Anyone heard of the front desk calling your cabin if northern lights visible?

Have booked the Oosterdam to Alaska in September. My traveling companion says that a woman he works with took a HAL cruise to Alaska, and she said if you ask the front desk, they will call your cabin to notify you if the northern lights are visible.

He is very excited about possibly seeing them. I wonder if the front desk staff would really do this? He asked me to ask about it here.

Anyone ever request this? Did you get a call?

Thanks!

We have done quite a few Alaskam cruises.

And never have we seen the Northern Lights.

As a rule they are too far inland to be viewed from the ship.

Thanks KK that's what I was thinking. There would have to be some pretty major solar storms for them to be visible that far south - especially on our 7 day RT out of Seattle that only goes as far north as Juneau. But I said I would ask...

Have booked the Oosterdam to Alaska in September. My traveling companion says that a woman he works with took a HAL cruise to Alaska, and she said if you ask the front desk, they will call your cabin to notify you if the northern lights are visible.

 

He is very excited about possibly seeing them. I wonder if the front desk staff would really do this? He asked me to ask about it here.

 

Anyone ever request this? Did you get a call?

 

Thanks!

I have seen them in Sept. around Juneau. Every passenger was on deck - however, there were only 50 passengers total on the boat.

Just back from a 1 week Aurora trip north of Fairbanks. If you want aurora, go there in the winter. Fantastic beyond belief.

DON

Have booked the Oosterdam to Alaska in September. My traveling companion says that a woman he works with took a HAL cruise to Alaska, and she said if you ask the front desk, they will call your cabin to notify you if the northern lights are visible.

 

He is very excited about possibly seeing them. I wonder if the front desk staff would really do this? He asked me to ask about it here.

 

Anyone ever request this? Did you get a call?

 

Thanks!

Alaska cruising season is in the summer, when there are long hours of daylight and the Northern Lights are usually not seen. On our cruise in early June, there were 22 hours of daylight and two hours of twilight. It never got really dark.

Winter is the time for seeing the Northern Lights because it needs to be dark, so you are not at all likely to see them on a cruise.

In the unlikely event that they were seen during a cruise, it would be so unusual that I would expect a ship-wide announcement over the public address system, not a calling of individual cabins.

I think that the person who told your friend that he might be notified if the Northern Lights appeared was either pulling his leg, or was sadly delusional.

Thanks KK that's what I was thinking. There would have to be some pretty major solar storms for them to be visible that far south - especially on our 7 day RT out of Seattle that only goes as far north as Juneau. But I said I would ask...

Sometimes they can be seen pretty far south ... like WA state.

CLICK HERE shortly before you go and do a Next to move down to the dates of your cruise.

I remember hearing just recently Northern Lights were seen in areas of U.S. they are never seen. I'm vague about location but I think northern New England the lights were visible this spring for a few days.

I wouldn't want a call in the middle of the night for anything!! :eek: Unless there is an emergency, I don't want to be disturbed. :o

Alaska cruising season is in the summer, when there are long hours of daylight and the Northern Lights are usually not seen. On our cruise in early June, there were 22 hours of daylight and two hours of twilight. It never got really dark.

 

Winter is the time for seeing the Northern Lights because it needs to be dark, so you are not at all likely to see them on a cruise.

Actually, according to Wikitravel.org, the "best" time to see them begins in late September, which is when our cruise is.

In the unlikely event that they were seen during a cruise, it would be so unusual that I would expect a ship-wide announcement over the public address system, not a calling of individual cabins.

 

I think that the person who told your friend that he might be notified if the Northern Lights appeared was either pulling his leg, or was sadly delusional.

Not sure if they'd make a ship-wide announcement if it was, say 11 p.m. when they were visable.

I remember hearing just recently Northern Lights were seen in areas of U.S. they are never seen. I'm vague about location but I think northern New England the lights were visible this spring for a few days.

 

I wouldn't want a call in the middle of the night for anything!! :eek: Unless there is an emergency, I don't want to be disturbed. :o

 

I was joking with him the other day about not wanting to be woken up but since the two of us have been having so much trouble sleeping lately we'd probably be awake anyway :D

On very rare occasions we have seen them in the Chicago area in the winter. About ten years ago our then college age son woke us up in the middle of the night when he saw them -- at the time they were met with mixed feelings -- we were very tired and frozen standing outside in our sleepware and coats -- and we knew we had to be up early to go to work in the morning -- but they were the Northern Lights and they were spectacular, and they showed for a few nights in a row.

We did not view them ourselves but there was supposed to have been a display here sometime this past winter. Unusual, but it does happen. And, if you can raise yourself and still face the next day, they are worth the effort.

Sometimes they can be seen pretty far south ... like WA state.

CLICK HERE shortly before you go and do a Next to move down to the dates of your cruise.

