[bobloblaw007]

Just to share my experience on the Regal earlier this month (first week of Feb.). I think a lot of it has to do with the weather. We had an employee who was quite knowledgeable in astronomy. He didn't use a script. He mentioned the weather was very good conditions as the winds were calm and the sky was clear. The event was held at 10:30 in the Retreat Pool area on the first formal night and as others have mentioned, the bridge turned off the lights in the area.

 

Everyone was given some headsets to hear the host (he just spoke into a microphone). I learned a lot especially since I am a complete newbie. Things like identifying North Star, Big Dipper, Jupiter, Sirius, and telling stories about constellations like Orion Belt.

 

Personally, I thought it was one of the highlights of the cruise and I was super impressed. I still remember so much of what I was told!

[notus]

I went to the program last month (Jan.) on the Grand (Mexican Riviera cruise). There was a guest lecturer who had helped develop the program and on the 2nd night (and those nights after.... 3 more) had headsets and the lecturer spoke into a microphone. We were told this was the first time they used the headsets....they were great! We were taken each night up to the Sky Deck (?) at the back of the ship and the lights were mostly turned off. Yes, it depends on the weather and the farther south we were the more you could see. He told us information and stories about the consellations and other points of interest. They were training the cruise staff to take over and conduct the program on a regular basis. I went several nights and some stuff was repetitive, but the sky and stars were great! It is a worthwhile program and the lights were off about 30 minutes, so easy for your eyes to adjust.

Edited February 14, 2016 by notus

[GUT2407]

I saw this on the Princess website, but can't tell if it's offered yet. I LOVE stargazing!! Wondering if there might be a guide, a telescope, and what exactly is offered.

 

Yes and no.

 

Not sure if it was the official version or just the guest lecturer on the cruise we were on.

 

 

She was very knowledgeable.

 

But the weather refused to cooperate.

[CrowCaw]

Took part in this back on the Royal in October.

Was very underwhelmed.

 

It wasn't a great view of the stars and the staff's microphone wasn't working well with their thick accent so I just went back to putting in the dark.

[socialworker]

We did this on a Hawaii cruise last winter. It had just been added and there was professor onboard who did lectures beforehand. A member of the entertainment staff guided us (20-30) participants up the rear of the ship, they turned off the lights, and with a laser pointer, he directed our attention to the various constellations. The professor was there as well and for those of us who brought our IPads or other such device, they directed to various websites to track the night sky. We did not have ear phones but they should would have helped.

 

This program was so new, not many staff members who should have been "in the know" knew anything about it. I think they were just hoping to get it up and running before the cruise ended.

 

It's amazing how many stars you can see from the middle of the ocean once they turn out the lights. We thought it was a very worthwhile "free" program.

[Nancyquilts]

On the Grand last fall, this was on a deck overlooking the aft pool. The smoke from the stacks and clouds made it impossible to see any stars.

[palolake]

Just to share my experience on the Regal earlier this month (first week of Feb.). I think a lot of it has to do with the weather. We had an employee who was quite knowledgeable in astronomy. He didn't use a script. He mentioned the weather was very good conditions as the winds were calm and the sky was clear. The event was held at 10:30 in the Retreat Pool area on the first formal night and as others have mentioned, the bridge turned off the lights in the area.

 

Everyone was given some headsets to hear the host (he just spoke into a microphone). I learned a lot especially since I am a complete newbie. Things like identifying North Star, Big Dipper, Jupiter, Sirius, and telling stories about constellations like Orion Belt.

 

Personally, I thought it was one of the highlights of the cruise and I was super impressed. I still remember so much of what I was told!

 

We were on the cruise before yours and the one before that. It was cancelled both cruises because of clouds. And we were really looking forward to doing it!

[CruisingJs]

I went to the program last month (Jan.) on the Grand (Mexican Riviera cruise). There was a guest lecturer who had helped develop the program and on the 2nd night (and those nights after.... 3 more) had headsets and the lecturer spoke into a microphone. We were told this was the first time they used the headsets....they were great! We were taken each night up to the Sky Deck (?) at the back of the ship and the lights were mostly turned off. Yes, it depends on the weather and the farther south we were the more you could see. He told us information and stories about the consellations and other points of interest. They were training the cruise staff to take over and conduct the program on a regular basis. I went several nights and some stuff was repetitive, but the sky and stars were great! It is a worthwhile program and the lights were off about 30 minutes, so easy for your eyes to adjust.

 

I went to one of his lectures in the Vista lounge. He was really interesting. I learned more there than I ever did in my astronomy class in college.

[WISH84]

We attended this on our Regal trip this past December. While there were still some lights on about the ship, we were able to see the stars the young officer was talking about with the exception we had some cloud coverage. The app they use is called "Sky Safari" and is actually pretty amazing for an novice star gazer. You can get the app on your smart phone or apple device for a nominal fee. You have to have GPS on the device. You point your screen at the sky and the app tells you what constellations are around you and you can focus in on a specific start and it will tell you what it is.

 

On our trip he was actually pretty good, but with this app I can see why they might put it in the hands of someone less knowledgeable as the app is pretty much "star-gazing-for-dummies" and I think with just one run-through, it would be easy to walk through whichever stars are within eyesight.

[Aus Traveller]

We attended this on our Regal trip this past December. While there were still some lights on about the ship, we were able to see the stars the young officer was talking about with the exception we had some cloud coverage. The app they use is called "Sky Safari" and is actually pretty amazing for an novice star gazer. You can get the app on your smart phone or apple device for a nominal fee. You have to have GPS on the device. You point your screen at the sky and the app tells you what constellations are around you and you can focus in on a specific start and it will tell you what it is.

 

On our trip he was actually pretty good, but with this app I can see why they might put it in the hands of someone less knowledgeable as the app is pretty much "star-gazing-for-dummies" and I think with just one run-through, it would be easy to walk through whichever stars are within eyesight.

Look at the sky using that app would be better nothing, but a star gazing session with an astronomer is much better because he/she can explain much more than would be on an app.:)

Edited February 17, 2016 by Aus Traveller

[grandmacruise]

I attended a stargazing last winter while on the Ocean Princess in the South Pacific. The ship's navigator gave the talk to over 50 interested passengers. He used a laser to point out and explained various constellations. It was amazing how how the laser seem to reach right up to the stars.

 

He briefly discussed how the ship uses the night sky, along with the computers, to navigate the ship. The lights on the forward top deck where turned off and sky was filled with so many stars. I saw the southern cross! I loved it and would do it again.

[aquilegia]

Would this have been on an Alaskan cruise? (

 

Sorry, only just seen your query. No, it was on a Mediterranean cruise.

[cafelovercanada]

I just received a message from Princess via Facebook and they confirmed that Stargazing is NOT available on Alaskan cruises. Likely due to the late sunset .... Too bad. Will just have to book another cruise to take advantage of this amazing program