Does anyone know if Aurora Borealis can be viewed from the cruise ship?

[cruiselover11]

I am looking at the cruise from Amsterdam to Norway on August 27.

On the Norway lights forecast site it says season starts on August 25- April.

Can anyone tell me once the ship is near these ports : Eidfjord, Alesund, Geiranger, Bergen will we be able to see the Northern Lights from the cruiseship?

[CruiserBruce]

Yes. No. Maybe. I doubt anyone will be able to predict with any real certainly.

[cruiselover11]

I guess I didn't phrase my question correctly. Provided that the sky is clear would the Northern Lights be visible from the ports and areas around these pots : Eidfjord Norway, Alesund, Geiranger, Bergen ?

[CruiserBruce]

The point is the atmospheric conditions have to be right- not just the weather.

[Hlitner]

Unlikely (although not impossible) in late August. But we will tell you a cruise story. A few years ago, while cruising in Norway we met a couple who told us how they really wanted to see the Aurora Borealis. So they booked a 2 week cruise on the Hurtigruten during one January. Hurtigruten boats are pretty expensive for what you get...but they do run up to Northern Norway during the winter. That couple spent two expensive weeks and the skies were overcast every night! Total bummer.

 

Hank

[kaisatsu]

Possible, but unlikely.

 

In late August, dusk will be ending around 10pm, so you will have some hours of darkness (unlike June & July). However, the auroral activity band is centered around northern Norway, so you would still need a moderately high activity index (~4-5) to see the lights that far south.

 

Unless you're sailing Hurtigruten, you'll be in open sea, so you don't have to worry about the landscape blocking the view to the horizon. However, on a moving cruise ship, you're trapped with the local light pollution, which will make it difficult to see dimmer displays, and you won't be able to take long-exposure photos.

 

If you have a free night with clear weather (especially if there's also a high Kp index), you could head out on deck and scout the northern horizon for a while. You never know when you may get lucky. (Just don't have your heart set on it!)

[Nitemare]

kaisatsu has the key info: The ship itself puts out too much light that you won't be able to see something subtle like the Northern Lights.

 

We were cruising on Oceania a few years ago and were on the top deck at night and saw the Navigator and he was happy to give us a bit of a celestial tour of the skies. We suggested they could maybe do this in an organized fashion and turn off the upper lights and he agreed it would be fun but that the cruiseline didn't want to make these adjustments.

[FirstCruiseBeth]

kaisatsu has the key info: The ship itself puts out too much light that you won't be able to see something subtle like the Northern Lights.

 

We were cruising on Oceania a few years ago and were on the top deck at night and saw the Navigator and he was happy to give us a bit of a celestial tour of the skies. We suggested they could maybe do this in an organized fashion and turn off the upper lights and he agreed it would be fun but that the cruiseline didn't want to make these adjustments.

 

On our Panama canal cruise with Princess last year they had a stargazing session late one evening on the top deck with a navigator as well as some of the cruise director's team helping us identify stars. They turned off as many of the ships upper lights as possible while we were up there. This summer we are doing the North Cape with Princess so I hope they do the same, although in mid-August it'll probably be too soon for the Northern Lights.

[cruiselover11]

Thanks everyone ! We'll be making plans to see the Northern Lights via land vacation in the later time.