Thanks for that link. I'm bookmarking that one!

Last year, we did a Princess cruise tour and it was possible to ask the front desk at the lodge to call if the northern lights were out.

We were so fortunate and surprised when we walked out of dinner at the Princess Lodge at Denali to see everyone standing around looking UP! Yep, the lights were out and dancing about. Unfortunately, the moon was full so some of the color was washed out - but it was unexpected and a total delight. This was the very near the end of the season, in September.

I've done several AK cruises and have never heard mention on any ship of the front desk making this available though.

On our TA from Copenhagen to NY a fellow passenger said she had asked the front desk to call her if there were Northern Lights. One night they called her. She got to see the lights! Can't hurt to ask.

On our TA from Copenhagen to NY a fellow passenger said she had asked the front desk to call her if there were Northern Lights. One night they called her. She got to see the lights! Can't hurt to ask.

Thanks! You are right...it doesn't hurt to ask. And with the link provided by jtl513, I should know if it is worth bothering.

I would love to see the Northern Lights sometime...I think it would be amazing.

I have to say, though, that when I read the title of your thread I thought you were talking about the nightclub on the Vista or Signature ships. Sorry...but I got a little chuckle when I saw what you were actually talking about. I couldn't quite figure out why the front desk would be calling if you could see the Northern Lights (nightclub). ;) ;)

:) :)

That would be cool if the front desk called you about the Northern Lights but I think that would be a little unrealistic.

You guys who love the northern lights should check out this time lapse video... absolutely stunning! His other videos are just gorgeous too.... they are in HD if you change the settings.

I really like to browse the photos on this site:

http://astronomynorth.com/

That would be cool if the front desk called you about the Northern Lights but I think that would be a little unrealistic.

That's kind of what I thought too...how many phone calls would they have to make? But maybe most people would rather sleep and they only have a few requests. I think I will take the advice to ask and see what they say if there is any liklihood there might be lights during the cruise.

... if there is any liklihood there might be lights during the cruise.

Yes, I forget which ship it was, but we rushed up to the top deck to see what it was all about.

Now we have both seen the 'lights' before, but all that we could see this time was the vapor from the funnel, trying to masquerade as 'Northern Lights'.:eek:

john

Thanks KK that's what I was thinking. There would have to be some pretty major solar storms for them to be visible that far south - especially on our 7 day RT out of Seattle that only goes as far north as Juneau. But I said I would ask...

Not sure what the amount of daylight vs night is in September but as far as them being that far south I live in MN and have seen them here numerous times. It is quite the sight to see.

I think if there was ever a good chance to see them it will be late September. The Westerdam has a sailing starting September 22nd. It will depend on a couple of things. One the activity of the Solar Flares, it was recently high was reported to be seen down to the Juneau area. It doe start to get much darker in mid to late September but the thing that will keep you from seeing them and will most likely happen is Cloud Cover. It has to be perfectly clear out.

Now the answer to if the front desk will call you, I was told YES. Several years ago we did the very first week in May, the activity was due to be quite high and be seen to southern Alaska. We were on the Ryndam and YES it did get quite dark and I have pictures of the Full moon and pitch blackness that occured at about 11pm The Front Desk was taking a list of those that wanted to be called if the Bridge spotted the Northern Lights. The unfortunate part is the Clouds came rolling in. It was freezing that night and we had gone up top to start to see if we could see them about 11 pm but in the direction they would have been was nothing but clouds.

Here is a picture I took that does show hot dark out it was, there was even another cruise ship off in the distance.

I think if there was ever a good chance to see them it will be late September. The Westerdam has a sailing starting September 22nd. It will depend on a couple of things. One the activity of the Solar Flares, it was recently high was reported to be seen down to the Juneau area. It doe start to get much darker in mid to late September but the thing that will keep you from seeing them and will most likely happen is Cloud Cover. It has to be perfectly clear out.

 

Now the answer to if the front desk will call you, I was told YES. Several years ago we did the very first week in May, the activity was due to be quite high and be seen to southern Alaska. We were on the Ryndam and YES it did get quite dark and I have pictures of the Full moon and pitch blackness that occured at about 11pm The Front Desk was taking a list of those that wanted to be called if the Bridge spotted the Northern Lights. The unfortunate part is the Clouds came rolling in. It was freezing that night and we had gone up top to start to see if we could see them about 11 pm but in the direction they would have been was nothing but clouds.

 

Here is a picture I took that does show hot dark out it was, there was even another cruise ship off in the distance.

Thank you so much! We are actually going to be on the Oosterdam departing Seattle on September 23rd.

Funny how I didn't really think about the cloud cover issue. On my previous Alaska cruise in May it was clear most days. But that part of the state is a rain forest so I need to be prepared for rain and clouds this time, even though I was lucky last time.

Not sure what the amount of daylight vs night is in September ...