The EYE ON THE SKY® AstroCruises (TM) Page

THE astronomy cruise specialists!

"See the Sea — See the Sky — See the World" (TM)

EYE ON THE SKY® AstroCruises Masthead

"... and at night they were to dance in the open air, on the upper deck, in the midst of a ballroom that stretched from horizon to horizon, and was domed by the bending heavens and lighted by no meaner lamps than the stars and the magnificent moon — dance and promenade, and smoke, and sing, and make love, and search the skies for constellations that never associate with the Big Dipper ..."

     — Mark Twain, in The Innocents Abroad (1867), writing about his experience aboard Quaker City on what is considered historically to be the first American-origin commercial voyage to qualify as a "pleasure cruise"
2007-2009 AstroCruises (TM)

No astronomy training or experience is necessary. All cruises include daytime astronomy lectures and also schedule evening "naked-eye" shipboard stargazing sessions. They all take place on regularly scheduled cruises (not charters) and so have all the regular cruise ship activites and amenities — the perfect entertaining and educational vacation, and a great compromise solution if everyone traveling with you isn't an astronomy fan!

  • October 28-November 9, 2007, 12 nights classic ocean liner
    Atlantic Dark Sky Cruise (Southampton round-trip)
    on Cunard Queen Elizabeth 2 (new moon November 9)

  • November 25-December 22, 2007, 27 nights casual elegance
    Middle East New Moon Cruise (Rome to Singapore)
    on Oceania Nautica (new moon December 9)

  • February 29-March 24, 2008, 24 nights casual elegance
    Far East Full Moon Cruise (Bangkok to Beijing)
    on Oceania Nautica (full moon March 22)



    Book through AstroCruises for free membership in AstroCruisers (TM) astronomy club and other agency discounts, group rates, value-added bonuses or special deals

    All bookings handled by a travel agent who is a CTC ("Certified Travel Counselor") or CTA ("Certified Travel Associate") and also a Cruise Lines International Association-certified cruise counselor accreditation (an agent with an additional "Destination Specialist — Caribbean" certification will book all Caribbean cruises, an agent with an additional "Lifestyle Specialist — Luxury Travel" certification will book all luxury cruises)

    AstroCruises (TM) rates typically run 25-75% lower than brochure fares

    New cruises may be added at any time — watch this page for details

    Clubs and organizations should check out our special group services

    For more information, e-mail us at astrocruises (at) hotmail.com or phone (609) 530-9877



    Lecturers have presented EYE ON THE SKY® astronomy programs aboard Celebrity, Clipper, Cruise West, Crystal, Cunard, Hapag-Lloyd, Holland America, Oceania, Orient Lines, ResidenSea, Royal Caribbean, Seabourn, Silversea, Travel Dynamics International (Classical Cruises) and Windjammer Barefoot cruise ships.

    EYE ON THE SKY® astronomy articles have appeared in shipboard magazines for Carnival, Celebrity, Costa, Crystal, Holland America, Radisson (now Regent) Seven Seas, Royal Caribbean and Sun cruise lines and in Porthole magazine

    Total countries/territories (as recognized by Travelers' Century Club) visited by 42 AstroCruises (TM) to date:  
    95
    Total countries/territories when next 3 confirmed AstroCruises (TM) are included:
    101



    2007-2009 AstroCruises (TM) Details

    * NOTE THAT all fares are per person, double occupancy ("ppdo"), and that gratuities, taxes and government fees (including port charges) are sometimes but not always included in published fares (and sometimes the country of disembarkation charges a separate departure tax which may or may not be included in your air fare). Airline flights and transfers are usually not included, and travel insurance is optional but always recommended. Passport and visas, if required, are the responsibility of passenger. Fares, fees, itineraries and programs are accurate as of last update but are subject to change without notice. Contact us directly for details and for the current best AstroCruises (TM) discounts, deals and value-added bonuses.

