Cunard marketing email for 2026 eclipse

[HaveDogWillTravel]

I received a marketing email from Cunard for the new 2026 sailings. I believe it was end of Feb but before March 5th. The verbiage mentioned a 2026 eclipse cruise.  Does anyone else remember getting that?  And if you still have it (mine is deleted from my deleted folder) would you be so kind as to post it?  Thank you in advance. 
 

Nothing on the Cunard website mentions it and my Cunard person has no information on it. The Aug 9th 2026 QA sailing is in La Coruna on the 12th (eclipse day) which is in the path. However, it is not being marketed (yet) as an Eclipse cruise.
 

 I am looking for that email to send to my Cunard person. She has also emailed marketing. TIA 

Edited March 18 by HaveDogWillTravel

[exlondoner]

4 minutes ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I received a marketing email from Cunard for the new 2026 sailings. I believe it was end of Feb but before March 5th. The verbiage mentioned a 2026 eclipse cruise.  Does anyone else remember getting that?  And if you still have it (mine is deleted from my deleted folder) would you be so kind as to post it?  Thank you in advance. 
 

Nothing on the Cunard website mentions it and my Cunard person has no information on it. The Aug 9th 2026 QA sailing is in La Coruna on the 12th (eclipse day) which is in the path. However, it is not being marketed (yet) as an Eclipse cruise.
 

 I am looking for that email to send to my Cunard person. She has also emailed marketing. TIA 

I have a paper version from a travel agent mentioning an eclipse cruise, also for QV and QM2.

[Host Hattie]

There's a mention on the Cunard website Solar Eclipse in 2026

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Thank you so much!  I googled it but didn’t search Cunard’s website after my person said she did not have any info on it. Duhhh much appreciated! 

11 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

There's a mention on the Cunard website Solar Eclipse in 2026

 

[foodsvcmgr]

I booked this sailing for the interesting itinerary and return to NY on March 6th.

I suspected it might be a strong seller on those merits alone.

Now that it is being marketed as an eclipse sailing I understand the unusually high per diems.

Looks like a very interesting voyage.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

20 hours ago, foodsvcmgr said:

I booked this sailing for the interesting itinerary and return to NY on March 6th.

I suspected it might be a strong seller on those merits alone.

Now that it is being marketed as an eclipse sailing I understand the unusually high per diems.

Looks like a very interesting voyage.

I’m not sure which sailing you mean. The Eclipse is August 12, 2026. 

[foodsvcmgr]

I’m on August 4, 2026 sailing that I booked on March 6th when it opened, sorry for any confusion.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

3 minutes ago, foodsvcmgr said:

I’m on August 4, 2026 sailing that I booked on March 6th when it opened, sorry for any confusion.

No worries. Thanks for the clarification I’ll look at returning to NY as well. 

[worldtraveller99]

We are booked on the 9th August sailing out of Southampton with the eclipse on 12th August at A Coruna. Will there be any Cruise Critic meetup, and how does that work please? - am relatively new to ocean cruising.

 

I understand that the ship stays late in port that evening, and assume there will be an excursion out of the town for us to photograph the eclipse?

[foodsvcmgr]

I think a great photo op location would be at the ancient lighthouse there.

Unobstructed for close ups of the eclipse and some very interesting wider views working the tower into the shot.

I’m going to try something similar with the Reykjavik cathedral.

[Victoria2]

6 hours ago, foodsvcmgr said:

I think a great photo op location would be at the ancient lighthouse there.

Unobstructed for close ups of the eclipse and some very interesting wider views working the tower into the shot.

I’m going to try something similar with the Reykjavik cathedral.

Do you mean the Cathedral or the Hallgrímskirkja, which has a much taller tower and is architecturally fabulous?

[buchanan101]

On 3/18/2024 at 6:08 PM, foodsvcmgr said:

I booked this sailing for the interesting itinerary and return to NY on March 6th.

I suspected it might be a strong seller on those merits alone.

Now that it is being marketed as an eclipse sailing I understand the unusually high per diems.

Looks like a very interesting voyage.

Yes I wish I could persuade OH for this trip... 

[foodsvcmgr]

Victoria you are correct, I meant the latter with its iconic steeple.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

14 hours ago, worldtraveller99 said:

We are booked on the 9th August sailing out of Southampton with the eclipse on 12th August at A Coruna. Will there be any Cruise Critic meetup, and how does that work please? - am relatively new to ocean cruising.

 

I understand that the ship stays late in port that evening, and assume there will be an excursion out of the town for us to photograph the eclipse?

The roll call would be where a meet and greet would be set up. I haven’t looked to see if ones been started yet. 
 

I really hope they decide to sail in the path for the duration of the eclipse event.  It will last for several hours pre and post totality. Roads get awfully clogged when trying to position on land making any type of independent excursion risky.  Plus I really hate crowds. 
 

For me to keep this sailing (and the Iceland one I booked just prior to this) they really will need to explicitly state how they intend to maximize the eclipse experience.  

[D&N]

"Roads get awfully clogged when trying to position on land making any type of independent excursion risky."

 

We were in the path of one on August 11th 1999. We'd intended to drive from Freiburg to Baden Baden that morning and possibly be in the Caracalla Therme's outside pool, which in normal circumstances would have been quite easily achieved. The traffic on the autobahn that morning was awful. We ended up in a Lidl supermarket car park in a town several miles south. It wasn't even very nice weather. I think we only really got a break in the cloud for a short time around the eclipse. Plus the camera we had at the time wasn't very good.

