Have you ever experienced an eclipse from a cruise ship? We have!

Royal Caribbean just announced their 2026 European Cruise itineraries and one of them is being promoted as a special Solar Eclipse cruise. The Liberty of the Seas sailing that departs Southampton on August 7, 2026 will position itself in the path of totality for the solar eclipse on August 12, 2026.

It’s even included as a highlight on the itinerary!

I found that Royal Caribbean had a similar sailing on Oasis of the Seas during the 2017 total solar eclipse.

“Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas will offer the best seat in the house to view the total solar eclipse, 99 years in the making, on an exclusive 7-night cruise that will feature the celebration of a lifetime with eclipse-themed experiences and a concert by a major headliner.”

Their headliner was Bonnie Tyler and DNCE singing the 80’s hit “Toal Eclipse of the Heart” How cheesy but awesome!

Annular Solar Eclipse Cruise

We cruised on Independence of the Seas that departed Port Canaveral on October 13, 2023. On October 14, 2023 there was an annular solar eclipse that we could view from the ship while we were at sea! Royal did not advertise it or announce it (to our knowledge) but since we knew about it ahead of time, we bought our own eclipse viewing glasses that we had from the 2017 eclipse.

TIP: Make sure you get the correct eclipse viewing glasses. There are a ton of fake eclipse viewing glasses out there, even on Amazon, that do not offer the protection your eyes need. Getting the wrong glasses can result in permanent eye damage. We bought these Soluna Solar Eclipse Glasses.

An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, but doesn’t completely cover the Sun. Because of this and combined with it being slightly cloudy during our eclipse day, I would bet that not many people even knew there was an eclipse happening!

When it was time, we grabbed our glasses and walked to the front of the ship to the helicopter pad. This was a great open spot with not many people there.

We put on our glasses and enjoyed the view…so cool! We look even cooler! 😉

There were a few people that walked up there and wondered what we were doing, so we let them borrow our glasses and they were shocked that there was an eclipse. I bet if Royal announced it and sold eclipse glasses on the ship, they’d have quite a few purchases!

After a few minutes, we walked back to the pool deck and I grabbed an ice cream and continued viewing. Ice cream and a solar eclipse while on a cruise…not many people can say they’ve experienced that!

Viewing an eclipse on a cruise ship is definitely a unique, once in a lifetime experience…especially if it is a total eclipse! Those going on the 2026 cruise will have such a story to tell!