Even before the recent Artemis II mission reignited the space race, travelers were tuning their antennas skyward. In 2024, some 70 million pairs of safety glasses were sold to protect Americans watching the solar eclipse that swept across the US, which millions of people traveled to observe. This August, another solar eclipse will be visible from Greenland and Iceland to northern Spain—coinciding with summer cruises in northern waters.
Jane Woolridge
When her TV broke in her 20s, Jane Wooldridge spent the repair fees on a plane ticket to Europe. She’s been an avid explorer ever since, visiting more than 120 countries on all seven continents by foot, car, train, cruise ship, vintage Airstream, camel, chicken plane, and river raft. She now lives in Miami, Cruise Ship Capital of the World, and frequently writes about cruising. Her favorite trips combine cultural and nature exploration with great pillows, noteworthy cuisine and fine wines. A past president of the Society of American Travel Writers, she is a winner of the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year and author of “Comfort in the Wild: 100+ Idyllic Nature Destinations, No Roughing it Required” published by Frommer’s.
But cruise lines aren’t just viewing platforms for eclipses and other celestial phenomena. Many offer ongoing sky-watching programs with scientific experts to help astronomy buffs explore the heavens more deeply. Travelers are taking note. “We’ve really entered the era of the ‘floating observatory,’” says Rosemarie Reed, senior vice president of marketing for Cruises.com. “Our customers have told us they’re not looking to check a destination off a map—they want a front row seat to the universe. We’re seeing a surge in these types of itineraries because they turn a great vacation into the kind of story you’ll still be telling 20 years from now.”
For me, there’s another reason: When I gaze into galaxies far, far away, the nonstop craziness of modern life is replaced with possibilities. Chasing that same feeling yourself? Below are seven lines offering astronomy-centric voyages.
The 2026 August eclipse with Oceania
In August 2026, four Oceania Cruises sailings will cross the paths of the solar eclipse, offering more than 90% visibility, weather permitting. A fifth, departing July 30 from Copenhagen, will offer 100% visibility as the 1,250-passenger Oceania Marina departs the part of Grundarjordur, Iceland, on its way to Reykjavik. All five sailings stretch the stellar experience beyond the eclipse itself with expert speakers (astronomer Dennis Mammana will join Marina) and whimsical culinary touches like star-shaped sandwiches and half-moon shrimp empanadas.
Celebrity Flora, FL, Galapagos Islands, Jacuzzi, hot tub, pool, The Vista, sunset, architectural, loungeQuentin Bacon
