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Solar Eclipse Aug 21, 2017

swifty

By swifty,
in Princess Cruises

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cr8tiv1 Holiday Sharing Rare

cr8tiv1

Posted
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Anyone know of any Princess cruise or, for that matter, any cruise line that will be offering a cruise to view the Aug 21, 2017 solar eclipse?

 

For those unknowing, you might want to add a few more details. Such as...southern hemisphere, best location, etc.

 

I booked a short repositioning cruise that happened to coincide with a solar eclipse from San Francisco to Vancouver. It occurred after we left San Francisco. The weather was not very cooperative. Freezing (May), fog, clouds, etc.

 

I had my dandy little pin hole contraption. Lucky for me, someone had brought along a welder's glass. Perfect for viewing.

 

At first, it was just myself and one other couple. More curious people arrived and all got involved. I am not sure there are that many out there that would fill a cruise ship. More happenstance.

 

For a while, Princess did an "Astronomy at Sea" lecture. I haven't heard much about it in a long while.

 

So my opinion, I doubt they will plan an itinerary just for the solar eclipse. But you may be fortunate enough to find a cruise that just happens to be in the right place at the right time.

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beg3yrs

beg3yrs

Posted
Posted (edited)
Anyone know of any Princess cruise or, for that matter, any cruise line that will be offering a cruise to view the Aug 21, 2017 solar eclipse?

 

Go here to see the path of the eclipse: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2017Aug21Tgoogle.html

 

Seems the longest duration of totality will be over the USA at two and three quarter minutes. Totality duration over the oceans at the coasts is on the two to two and a half minute range.

 

Seems the best bet for seeing it from a normal cruise would be on the West Coast. Cruise ships avoid the East Coast in August as it's hurricane season.

 

The Grand Princess is going out of San Francisco to Alaska at that time but is scheduled to be too far north in Skagway on the 21st of August.

 

Other Princess ships on the West Coast are going in and out of Seattle and Vancouver at that time. Too far north to see totality.

 

So as far as Princess goes, no special eclipse cruises and IMHO, there probably won't be any special eclipse cruises as so much of the eclipse goes over land. Why bother going on a ship if your goal is to see the eclipse?

Edited by beg3yrs
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  • 11 months later...
Aus Traveller

Aus Traveller

Posted
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While no ships will be inline with the totality area of the eclipse, the Star and Island will be sailing into Glacier Bay with 70% eclipse and Emerald, Grand, Ruby, and Coral will all get at least a partial view.

 

https://sites.google.com/site/princesscruisesfaq/eclipse

A partial eclipse isn't very spectacular whereas a total eclipse is. I recommend that anyone who can travel to the path of totality should do so. A total eclipse is an experience of a lifetime.:)

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dmwnc1959

dmwnc1959

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If they have clear skies the Oasis of the Seas will have prime viewing out off the coast. Since they leave on Aug. 20th it gives them plenty of time to get in line with the eclipse path en route from Port Canaveral to St. Maarten.

 

TSE2017-usa.jpg

Edited by dmwnc1959
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Sea Hag

Sea Hag

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This looks great, and if we hadn't already made land-based plans to see the eclipse, I might have been interested in this cruise. We saw a total eclipse off the coast of Mexico back in 1991 on the Carnival Jubilee, and it was wonderful.

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ddloml

ddloml

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Why bother going on a ship if your goal is to see the eclipse?

 

Because sometimes the ship will offer the mobility that allows you to see the eclipse! On July 11, 1991, we were on SS Independence (American Hawaii Cruise Line) off of the coast of Hawaii (the big island). No one on the island saw the eclipse that morning, because of cloud cover. Our ship was able to maneuver out to a point in the path of totality and we saw a glorious 4 minutes and 30 seconds of totality!

 

Now I would tend to agree that for this year's eclipse that runs from west coast to east coast, seeing it from a cruise ship is not a logical choice, especially with the possibility of a tropical storm (or worse) along the Atlantic coast. Personally, I am going to be about as far from a cruise ship as I can for this one, as my plan is to view the eclipse from the St Louis MO area.

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sandyoftheseas

sandyoftheseas

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I agree with Aus Traveller If you have the opportunity to be on a ship during a full solar eclipse definitely do it! We were on a Princess solar eclipse cruise out of Sidney several years ago. We did not book it for the eclipse but for the itinerary. In the end the solar eclipse was one of the best things about the cruise. We went on line prior to the cruise and purchases the special cardboard glasses to view the eclipse and gave some to our CC friends. We also purchases The Sanctuary with the eclipse viewing, the eclipse was around 7:00am we had breakfast with champagne in the sanctuary before the eclipse it was really special,. We were told that people came to Port Douglas, Australia to see the eclipse and could not see it due to cloud coverage but, the ship captain was able to position the ship just right and we had amazing views

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geoherb "Live from...." Rare

geoherb

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One of my favorite cruises memories was staying up late our first night on the Island Princess to see a lunar eclipse. About 10-20 percent of the passengers were out on the top decks. Of course with a lunar eclipse, there's a much longer time to view it, so perhaps a lot more saw it than I realize. We'll be on the CB during this solar eclipse--and too far north (in Dublin) to be in the path.

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Sea Hag

Sea Hag

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Because sometimes the ship will offer the mobility that allows you to see the eclipse! On July 11, 1991, we were on SS Independence (American Hawaii Cruise Line) off of the coast of Hawaii (the big island). No one on the island saw the eclipse that morning, because of cloud cover. Our ship was able to maneuver out to a point in the path of totality and we saw a glorious 4 minutes and 30 seconds of totality!.

 

That worked for us off the coast of Mexico for that eclipse. The ship was supposed to be in Mazatlan that day, and it was cloudy there. The captain made an announcement that the ship would dock and anybody who wanted to get off could get off. The ship would come back later that day to pick them up. He said the ship would go back out to sea and try to find a break in the clouds so we could see the eclipse. They found that break in the clouds and we sailed around in it until after the eclipse was over. Spectacular!

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Aus Traveller

Aus Traveller

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I agree with Aus Traveller If you have the opportunity to be on a ship during a full solar eclipse definitely do it! We were on a Princess solar eclipse cruise out of Sidney several years ago. We did not book it for the eclipse but for the itinerary. In the end the solar eclipse was one of the best things about the cruise. We went on line prior to the cruise and purchases the special cardboard glasses to view the eclipse and gave some to our CC friends. We also purchases The Sanctuary with the eclipse viewing, the eclipse was around 7:00am we had breakfast with champagne in the sanctuary before the eclipse it was really special,. We were told that people came to Port Douglas, Australia to see the eclipse and could not see it due to cloud coverage but, the ship captain was able to position the ship just right and we had amazing views

That would have been the November 2012 eclipse. Didn't the ship have the solar glasses for all the passengers?

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Aus Traveller

Aus Traveller

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If they did I did not see them and they were not in our cabin. They may have sold them in the gift shop.

We were on the Pacific Dawn for the eclipse. The safety glasses were delivered to every cabin along with a sheet of instructions for viewing the eclipse safely. :) There was also a presentation by an astronomer in the main lounge prior to the eclipse.

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