Clear skies in the middle of the Caribbean...?

[voyager22]

I'm going on my first cruise and i love love love staring at the stars, mainly because they're quite uncommon in a busy bright city.

I was wondering, based on your experiences to the western caribbean, are the stars a lot more visible to the naked eye, or do the lights on the ship act as city street lights?:confused:

 

And have you experienced choppy or calm waters here? We're going mid august - hurricane season! =s

 

Also, on a side note - what documents are required to board a ship? All of us have Canadian pasports. My brother and I have our drivers licence as well (I hope to get my full license before i leave so i can go ATVing!). My father has his passport & canadian citizen card. Is this enough? What else should we bring? If my father got the newer green Ontario Health Card, that should be better right? We still have the old red & white cards (hopefully there are Ontarians reading this that know what i mean!):rolleyes:

 

TIA,

[LHT28]

 

Also, on a side note - what documents are required to board a ship? All of us have Canadian pasports. My brother and I have our drivers licence as well (I hope to get my full license before i leave so i can go ATVing!). My father has his passport & canadian citizen card. Is this enough? What else should we bring? If my father got the newer green Ontario Health Card, that should be better right? We still have the old red & white cards (hopefully there are Ontarians reading this that know what i mean!):rolleyes:

 

TIA,

A passport is all you need unless you are renting a vehicle then you will need D.L Your dad probably should bring the citizenship card also

 

It does not matter what colour your health card is it is only valid in Ontario.;)

Buy travel insurance that covers out of country medical.

 

Yes you can usually see the stars the light from the ship does hamper your view a bit but nothing like in the big city

[cb at sea]

We've been a bit unlucky with the night skies---even tho the seas were calm, and had no rain, the clouds (high, thin ones) always obscured our view of the stars. If you have a balcony, it's dark enough out there to see, if you close the drapes behind you.

[Cruisearcher]

Cruise documents and valid passport is good enough to get onboard. Extra photo ID like driver license or citizen card is for US custom at the airport. I don’t think OHIP cover travelling aboard, you better buy individual travel insurance from your bank, blue cross, CAA…As for the stars, providing there is clear sky, and otherwise they look the same. You better off get ready to watch the spectacular sunrise and sunset. Enjoy your first cruise, you're going to love it.

[Scooter-n-GB]

My experience with the Caribbean sky is that when you find a darker part of the ship, and the clouds are not an issue, the stars are absolutely brilliant!!!

 

Often, the darkest part of the ship will be a balcony (hopefully not a lot of ambient light from neighbors), late at night, around 2 or 3 A.M. :)

 

If you don't happen to be in a balcony, try getting as far forward as possible. I could also suggest fully aft, but often the ships funnel exhaust will obscure, but if you're in a cross wind, sometimes aft will work.

[voyager22]

I suggested the health card since it is a government issued form of I.D., not as a means of getting OHIP to cover us lol. We already took insurance for the flight/cruise.

 

As it's our first cruise, we weren't sure who was going to get sick watching the waves so we opted for an inside cabin. If we love it (and i'm 99% sure we will) then the next cruise we'll go for the aft if possible.

I cannot wait to see the sunset/sunrise on the horizon. i've only ever seen them go behind buildings and out of sight! :)

 

Thanks for your replies!

[LHT28]

I suggested the health card since it is a government issued form of I.D., not as a means of getting OHIP to cover us lol. We already took insurance for the flight/cruise.

Thanks for your replies!

 

a passport is the best I.D.

 

enjoy the cruise

[DKane]

I'm going on my first cruise and i love love love staring at the stars, mainly because they're quite uncommon in a busy bright city.

I was wondering, based on your experiences to the western caribbean, are the stars a lot more visible to the naked eye, or do the lights on the ship act as city street lights?:confused:

 

And have you experienced choppy or calm waters here? We're going mid august - hurricane season! =s

 

Also, on a side note - what documents are required to board a ship? All of us have Canadian pasports. My brother and I have our drivers licence as well (I hope to get my full license before i leave so i can go ATVing!). My father has his passport & canadian citizen card. Is this enough? What else should we bring? If my father got the newer green Ontario Health Card, that should be better right? We still have the old red & white cards (hopefully there are Ontarians reading this that know what i mean!):rolleyes:

 

TIA,

 

On our cruise to W. Caribbean last month we had pretty calm seas and we could see many stars after everyone switched off their balcony lights. If you are on one of the top decks you may have a hard time seeing stars with the glare from the lights.

[voyager22]

We're on the 8th deck, inside cabin. But i was hoping to go out on the deck at night n' sit on one of the lounge chairs and just stare up.

Does anyone know if there's a curfew...or is there a time where the deck is closed off to everyone for safety purposes at night? Or could you be out there all night (and sleep out there lol)

[paul929207]

The best place to see stars on a ship are the balconies. With your lights and (hopefully) the lights of your neighbors turned off, you can see pretty well. The open decks are all lit at night, reducing the number of visible stars.

[infoprof56]

No curfew for the deck on ships. I don't know about sleeping at night on the deck but I have had some very nice naps during the afternoon in a deck chair. It isn't always peaceful near the pools late at night as the crew is often cleaning and rearanging chairs and so forth. I am a late nigth person and I love walking around the decks at night. It is very peaceful and yes if you're lucky and have clear skies you will see more stars than in the city.

 

 

 

We're on the 8th deck, inside cabin. But i was hoping to go out on the deck at night n' sit on one of the lounge chairs and just stare up.

Does anyone know if there's a curfew...or is there a time where the deck is closed off to everyone for safety purposes at night? Or could you be out there all night (and sleep out there lol)

[voyager22]

Yah i get to sleep late also - i'd love to walk around the deck. Hopefully it wont be too dark for me to walk around!

Thanks everyone for your help ;)

[nitnyleo]

Unfortunately, August is the middle of rainy season in the Caribbean . . . not to mention the possibility of tropical storms and (eek) hurricanes . . .

 

Even if you have great weather, the nightsky will tend to be hazy, but probably better than a busy bright city.

[Bonnie J.]

Sometimes you'll find a deck with NO chairs or lounges that is not well lit at night, in the bow (front) where there are cabins, on deck 8 or 9. On one cruise this year the space shuttle was going up at night and we were just past Cape Canaveral. The captain turned off ALL the lights on the decks so we could see and take pictures of it which I did.

[voyager22]

wow thats pretty cool Bonnie!! Hopefully we'll be able to see some part of cape canaveral from the ship ;)

 

thanks everyone!