    Itinerary Map

    Atlantic Dark Sky Cruise
    October 28-November 9, 2007
    Cunard Queen Elizabeth 2, Canary Islands Splendour
    Sail from Southampton (England) Sunday, October 28
    Itinerary: Funchal, Madeira; Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Arracife (Lanzarote) and Las Palmas (Grand Canaria), Canary Islands; Malaga, Spain; Gibraltar; Lisbon, Portugal; four sea days
    Arrive in Southampton Friday, November 9
         Dark Sky cruise to see naked-eye celestial sights unseen in the U. K. and mainland Europe (four sea days). New moon November 9.
         Contact us for current best AstroCruises (TM) deal.

    Itinerary Map

    Middle East New Moon Cruise
    November 25-December 22, 2007
    Oceania Nautica, Odyssey To Asia
    Sail from Rome (Civitavecchia, Italy) Sunday, November 25
    Itinerary: Messina, Sicily; Cairo (Port Said) and Luxor (Safaga), Egypt; Suez Canal Transit; Salalah and Muscat, Oman; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Bombay and Cochin, India; Phuket, Thailand; fourteen sea days
    Arrive in Singapore Monday, December 10
         Tropical cruises see naked-eye celestial sights unseen in the mainland U. S. and Europe — constellations and stars on the southern horizon, including Alpha Centauri (our solar system's nearest neighboring star) and Southern Cross. Dry, dark skies of Middle East may allow viewing zodiacal light and gegenschein. Astronomer is aboard November 25-December 10 (seven sea days). New moon December 9.
         Contact us for current best AstroCruises (TM) deal.

    Itinerary Map

    Far East Full Moon Cruise
    February 29-March 24, 2008
    Oceania Nautica, Oriental Rendezvous
    Sail from Bangkok (Laem Chabang, Thailand) Friday, February 29
    Itinerary: Ko Samui, Thailand; Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Da Nang, and Hanoi (Ha Long Bay), Vietnam; Keelung, Taiwan; Kagoshima and Nagasaki, Japan; Hong Kong and Shanghai, China; Seoul (Inchon), Korea; eight sea days
    Arrive in Beijing (Tianjin, China) Monday, March 24
         Tropical cruises see naked-eye celestial sights unseen in the mainland U. S. and Europe — constellations and stars on the southern horizon, including Alpha Centauri (our solar system's nearest neighboring star) and Southern Cross. Astronomer is aboard March 11-24 (five sea days) and will talk about "Ancient Chinese Astronomy." New moon March 8; full moon March 22.
         Contact us for current best AstroCruises (TM) deal.

    Future AstroCruises (TM)

    A dark sky at sea gives an excellent opportunity to spot dim objects and phenomena such as the Milky Way, Andromeda Galaxy (two million light-years away, the farthest object visible with the naked eye), the zodiacal light and gegenschein (best times to see zodiacal light north of the tropics are March-April in the evening and October-November in the morning, for south of the tropics the reverse is true, and around November 15-20 gegenschein is located between the Pleiades and Hyades), auroras, noctilucent clouds and faint meteors and satellites. Change your latitude and see celestial sights you won't see at home — the southern hemisphere has stars, galaxies and globular star clusters you won't see in North America and Europe, and the Far North and Antarctica have atmospheric phenomena in summer unseen in other locations. Also, the flat sea horizon is the best place to spot the green flash.

    Each year we seek to offer a wide variety of cruise styles (luxury, premium, family and adventure), lengths (generally 7 to 14 days), ship sizes (44 to 3600 passengers) and costs (money-is-no-object to bargain, sometimes starting at less than $100/day* ppdo). The following is a list of upcoming celestial events and potential AstroCruises (TM) destinations.

    Periodic Events 2007 Events 2008 Events 2009 Events 2010-2020 Total Eclipses of the Sun 2012 Venus Transit
    Copyright 2001-2007 EYE ON THE SKY® News Service. All rights reserved.
    EYE ON THE SKY® is a registered trademark of EYE ON THE SKY® News Service.
    AstroCruise (TM), AstroCruises (TM), AstroCruisers (TM) and First Interplanetary Trading Company (TM) are trademarks of EYE ON THE SKY® News Service.
    URL of this page: http://www.astrocruises.com
    E-mail for details: astrocruises (at) hotmail.com
    Phone: (609) 530-9877 (USA country code is +1)
    Last update: 20 October 2007

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