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Witnessing the northern lights in their prime requires clear and dark skies, sometimes late-night viewing hours, enough solar activity for the colors to appear and a big dose of luck. Keep that in mind before you place all your cruise vacation hopes on this one experience. Seeing the ethereal display, also known as the aurora borealis, is a bucket list experience for many travelers. And cruise ships can get you to destinations where your chances of catching Mother Nature's special light show are improved.
Cruise holidays Reasons to visit Ports
Our guides carry rifles and flare guns in the Arctic to ensure your safety against polar bears. Explore Scoresbysund, the world’s largest fjord system and a favourite hunting ground of the local Inuit. Massive glaciers flow into this fjord, the birthplace of hundreds of majestic Greenland icebergs.
Havila Voyages Has Astronomy-themes Cruises in Norway This Year - Travel + Leisure
Havila Voyages Has Astronomy-themes Cruises in Norway This Year.
Posted: Wed, 03 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Sea Kayaking
This captivating phenomenon, also known as the aurora borealis, occurs near the polar regions due to the interaction of solar radiation with Earth's magnetic field. Surprisingly, the first historical mention of the lights is from a Babylonian king in about 500 B.C. One of the latest cruise lines to launch sailings to seek out the aurora is Ambassador. It’s the first British cruise line to do so in more than a decade and has convenient, value-for-money, round-trip voyages from Tilbury, Bristol, Newcastle and Dundee. These include a 14-night sailing on its recently launched second ship, the 1,200-passenger Ambition. Highlights include visits to former Viking strongholds Haugesund and Trondheim, and Arctic Circle calls in Alta, Narvik and Bodo.
Northern lights cruises: A guide to chasing the aurora borealis at sea
On cruisetours like these, you’ll traverse to towns like Seward, Anchorage, Denali, and tiny Talkeetna. Of course, sightings of the Northern Lights on your cruisetour depend entirely on natural circumstances, relying on weather, darkness, and a bit of magic. Get up close to beautiful, picturesque landscapes on an Iceland and Ireland cruise from Southampton, England, which offers 14 nights of pure bliss on Celebrity Silhouette.
Choose how you hunt for the northern lights this 13-night trip to and from Southampton on the 3,140-passenger Caribbean Princess. The alternative viewing spot is a longer trip to a camp site to look for Mother Nature’s marvel. The main thing you need to consider when you pack for your Northern Lights holiday is, of course, the weather. It’ll probably come as no surprise to learn that Norway can be quite chilly in the winter months when the Northern Lights are at their peak. To make sure you’re protected from the elements, pack lots of warm layers such as fleece jackets and woolly jumpers, which will shield you from the crisp and frosty temperatures. And don't forget to bring along gloves, hats, scarves and thermal socks so you can stay warm as you search for the Northern Lights under Norway’s dark skies.
Generally, skies are clearest near the spring and fall equinoxes in later September and March. Some late September/early October Alaska cruises can include northern lights sightings as well. Considering the cruise line is named after the atmospheric phenomenon, it should come as no surprise that it offers a northern lights itinerary. At 19 to 22 days long, depending on the departure, there is plenty of time to hope for a northern lights appearance — or two, or three, or more. The longer itinerary continues with a visit to the Faroe Islands and disembarkation in Bergen, Norway. As well as the chance to view the northern lights, Viking’s sailings offer exciting excursions to experience local culture and traditions.
It features a day on Senja, one of the most ruggedly beautiful and lesser-visited Norwegian islands. Sailing to and from Southampton, P&O runs dedicated northern lights cruises on its adult-only ship Aurora. During these 12-night sailings you’ll sail along the dramatic coast of Norway to the fringes of the Arctic Circle and also visit the country’s beautiful fjords, including 550m-deep Romsdalsfjord.
How To Plan A Memorable Norway Northern Lights Cruise In 2024 - Forbes
How To Plan A Memorable Norway Northern Lights Cruise In 2024.
Posted: Mon, 01 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Once you book your cruise - you can check out all the excursions, daily itinerary, and make spa/meal reservations on My Viking Journey. Another city full of interesting outdoor excursions, the main draw here is the Polar Park where you can see Arctic Wolves, Polar Bears, Lynx Cats, and many other types of animals rarely seen in warmer climates. Elegant and thoughtfully designed, the warmth and appeal of our Cunard Queens is palpable the moment you step aboard.
We acknowledge the First Nations people of Australia as traditional custodians of the lands and waters on which we work and travel, and we pay our respects to elders past and present. Travel to London and see Westminster Abbey; visit one of the city's many museums. Charming and postcard pretty, Stavanger is an idyllic coastal town, famous for its perfectly preserved wooden buildings (some dating back to the 18th century) and miles of pristine white sand.
The northern waters are warmer than the polar regions but water temperatures of around 12 °C/ 53.6°F mean you may opt to wear your paddle jacket on a warm, sunny day or our dry suits on a cool day. Surf landings are not likely, but you must be capable of paddling in a small swell or wind chop, with winds up to 20 knots. With that being said, we will not paddle if wind conditions are too strong and there is no sheltered area for paddling. Led by experienced guides, you and your small group of like-minded adventurers will paddle between ice floes, brash ice and icebergs of all shapes and sizes. Paddling is one of the best ways to access and intimately explore the beautiful coastlines we visit and therefore make the most of your time in the wild and remote destinations we visit.
They will offer a free one-way trip if you don't see the lights on a full roundtrip voyage. Some cruise lines will head to Tromsø for one night, then sail immediately south again, giving just two nights opportunity for a realistic sighting. That’s because to maximize your chances of an aurora sighting, you need to spend as many days as possible north of the Arctic circle. Most of these sightings are of the faint aurora on the distant horizon, only detectable by camera. To see the true glory of the aurora—a sky full of green and red curtains or a glorious auroral corona pulsing above you like an eye in the sky—you must travel north.
Note that the kayaks have separate compartments with bulkheads, which means they will float after a capsize. This evening, get to know your fellow expeditioners, friendly expedition team and crew at the Welcome Dinner to celebrate the start of a thrilling adventure. Having made your way to Kirkenes, you will be met by a representative of Aurora Expeditions and transferred to our group hotel. Aurora Expeditions does not require passengers to undergo tests for COVID-19 prior to embarkation or during the voyage. We do not conduct routine COVID-19 testing unless required by the relevant authorities. However, passengers who report symptoms of COVID-19 to the medical team during a voyage will be tested.
This is why Aurora Expeditions’ Northern Lights tours don’t focus on one spot or location. The Northern Lights are most frequently visible in high-latitude regions in the Arctic, but most accessible between 10° and 20° of the North Pole in a band called the ‘auroral zone’. "Cruising is a nice way to see a lot of places, but in particular the Northern Lights," says Stephanie Goldberg-Glazer, owner of Live Well, Travel Often, a boutique travel agency. "Cruise ships are able to be out at sea where it is dark for optimal viewing," she says, and when in port, they can create opportunities for guests to access optimal viewing sites outside of cities and their lights. The lights are best viewed in the Northern Hemisphere and especially in locations on the so-called auroral oval, a ring zone over the polar regions. In cruising terms, that means prime viewing is in northern Alaska (which is easily accessible on cruisetours), Norway, Iceland, Arctic Canada and parts of Greenland.
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