Northern lights from the Summit

[JeffT237]

We were fortunate enough to see the northern lights from the Summit this evening. This is our first night on the northbound itinerary out of Vancouver, an announcement was made about 11:30 that they were visible.  

[Altamar]

Beautiful!

[texkat]

Gorgeous!

[mrgabriel]

That's a view that you'll remember forever!

 

They're often visible from our house but there is no one to wake me up and tell me to look. Kudos to the crew for making the announcement. 

[alexandria]

Northern Lights are a beautiful sight to behold, but do I understand correctly that they made the announcement about them at 11:30PM?  😲

 

I would be pretty torqued if I was awoken by three loud bongs and a "look at the pretty sky" ship-wide announcement at 11:30pm. 😠

 

They should have just made an announcement earlier in the evening along the lines of "for those who are interested, be sure to keep an eye on the skies tonight, it is the beginning of aurora borealis season and you may see a spectacular light show later tonight.  Come on out on deck or enjoy the view from the Observation Lounge which will be open all night"

 

IMO, announcements after a certain hour should be strictly limited to emergencies.

[JeffT237]

4 minutes ago, alexandria said:

Northern Lights are a beautiful sight to behold, but do I understand correctly that they made the announcement about them at 11:30PM?  😲

 Yes, an officer made an announcement over the PA at 11:30pm, not sure if it was the Captain as I was sleeping to your point. Personally my wife and I were grateful he did and it appeared a lot of passengers also appreciated it. We have a balcony on the starboard side where they were visible and a lot of passengers we could see came out to view as well. I went up on the 11th deck and there were also plenty of passengers and crew enjoying the lights. 

 

I can’t speak for everyone, I’m sure there were some who didn’t appreciate the wake up call, but it looks like many enjoyed the viewing. 

[alexandria]

Oh, I'm certain that many enjoyed the viewing.  They are quite spectacular.  I'm just flabbergasted about the late hour of the announcement. 

 

In all of the many dozens of cruises I've taken over the course of nearly fifty years, I've only experienced a couple of nighttime announcements and they have all involved emergency situations.  I've had the same experience on red-eye flights.  No "sightseeing" announcements have ever come from the cockpit during the nighttime hours that passengers were generally sleeping or resting.

[macaroni]

Kudos for the announcement being made…

[BuckeyeMark]

Fabulous! What a treat to see that!

[Ciaranaman]

Stunning!  Thank you for getting up and taking those pics!  Someday I hope to see them for myself 🤞🤞

~Bernadette

[the penguins]

6 hours ago, alexandria said:

Oh, I'm certain that many enjoyed the viewing.  They are quite spectacular.  I'm just flabbergasted about the late hour of the announcement. 

 

In all of the many dozens of cruises I've taken over the course of nearly fifty years, I've only experienced a couple of nighttime announcements and they have all involved emergency situations.  I've had the same experience on red-eye flights.  No "sightseeing" announcements have ever come from the cockpit during the nighttime hours that passengers were generally sleeping or resting.

you had better avoid Hurtigruten they announce the Northern Lights every time. Of course, if you book the right cruises, they also offer a free 7 night cruise if the Lights don't appear.

[alexandria]

28 minutes ago, the penguins said:

you had better avoid Hurtigruten they announce the Northern Lights every time. Of course, if you book the right cruises, they also offer a free 7 night cruise if the Lights don't appear.

Thanks for the tip, I'll keep that in mind.  I do wonder whether Celebrity (and some others who cheered this late night announcement) gave any pause to consider those with medical conditions which effect their ability to sleep, or their ability to return to sleep if awakened by loud noises.  Or even just those "early to bed, early to rise" passengers.  Not everyone stays up late at night, even on a cruise!  I see from the comments that there were some who were very happy that the late-night announcement was made.  I hope, however, that their enthusiasm that an announcement was made does not reflect a lack of empathy for their fellow passengers who may not have been so pleased with Celebrity's approach.

Absent an urgent emergency situation, I would never knock on a neighbors door late at night, or call a friend, family member or work colleague at nearly midnight and risk interrupting their sleep.  When traveling, I endeavor to be a considerate "neighbor", being very careful not to disturb those in neighboring ship staterooms or hotel rooms even during the day, but particularly at night.  And when the officers on the Summit could have just as effectively communicated a message about aurora borealis at a more appropriate hour, I simply find it incredibly insensitive and inconsiderate to make such a late night announcement. 

