Rockets and cruise ships: What you can see at sea
Passengers on cruise ships can view rockets at sea, as long as they do their research.
Travelers on cruise ships departing from Port Canaveral, Florida, might be lucky enough to witness launches from Space Launch Delta 45 (previously the United States Air Force Space Command’s 45th Space Wing).
There are launches scheduled for the morning, afternoon, and night, and apps can help track when and where to view the rockets in the sky. One app, Space Coast Launches, provides updates and has a compass to pinpoint exactly where you should be looking.
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You can also watch the rocket through the app from the beginning of the launch. See the upcoming schedule for launches by visiting the SpaceX or Kennedy Space Center websites.
SpaceX Falcon 9 booster returns from its 10th space mission near the Caribbean Princess pic.twitter.com/LhC8dli5Bx— Dima Zeniuk (@DimaZeniuk) April 14, 2025
Passengers see rockets from sea
On the Celebrity Apex on a mid-March sailing to Nassau in the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, and the Port of Plata, Dominican Republic, I was able to track the rocket and capture it on video on the night the ship left Nassau.
Other passengers on the top deck were also using an app to view the rocket. If you are lucky, you will also see the drone ship, which catches the rocket’s boosters when it comes back to land. It is important to note that it is not uncommon for rocket missions to be rescheduled due to weather or other reasons, so be sure to check for updates.
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If you are departing from Port Canaveral, Florida, you will have a chance to see a rocket launch on embarkation or debarkation day. It happened to me, coming in from a four-night sailing on the Utopia of the Seas in October 2024. I opened my eyes around 7 a.m. when the ship arrived back to port, and the rocket was launching from Kennedy Space Center. It was an amazing sight, especially when viewed from the ship.
Recently from the complex Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, the unmanned Starship launched but blew up in the atmosphere and was seen all over the Caribbean, including from cruise ships. Cruisers near Turks & Caicos and the Bahamas were able to see it quite clearly.
If you are sailing out of Port Canaveral, try visiting Kennedy Space Center before or after your cruise. On some cruise ships out of Port Canaveral — for example, on the Celebrity Equinox — passengers will find opportunities to engage in space-related activities. One of them is viewing the stars from the sky observation lounge.
Lecture and presentation offerings can further your knowledge of space exploration and astronomy. Some cruise ships even offer binoculars in some staterooms. Be sure to check before you sail; otherwise, consider bringing your own.
Starlink expands its satellites for internet connection
On April 12, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a Starlink mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center just before 9 p.m. EST. The rocket carried 21 Starlink satellites to orbit. More than half of them are supplied with SpaceX’s Direct to Cell Technology, which aims to reduce cellular dead zones for mobile devices across the globe.
After the rocket launched that day, the booster shut down its engines and detached itself from the rocket’s upper stage just two-and-a-half minutes after launching. It only took about six minutes for the booster to land safely on SpaceX’s drone ship, A Shortfall of Gravitas, in the Atlantic Ocean.
Starlink has proved an essential new development for the cruise industry. While hard to imagine now, cruise ships were not always able to offer internet at sea. If you sailed 20 years ago, you knew that it was not possible to stay connected while you were sailing.
Before your next cruise, check to see if there is a scheduled rocket launch.
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