Total Solar Eclipse 2012

An eclipse at sea is a wonderous sight .I know this is way ahead of time but does anyone know of any cruises that will be in Cairns (Australia) area on November 14th 2012? I know of a few specialist small tours but they realready fully booked .:(

Thanks for any info.

I stumbled upon the fact that Celebrity's Millennium is planning to be at a good eclipse location on November 14, 2012. Their 19-day 11/2 cruise from Honolulu to Sydney will be between Fiji and New Zealand and they plan to be on the center line for the eclipse. Maybe they forgot to tell their marketing department.

Thank you SO much - I have just got your reply and have now got my husband phoning our travel agent!

I stumbled upon the fact that Celebrity's Millennium is planning to be at a good eclipse location on November 14, 2012. Their 19-day 11/2 cruise from Honolulu to Sydney will be between Fiji and New Zealand and they plan to be on the center line for the eclipse. Maybe they forgot to tell their marketing department.

Hi again wryonrye - Celebrity came up trumps so we are to see the eclipse from the ocean onboard the Millenium- Once again Very many thanks:D:D:D

Hi again wryonrye - Celebrity came up trumps so we are to see the eclipse from the ocean onboard the Millenium- Once again Very many thanks:D:D:D

How exciting! I have always wanted to see a total solar eclipse. I may join you!

I was on a cruise on Celebrity Mercury last year on which the noted astrophysicist Alex Filippenko was a guest speaker. One of his talks was on the subject of total solar eclipses. He mentioned that he has been on a number of special cruises that sail into a total eclipse zone, and said that in fact he always makes a point of taking such a cruise whenever there's a total solar eclipse. So I wouldn't be surprised if he's on board some vessel or other as a guest speaker during the next such eclipse.

Incidentally, apart from being an immensely knowledgeable and entertaining speaker who makes difficult concepts (black holes, dark matter and dark energy, the expanding universe) relatively (!) easy to understand for simple non-scientists such as myself, he's a very friendly and approachable guy. I had the opportunity to join a dozen or so other passengers in talking with him after his lectures. These informal and spontaneous "seminar" sessions went on for a couple of hours, and were utterly fascinating.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Filippenko

http://astro.berkeley.edu/~alex/

Thanks for the info and the interest - seen a few eclipses at sea now as well as numerous land based ones. Haven't heard of Alex Filippenko but will certainly keep an ear & eye out for him. Going to be on Celebrity Millenium for this one and as he has already been a guest speaker I guess there is a good chance he wil be onboard for this.I am a total non-scientist and it is so difficult to put into words the feelings that viewing a TSE create. Suffice to say - one is not enough! If you get the chance do try to see one somtime. If you can't manage a cruise for this one - there is always 2017 across mid USA .

You can also take this ship from Ensenada on October 22 and make a 31 day cruise out of it.

I wonder why they didn't maneuver Celebrity Eclipse onto this route ... seems too obvious.

Also:

For the third time in five years, TravelQuest is chartering the m/s PAUL GAUGUIN, a beautiful 330-passenger, 5-star luxury cruise ship, to take us to the November 14th total solar eclipse. Along the way, we’ll discover spectacular Fiji, and neighboring Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Our voyage is set for November 10 - 20, 2012.

Also:

http://www.eclipsetours.com/ (Dawn Princess) and maybe Coral

Here's Dr Filippenko: http://www.wildernesstravel.com/trip/indonesia/eclipse-2012-australia

More info by Googling "solar eclipse cruise"

Oosterdam will be there too, on a 14-day loop from Sydney similar to Dawn Princess's.

Not Coral Princess, not sure where I got that.

Hi again wryonrye - Celebrity came up trumps so we are to see the eclipse from the ocean onboard the Millenium- Once again Very many thanks:D:D:D

We'll be on that cruise too so we'll see you there!!!

I'll be one of the many trying to get a good photo of the eclipse while on a moving object!

Should be fun!!!

Check out this: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1394604

Carol

Just booked the Dawn since we can't be away from work too long. Still quite a few cabins available, even balconies. Hoping we go 3 for 3 with this eclipse!

An eclipse at sea is such a great idea! Sheesh, I think I'm hanging out in the Theme Cruises section more often! :D

Being onboard for an eclipse is a great idea because you are mobile. When we saw the eclipse in China they changed our port in the middle of the night based on the weather forecast. We had an amazing view where we were but people in Shanghai were completely clouded in. It can make all the difference in whether you get to see it or not.