 

In fact, NOAA can predict the intensity and location of aurora borealis about two days in advance (https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/aurora-dashboard-experimental)  UofA's Geophysical Institute does the same:  https://www.gi.alaska.edu/monitors/aurora-forecast.  The ship's captain nearly always announces weather forecasts...do the same for the aurora borealis late in the evening:  "If we have clear skies tonight, the northern lights forecast indicates you are likely to be able to view aurora borealis in the skies to the north/northeast.  If the northern lights are visible, the best time to see them will be between 10pm and 2am.  In order not to disturb your fellow guests, we won't make any other announcements tonight.  So keep an eye on those northern skies later tonight as we continue sailing towards our next stop, Ketchican.  Have a wonderful night."

 

It seems to me that such an approach would be win-win for all.  Am I wrong about that?

[JeffT237]

My original post was meant to share what many of us felt was an unforgettable moment. That’s it. 2 things can be true at once, first many included myself were very appreciative of the announcement to see the northern lights. Second there were probably were some who were inconvenienced. It doesn’t mean those in the pro announcement camp are not “considerate” neighbors like has been indirectly suggested. Judging by many onboard today, it was the talk of the day. At the pool, at the wine tasting we went to, and at our breakfast. It’s like the first thing everyone talked about, “did you see the northern lights?” Sorry to cause such controversy. 
 

2 hours ago, alexandria said:

gave any pause to consider those with medical conditions which effect their ability to sleep,

 

The irony of this is my wife does have a medical issue which her health does better with proper rest and sleep. When the announcement was made she was the one who practically pushed me out of bed and her way to get to the balcony to see the lights! Yes I realize she’s only one of 2000+ passengers on board. Sorry for our behavior but how about we just agree to disagree. 

 

[RichYak]

3 minutes ago, JeffT237 said:

Sorry to cause such controversy. 

It’s not at all controversial and there’s no reason for you to apologize. 

[alexandria]

I get the enthusiasm, I do. And I'm glad that your wife was able to enjoy the experience.

 

One of our family members that we bring on cruises when he is medically stable suffers from several severe and debilitating conditions, including stroke pain.  It is often difficult for him to get to sleep and equally difficult for his wife who stays up until he is asleep so that she can try to help him get comfortable.  It is a blessing for them both when they get a decent night's rest.

 

I know what effect being startled awake would have on them both and I can't help but feel great sympathy to any on your sailing for whom the experience was anything but exciting and joyful. That's why I think there was a better way Celebrity could have handled this. That's all.

[kathynorth]

JeffT237, your photos are awesome; thank you for sharing them! We were on an end of Aug Iceland to Boston cruise where the northern lights appeared around 11pm. We were already in bed when we heard the announcement by our cruise director and practically jumped into our clothes to go view on the upper decks. 

[the penguins]

7 hours ago, alexandria said:

Thanks for the tip, I'll keep that in mind.  I do wonder whether Celebrity (and some others who cheered this late night announcement) gave any pause to consider those with medical conditions which effect their ability to sleep, or their ability to return to sleep if awakened by loud noises.  Or even just those "early to bed, early to rise" passengers.  Not everyone stays up late at night, even on a cruise!  I see from the comments that there were some who were very happy that the late-night announcement was made.  I hope, however, that their enthusiasm that an announcement was made does not reflect a lack of empathy for their fellow passengers who may not have been so pleased with Celebrity's approach.

Absent an urgent emergency situation, I would never knock on a neighbors door late at night, or call a friend, family member or work colleague at nearly midnight and risk interrupting their sleep.  When traveling, I endeavor to be a considerate "neighbor", being very careful not to disturb those in neighboring ship staterooms or hotel rooms even during the day, but particularly at night.  And when the officers on the Summit could have just as effectively communicated a message about aurora borealis at a more appropriate hour, I simply find it incredibly insensitive and inconsiderate to make such a late night announcement. 

