Eclipse: When the Moon Kisses the Sun

And now for the big event! The total solar eclipse in the Mediterranean near Spain would give us about 2 minutes of totality. This was the reason we selected this particular cruise, although we were also excited about the itinerary, having never been to Spain, Italy, Türkiye or Greece either. It was a sea day, so no off the ship adventures and we took it pretty easy. The ship did a good job of communicating where we would need to be to enjoy the event, and had two well versed eclipse chasers on board to keep us informed. With 4,000+ people on this ship, we were concerned this would be a very competitive event as far as viewing went, but the communication was really quite good. Guests with a port-side balcony were informed that they would have an excellent view from their cabin. Guests on the starboard side, which was us, would have the best views on decks 17 and 18 beginning at 7 pm.

We hung out in the sun for a bit on some very comfy deck furniture, and around 4 pm everyone was shooed off the decks so the crew could remove all the deck chairs. This caused some concern for some of the folks who realized they would have to either stand for the eclipse (around 2 hours start to finish) or sit on the deck floor. Princess cruises seem to skew toward an older crowd, so there was some grumbling. I guess the crew decided to avoid the jockeying for available deck furniture by removing all of it.

Bob and I went up to the deck around 6 pm and saw a few creative people had used towels hanging on the deck glass siding to cut the afternoon sun but in effect reserving a perfect view. So, we copied their efforts and set up a little nest for ourselves. Have I mentioned how hot it has been? With the ship sitting at rest, the heat was like an oven, but the crew did a great job keeping the cold drinks flowing. Everyone had been provided with certified solar eclipse glasses, so the fact that the ones we bought remained with our missing suitcase didn’t matter.

Our eclipse experts were Dr. Aleksejevs, professor of physics at the Grenfell Campus of the Memorial University of Newfoundland, a noted ‘eclipse chaser’, and Dr. Barkanova, School of Science and the Environment at the University of Newfoundland. They were set up to narrate the event throughout the ship, and did a great job explaining the process and keeping everyone safe by constant reminders about the importance of the safety glasses. Nevertheless, I noted a few foolhardy souls squinting into the sun periodically. Our guides also indicated that to use a phone to take pictures would require a solar filter, which, of course, we didn’t have. The effect of that was that through the eclipse glasses our eyes had a better view of the progress of the moon as it blocked the sun than our cameras. We did get a few pictures once the moon had obscured much of the sun.

The pinnacle of the experience, of course, would be the corona, the point at which the moon had obscured all but the circular outside edge of the sun. And unfortunately, although we had a pretty great view for most of the eclipse, some random clouds appeared just as the corona became visible. There were some expert photographers with better equipment who were able to get better shots and these were widely shared, but most of us didn’t actually see the corona, glasses or not. But all in all, it was a great experience, as day turned to night and then back to day again.

And that wasn’t the end of the day. We had scored a dinner at the Umai Teppanyaki after the eclipse. This is a new restaurant for Princess, and is like the Teppanyaki restaurants you have probably enjoyed. There were 10 of us at our table, and our chef was the best I have seen for this type of meal. His theatrics were great and he sang songs while preparing our food, encouraging a sing along. It was really fun and the food was delicious.

And so another day completed. We went back to the room and I watched the stars for a while.