Where are the stars?

[Sangela]

OK, this may seem like a dumb question, but when we cruised the first time on the Elation in Aug. 07 one of the things I was looking forward to was seeing the stars while out at sea.

 

When I camp in the desert I will sit in my chair and pick out the constellations and look for shooting stars, (or, as a nod to the UFO thread, UFO's :p ).

 

We went up to the very top deck, we went to the very front of the ship and the aft-est part of the ship and though the nights were crystal clear, did not see stars, because of the lights on the ship.

 

I was bummed, but it was really a minor bummage, as we still had so much fun and got to see the almost full moon rise and set at sea, (which was beautiful).

 

My question is: do any of you know if there is a spot on board a ship where the lights do not interfere with star gazing? If not, no big deal, but I remember my brother telling me about when he was on a freighter going to Africa and being absolutely amazed at the stars he saw while in the middle of the Atlantic.

[PennyAgain]

Look for an area of the ship that is under the bridge. The officers have to be able to see clearly so that area is not lit.

 

On small ships the captain was responsive to our request to turn the lights off to the legal limit so we could star gaze. Once the captain of an old cruise ship in Hawaii (I think it was the Independence) turned off the lights so we could see an erupting volcano.

 

You can always ask.

[JanineM]

We sailed on Celebrity Constellation last spring and used to sit on the aft balcony of the buffet restaurant in the evening. It was quite dark and great for stargazing. We actually were fortunate enough to see an eclipse! It was one of those moments you remember ...

[cb at sea]

Unfortunately, most of our nighttime skies have had cloud cover! Great, clear weather during the day, but clouds at night! I've yet to have a good "star-watching" experience!

[paul929207]

We have had a balcony several times where everyone kept the ourside lights off and we got to see lots of stars.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have been very fortunate to see many stars on various cruises while we cruise -- Caribbean -- Mexico -- Alaska -- you name it!!

[Grannycb]

The stars were very bright this past week. Wonderful skies from Cozumel and Grand Cayman!

[Sangela]

Cool! So there are places to stargaze! We have a balcony this time, so it would be heavenly to sit in our balcony and stargaze.

Thanks for the answers!

[Happy ks]

Sometimes we see them, sometimes we don't. As another poster mentioned, it has more to do with the cloud cover than the lights on the ship. I think clouds can be higher than what you think, you can't always see the clouds up high in the atmosphere.

 

Perhaps a meterologist or an amatuer has a better answer???

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

The moon can interfere with stargazing if it is nearly full or full.

[ehfl]

Try the bow of the ship....it needs to be kept dark there so the bridge crew can see. The helicopter pad is a great place to stargaze.