 

In fact, NOAA can predict the intensity and location of aurora borealis about two days in advance (https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/aurora-dashboard-experimental)  UofA's Geophysical Institute does the same:  https://www.gi.alaska.edu/monitors/aurora-forecast.  The ship's captain nearly always announces weather forecasts...do the same for the aurora borealis late in the evening:  "If we have clear skies tonight, the northern lights forecast indicates you are likely to be able to view aurora borealis in the skies to the north/northeast.  If the northern lights are visible, the best time to see them will be between 10pm and 2am.  In order not to disturb your fellow guests, we won't make any other announcements tonight.  So keep an eye on those northern skies later tonight as we continue sailing towards our next stop, Ketchican.  Have a wonderful night."

 

It seems to me that such an approach would be win-win for all.  Am I wrong about that?

On Hurtigruten you know in advance that they will make the announcements so you have the choice of cruising or not. 

Sorry your other idea is impractical as the time frame is too long and the lights are not guaranteed - imagine 2000 plus passengers all sitting around the ship for hours just in case and when the night staff are trying to clean all the public areas. 

My wife also has pain and mobility issues but would never miss the Lights even though she knows she will suffer the next day. She makes these judgment calls every day as do many other people with medical/mobility issues.

Unless the Cruise Director used the Emergency Channel you were free to turn off the sound in your cabin.

 

[barbevrn]

Many, myself included book Alaskan cruises during the Aurora peak season with the very high hopes of fulfilling bucket list dreams. I, for one really hope they do make announcements. OP your photos are absolutely gorgeous

[mahdnc]

On 8/31/2024 at 12:45 AM, JeffT237 said:

We were fortunate enough to see the northern lights from the Summit this evening. This is our first night on the northbound itinerary out of Vancouver, an announcement was made about 11:30 that they were visible.  

 

Very nice photos, thanks for posting.  The camera does a nice job of bringing out faint objects.  How did they look to your naked eye?

[Liao]

Wow, GREAT pics!  Once in a lifetime for many if not most, thank you for sharing!

[JeffT237]

55 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

Very nice photos, thanks for posting.  The camera does a nice job of bringing out faint objects.  How did they look to your naked eye?

Yes they did show better on the pics than to the naked eye. But it also depended on the location, they were definitely more vibrant from my balcony than on deck, on deck had more lights on than my balcony. But being on deck 9 with the big overhang obstructed some of the view. They were hard to take pics of, using night mode on the iPhone requires having to hold the phone pretty steady for a bit. I deleted more than I kept, but I spent most of the time just viewing them from different locations. I also used the auto correction feature which brought out more the green color. 

[icystorms]

oh wow! thank you for sharing!  i'm going on an alaskan cruise from vancouver at the end of this week. i hope i'm as lucky.  does anyone know how common this is, to see the northern lights while on a ship going from vancouver to whittier?

[NanaPam00]

While I understand the need for healthy sleep (I love my sleep), if we had the chance to view this once in a lifetime event on a cruise and no one woke me up I would be most upset….

[MississippiMom]

@JeffT237, your photos are AMAZING!  Thank you for sharing.  We will be on a northbound from Vancouver sailing this time next year and I hope we get lucky enough to have, at least, one night of Northern Lights viewing.

[Jim_Iain]

On 8/31/2024 at 6:49 PM, alexandria said:

I get the enthusiasm, I do. And I'm glad that your wife was able to enjoy the experience.

 

One of our family members that we bring on cruises when he is medically stable suffers from several severe and debilitating conditions, including stroke pain.  It is often difficult for him to get to sleep and equally difficult for his wife who stays up until he is asleep so that she can try to help him get comfortable.  It is a blessing for them both when they get a decent night's rest.

 

I know what effect being startled awake would have on them both and I can't help but feel great sympathy to any on your sailing for whom the experience was anything but exciting and joyful. That's why I think there was a better way Celebrity could have handled this. That's all.

 

In that situation  you may wish to avoid booking an Alaska or Iceland cruise.  

 

My experience has been that 99+% have raved about the enjoyment to see possibly a once in a lifetime Northern Lights experience.   I've never recall them making an announcement after 11:00 PM.  

 

I think it would be almost an impossibility on a ship but on a Pre-Cruise Alaska excursion the hotel had the option of having the front desk call your room should the lights appear.   There were probably fewer than 200 guests at the Lodge.