I enjoyed reading the info in this thread regarding 2012 eclipse viewing. I just joined so I'm a little late, but this November 2012 eclipse is still more than a year away. The last posting is over two months old, so I hope this stream is still alive. Background: This will be my 18th total solar eclipse since 1963, with six viewed on eclipse cruises, starting with the Canberra in 1973. For info, my investigation so far indicates that there are at least three major lines with 2012 eclipse cruises ... Celebrity with a 19-day, Princess with an 11-day amd Holland-America with a 14-day and a 28-day. There are also 3 specialty cruises on much smaller ships, which are generally high-end. We have a group of 16 friends who have been chasing these things for decades, and we travel together from the Black Sea to the Gobi Desert to the Alti-Plano in Bolivia. We are now trying to decide which cruise for 2012. Our main interest is the eclipse viewing first, then cruise amenity concerns second, but we have found in the past, and are currently still finding, that the cruise lines reverse these priorities. It is virtually impossible to find out in advance about the details of eclipse viewing plans from the cruise line. We have compiled a list of ten key questions, as we have been burned before, with the last time being in 2009 in the China Sea. Some cruises have no advance intention of, nor time set aside for, "chasing " the eclipse using weather satellite data to find clear skies. Some have NO intention of chasing the eclipse, but instead go to a exact predetermined location and stop the ship for 30 minutes (rain or shine), then proceed back to port. We have had no luck in finding out the detailed viewing plans and contingencies for any of these "eclipse" cruises, despite repeated calls. Booking any one of these "eclipse" cruises appears to be a gamble with very limited info. Any comments by anyone?

I'm interested, too, in whether the captain will 'chase' the eclipse. I would love to book the Millenium, but not if they are locked into their itinerary. And I'm curious from those who have done this before - is there enough room on the various decks for everyone to see? If I book a balcony, I'd want to be on the port side to see the sunrise, right, as we head from Fiji to New Zealand? (Unless we change course to chase the eclipse, I assume.) Looking forward to comments, but thinking about reserving a spot right away!

Karen

Grand Rapids

We have done three astronomy-themed cruises, so this post is based on our limited experience so far.

In 2009, we saw the eclipse in France from a Princess cruise. Those who remained on board in port were clouded in and saw nothing, and those like us who traveled to Honfleur saw the whole thing from start to finish. It was a complete crapshoot. The cruise was primarily a Baltic Sea cruise and the eclipse was considered a "bonus."

In 2004, we watched the Transit of Venus in Turkey. We traveled independently but on a ship that had a large contingent from an organized astronomy tour. We were able to attend the lectures and didn't feel like we missed a thing. Of course, the transit takes hours so the window for experiencing it is very long.

In 2009 in China, we specifically chose an astronomy-based tour and were very glad to be on a ship because they were able to negotiate a last-minute port change which ultimately allowed us to see the entire eclipse start to finish. We heard from people on land-based astronomy tours in various locations (mostly Shanghai) that they were clouded in and missed it completely.

These three experiences led us to our current choice. We know the Dawn Princess is being booked by several astronomy-based tour companies so we figure the odds are pretty high that Princess will accommodate them by being in the best place, if at all possible. From a ship standpoint I might have preferred the Paul Gauguin but they were fully booked by the time we made our choice, and as we have been on Princess before I'm sure we'll be happy and have a great time. After all, for us it is our vacation for the year as well as an eclipse opportunity.

Based on our experience in China I think I would always prefer to see an eclipse by ship because of the greater flexibility of location they afford. If you want to take photos, it may not be best to be on a moving ship, but I think it's more important to up the odds of actually seeing it as much as possible after traveling all that way.

