Perhaps because Sky and Telescope, a major astronomy magazine, organized our cruise, several other cruise ships had surrounded us to see the event. Most of the passengers on our ship were there to compare this eclipse with the many others they had seen. Several of these veteran eclipse chasers had seen 4 or more on similar cruises.
Eclipses are addictive.
Four of the club members, including myself, would be witnessing our first total solar eclipse. Thanks to several meetings on board ship, organized by Sky and Telescope's editor Rick Feinberg, we felt we were prepared for the upcoming events. A total eclipse of the sun cannot be compared to any other natural phenomenon. Many of those who remember having seen eclipses have actually seen only partial eclipses of the sun and, to paraphrase Mark Twain, the difference between a total solar eclipse and a partial solar eclipse is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. A total eclipse begins and ends with a partial eclipse.