 

 

 

[foodsvcmgr]

I believe it will be some time before Cunard release any more specific details of these eclipse sailings.

It appears the intent currently is to be tied up in the respective ports during the event.

I would expect some eclipse related programming and speakers, distribution of eclipse viewing cardboard glasses to those who need them, possibly a themed event of some sort.

They may also tailor some excursions specific for the eclipse and optimal viewing.

Beyond any of that not sure what else could be offered, the primary thing is that they are taking you as close as possible to totality.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

26 minutes ago, foodsvcmgr said:

I believe it will be some time before Cunard release any more specific details of these eclipse sailings.

It appears the intent currently is to be tied up in the respective ports during the event.

I would expect some eclipse related programming and speakers, distribution of eclipse viewing cardboard glasses to those who need them, possibly a themed event of some sort.

They may also tailor some excursions specific for the eclipse and optimal viewing.

Beyond any of that not sure what else could be offered, the primary thing is that they are taking you as close as possible to totality.

I agree they won’t give specifics for a while yet. Hopefully they commit to sailing in the path during the entire experience- which would be incredibly easy to do as La Coruna and Gijon bookend the path. If a more specifically committed sailing comes up before Cunard gives details then one would certainly have to weigh that in the decision.  Final payment is not for quite a while and my deposit is fully refundable.  It seems silly to have an eclipse cruise that gets you almost there but not quite. 
I do hope they get it together as I really miss my Cunard experience! 

I would not consider an excursion on land to the path a suitable alternative.  Been there, done that and it’s truly an awful experience with the traffic. 

[Cruise_Rookie_2010]

On 3/18/2024 at 4:37 PM, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I received a marketing email from Cunard for the new 2026 sailings. I believe it was end of Feb but before March 5th. The verbiage mentioned a 2026 eclipse cruise.  Does anyone else remember getting that?  And if you still have it (mine is deleted from my deleted folder) would you be so kind as to post it?  Thank you in advance. 
 

Nothing on the Cunard website mentions it and my Cunard person has no information on it. The Aug 9th 2026 QA sailing is in La Coruna on the 12th (eclipse day) which is in the path. However, it is not being marketed (yet) as an Eclipse cruise.
 

 I am looking for that email to send to my Cunard person. She has also emailed marketing. TIA 

The following itineraries (currently) are in the path of the eclipse during totality.

V615D, V615E, V616, V616A & V616B (Victoria @ Tarragona)

H620 (Anne @ La Coruna)

M618, M618A & M618B (Mary @ Reykjavik)

 

Hope that helps.

[D&N]

We'll settle for 95%. 90 minutes before sunset. On our balcony, no travel required.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

1 hour ago, Cruise_Rookie_2010 said:

The following itineraries (currently) are in the path of the eclipse during totality.

V615D, V615E, V616, V616A & V616B (Victoria @ Tarragona)

H620 (Anne @ La Coruna)

M618, M618A & M618B (Mary @ Reykjavik)

 

Hope that helps.

Thank you trying to help. It’s appreciated. I don’t know the voyage numbers I looked at off hand but I did look at both QV & QM2’s eclipse sailings. The one in southern Spain had the same issue as the QA one (plus we are spending a lot of time in that region this year) and the one in the far north isn’t a region I  want to return to yet. The QA route, is like Goldilocks said, “just right” lol. 

[ocean sounds]

On 3/27/2024 at 5:09 PM, worldtraveller99 said:

We are booked on the 9th August sailing out of Southampton with the eclipse on 12th August at A Coruna. 

 

I understand that the ship stays late in port that evening, and assume there will be an excursion out of the town for us to photograph the eclipse?

Hi, I’m also booked on that sailing.   I understood that we will see the eclipse as we sail away from port.  
 

“ When the moon moves across the sun, you could be on Queen Anne, departing the sunny Spanish port of La Coruña in the early evening. Spend your day strolling the Spanish streets, taste tapas in La Coruña's Old Town, or visit the Tower of Hercules, an ancient site situated at the top of the cliffs, for a beautiful view. Then return to your ship, and bask in the fading sun on Queen Anne's deck with a cocktail, sunglasses at the ready for prime eclipse viewing as you sail out of port. A perfect day.“

 

I’m sure looking forward to it !

Edited March 29 by ocean sounds

[worldtraveller99]

Me too ocean sounds! But I read that we don't leave port until the evening, which should allow us to photograph the eclipse on land before we leave? Oops if that isn't so! 

[worldtraveller99]

PS After asking Cunard customer services, I received the reply that we leave Al Coruna at 9.00 pm - so presumably we all need to be back on board at 8.00 pm, and the eclipse in 2026 is at 8.30 pm. He said, very reasonably, that the ship will still be stationary at 8.30 pm, so hopefully we will be able to photograph it from the terrace.

[foodsvcmgr]

QM2 will be overnighting in Reykjavik on her eclipse itinerary so I expect Cunard may offer tailored experiences both aboard and ashore.

In Iceland totality will be considerably earlier at 5:45 (1745) in the afternoon.

[Lanky Lad]

Something to think about for 2026.