I was pleased to read the recent posts of WayToMe and MJC. There is some good info there. I am chairing a group of 16 eclipse chasers, and we are meeting about every six weeks to plan our 2012 trip to Australia. We decided against a land trip to view the eclipse, either a commercial land trip or one organized by ourselves. This was rejected mainly because of the poor prospects of clear skies in the Port Douglas area on eclipse morning. We have instead voted to go with an eclipse cruise. We have further narrowed down our choices to one favorite ... the Holland-America 14 day cruise out of Sydney. It turns out there are knowledgeable and experienced eclipse chasing Astronomy groups who have booked hundreds of rooms on this cruise (Sky and Telescope Insight is one of these expert groups). While we could not get any information from calling or emailing Holland-America regarding their detailed plans for chasing and viewing the eclipse on November 14 (which I must say is pretty typical), we found that the big astronomy groups that booked lots of rooms had detailed info regarding that cruise that satisfied us. I guess that the people who answer phones and emails at cruise lines hardly know what an eclipse is, let alone know what the captain is planning to do on eclipse day. Obviously these Astronomy groups have an inside connection within H-A regarding the ships plans for eclipse day, including the planned gps coordinates of the default starting point, and the number of hours available for chasing clear skies. Yes, this cruise will be chasing clear skies if required, which is reassuring. The info is on the Insight web site, and we obtained much more detailed info via email from Insight. The default viewing point is almost a thousand miles offshore from Australia, almost to New Caledonia, which makes the eclipse significantly higher in the sky, as well as somewhat longer and later in the morning. We will be voting tomorrow (Nov. 20) regarding our group booking rooms on this cruise, and will be planning our own a six-day New Zealand side trip prior to the cruise, as well as a six-day land trip into Australia after the cruise. I look forward to any further info or comments that you might have on your own plans for viewing this eclipse a year from now.

wow - didn't realise there would be so much interest! We 'did' 2009 China eclipse on a cruise but saw zippo - apart from a lot of rain as we too had a captain who had no intention of letting such a phenomenon interrupt his getting back to port -our 2nd failure in 20 years and 11 eclipses so can't really complain. We tried for Paul Gaugin but fully booked so opted for Celebrity as we have done a few trips to Australia already so didn't really want to revisit the same ports. (Sorry Oz!!) Although the eclipse is the greatest reason for being at that side of the world in November it is also a vacation. I have heard that Travel Quest ( Paul Gaugin cruise) which organises a lot of astronomy based tours is offering Millenium trips and will have lectures etc on board so I guess Celebrity will be making the effort to accommodate us rather than it just being there. Less than a year to go now. BTW WayToMe you'll find plenty of space to view - in spite of those 'groups' who think they have sole rights to 3/4 of the deck space - Guess what - you don't! Like sun loungers - if space is unoccupied for 30 minutes .......Happy viewing!

This info may help some of you to make a decision. After much investigation and three group meetings, our group voted to all go on the Holland-America (H-A) 14-day eclipse cruise that departs Sydney on Nov. 7, 2012. We could not get much infor from H-A regarding exactly what the plans were for eclipse day (which is pretty typical over the years for cruise companies), but we did get detailed info from Sky & Telescope Insight. That group has decades of experience in eclipse chasing, and have 300 cabins blocked out on that ship. They obviously have a better pipeline to H-A than I do. Through Sky & Tel Insight Cruises we found out that they WILL chase the eclipse, and are planning to view it very far offshore towards New Caledonia (about 800 miles). They gave us the GPS coordinates of the initial planned viewing site, and noted that they have many hours allotted and available to maneuver to find clear skies. These were the very most important criteria for our group. At this location the eclipse will be much higher in the sky, and will be slightly longer.

Have only just joined but great to read all this info - my partner & I will be on the HAL cruise on 7th Nov (he also did some research!) so see you then! :)

Do you know anything about the 'roll call' facility? Are you aware if anyone has started anything yet for this cruise?

Do you know anything about the 'roll call' facility? Are you aware if anyone has started anything yet for this cruise?

There's a HAL roll call for the Oosterdam for this cruise.

Are you aware if anyone has started anything for this cruise?

LINK: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1543019

We are going on the Paul Gauguin Nov. 10, 2012 Solar Eclipse cruise which leaves from Fiji. Would love to hear from others going on the cruise. Reply to Karensan@aol.com. We are planning to go scuba diving.

To: Karensan Feb. 15, 2012

I'm sure that you will greatly enjoy the Paul Gauguin cruise. It looks like a good one. Our group of five couples seriously considered it, but finally voted to go on the Holland-America 14-day cruise instead. Two of the couples are going on the H-A 14-day cruise to New Zealand first, making it a 28-day cruise for them. As it turns out, we will be viewing the eclipse on November 14 not too far from each other. You will likely be south of New Caledonia, on the eastern end, whereas we will be on the western end. Don't be confused by the conflicting dates given for this eclipse. This will be one of those time-traveling eclipses, as it begins on November 14 and ends on November 13! Clear skies to all!

Looking for other cruisers on the Paul Gauguin Total Solar Eclipse cruise in Nov. 2012, in the South Pacific. We are very active seniors, in our 60s, and plan to go scuba diving in New Caledonia. Drop me a line if you are going, Karensan@aol.com