Nieuw Statedam - Movies under the stars / Stargazing

[hexdragon]

I assume that they dim the lights for the movies. Has anyone looked up to see the stars? Can you see stars? I tried to stargaze on other cruises, but there was always to many lights on the ship...

[igraf]

51 minutes ago, hexdragon said:

I assume that they dim the lights for the movies. Has anyone looked up to see the stars? Can you see stars? I tried to stargaze on other cruises, but there was always to many lights on the ship...

 

I work professionally in astronomy and am also an avid amateur stargazer.  Take my word for it: a cruise ship is a lousy place for stargazing.

 

igraf

 

 

 

[igraf]

2 minutes ago, igraf said:

 

 

On the other hand. a cruise ship is a good place to view a green flash as the sun sets.  i caught a good one on a recent  cruise.

 

igraf

 

 

Edited January 12, 2019 by igraf

[notladjr]

We were on Nieuw Amsterdam about a month ago on an Eastern Caribbean cruise and I recall my telling me she got up either in the middle of the night or early in the morning before sunrise and the stars were amazing. I am not sure where she was at on the ship but will try to remember and ask her when I see her.

[GaryR6273]

I am sure there are part of the upper decks that have limited light at night that might have better views of the night sky. We are going on the Nieuw Statendam in a week and I am happy to report back. 

 

FYI...on Princess they have a stargazing program with their Discovery at Sea program where they do a guided tour of the night sky and actually turn off the lights around one of the pool decks to allow better viewing. Its pretty cool!

[ski ww]

There are always lights on around the ship at night, I agree it's not a good place for star gazing. Unless they have a guest speaker who talks about the stars & they go to the top deck and turn off the lights, which happened on one of our cruises. 

[igraf]

36 minutes ago, notladjr said:

We were on Nieuw Amsterdam about a month ago on an Eastern Caribbean cruise and I recall my telling me she got up either in the middle of the night or early in the morning before sunrise and the stars were amazing. I am not sure where she was at on the ship but will try to remember and ask her when I see her.

 

It might happen at sea in very clear conditions, but I saw next to nothing on a recent cruise to the Mexican Riviera.   I could only see the brighter stars that would be easily seen from a city.  My definition of a dark sky is when the bright and dark features of the Milky Way jump out at you.  Many people have never seen this, and a single light bulb in the vicinity will completely destroy such a sight.

 

It is possible to put together a star gazing activity on the ship, but it is being done because we are on the ship and not because it is a good place to do it.  Kind of like the basketball court.....

 

igraf

 

 

 

[FOPMan]

The best views I’ve found tend to be all the way aft on the uppermost deck. I’ve also had some luck  midship on the Koningsdam, again on the highest deck (jogging track).