The best stargazing cruises, according to an astrophysicist

Here are Oluseyi’s tips for the best stargazing on cruise lines, including seeing eclipses, galaxies, the aurora borealis and meteor showers on your next cruise.

Get a wake-up call for the Northern Lights.

Oluseyi has been on five cruises to different parts of the world. “The most amazing was a trip to Norway on a cruise called Chasing the Northern Lights,” he said. That’s when he saw the northern lights, aka the northern lights, for the first time.

“There are certain astronomical phenomena that bring the universe to your doorstep, and the northern lights, for me, were like that,” he said.

The aurora borealis is only visible at night. To make sure you don’t miss them, you can see if your cruise offers wake-up calls when the lights come on. Many cruises do.

In addition, location and timing are important. The aurora borealis is visible most often in northern latitudes, including Canada, Alaska and northern Scandinavia.

However, you probably won’t see them all year round. The fall and spring equinoxes are the best time to see the northern lights, notes NOAA.

Winter can also be a good time, right a Viking Cruises representative told BI via email that daylight lasts only a few hours north of Scandinavia during the winter, providing more opportunities to see this spectacular light show.

Choose a destination with clear skies for stargazing.

Some parts of the world have better skies for stargazing than others.

In particular, “The Canary Islands and Chile are some of the best places to stargaze on the globe,” Paul Grigsby, Holland Cruise’s vice president of revenue planning and implementation, told Business Insider via email.

Both destinations have cultivated a reputation as astrotourism sites and have areas that are dark sky reserves. Additionally, Chile’s latitude places it just below the Milky Way.

If you don’t mind the colder weather, remote destinations like the Arctic and Greenland take passengers away from the light pollution of cities. Note, however, that the sun sets late during arctic summer, so the nights are short.

You may also want to time your trip with a meteor shower, such as August’s Perseids. The nice thing about it is that you should be able to see the celestial show from almost anywhere, Oluseyi said.

Although, if epic stargazing is your goal, you should try to avoid areas with notoriously cloudy weather. “I don’t go on cruises to Seattle or London,” Oluseyi said.

Watch a solar eclipse from the ocean.

Cruise lines are already preparing for the 2026 and 2027 eclipses.

The 2026 eclipse will be visible in Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Russia and part of Portugal, according to NASA.

Holland America, Cunard and Princess are just a few of the cruise lines planning cruises near some of these destinations for the 2026 eclipse.

For the eclipse in 2027, the pyramids of Egypt will have a spectacular view, and Viking is planning a cruise on the Nile River.

Oluseyi has watched eclipses for a decade and said you have to be in the right place and have clear weather. The weather can change quickly “because of the drop in temperature that accompanies the moon’s shadow,” he said.

Being on a boat can provide some flexibility. “The deck crew can make repositioning decisions based on weather and visibility reports and will do their best to ensure guests see these events,” Grigsby said.

See something new in the southern hemisphere.

For those living in the northern hemisphere, crossing the equator offers some new views of the sky.

“What’s really dramatic about the southern hemisphere is the galactic sky that you don’t really get in the northern hemisphere,” Oluseyi said.

In the southern hemisphere, the star-studded center of the galaxy, the galactic bulge, is directly overhead.

There are also two satellite galaxies – the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. The first time he saw them, Oluseyi said he couldn’t stop staring. They are “so big, bright and ever-present,” he said.

Royal Caribbean, Norway and Viking all offer cruises to Australia and New Zealand, South Africa and South America. You can see the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds year-round, but note that the best stargazing in the Southern Hemisphere is from March to September, when the sky is dark most of the time.

You can also get a better view of objects in the night sky during a new moon when there is no moonlight to drown them out.

Stargazing only works with the deck lights off.

Cruise ships can have their own light pollution, which significantly diminishes how well you can see the stars. “Lights can be so bright that you can’t really see fainter objects, and most interesting things are faint,” Oluseyi said.

When the lights are down, the unobstructed view can be spectacular. “I’ve been literally all over the world in places with dark skies,” Oluseyi said, “but man, to be in the middle of the ocean — and when I turn off the deck lights — it’s one of the best.”

Some ships turn off their deck lights so passengers can see the sky better. We recommend that you inquire before booking about the cruise line’s policies regarding this practice.

The Viking representative said the cruise line’s special bird lighting mode helps prevent birds from flying into the windows, but also allows passengers to see the stars.

If your ship is dark enough, you may still want help seeing the stars. You can probably leave your telescope at home. The waves make it too unstable to see objects well. However, wide-field binoculars will allow you to see more than the naked eye, Oluseyi said.

Oluseyi’s general tips for stargazing wherever you are.

Once it gets dark, you want it to stay dark. “Eye adjustment is a very precious thing,” Oluseyi said. It takes 30 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the dark, according to the BBC.

Avoid glancing at your phone’s bright screen, because once that light hits your eyeballs, they’ll have to readjust again.

You can also use your phone’s settings to apply a red filter, which will help your eyes stay adjusted to the night sky.

You’ll want to prepare to be outside for a while.

“It can get cold at night,” Oluseyi said. His advice for stargazing from an observatory is to dress warmly and bring snacks. But it applies anywhere. You’ll want to stay comfortable and awake so you don’t miss the view.

“You’re going to wake up frozen,” he said. “You’ll wake up sleepy, but it’s so worth it.”