12 Days Inside Passage (Roundtrip Los Angeles with Glacier Bay) Port or Starboard ?

Hi all, we will be first time cruisers to Alaska . Need advice from all you experienced Alaskan cruisers.

Looking at this cruise Sept next year on the Royal. We are flying into LA from the land of OZ to do this cruise.

We always book a Balcony but with this being a round trip is there any real benefit to a Port or Starboard Balcony for this cruise.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers Johhno.

It doesn't matter. The scenery is all around you, and you will be all over the ship, not locked in your cabin.

It's a round trip. What is on one side on the way north will be on the other side on the way south. Other than when you are the inside passage yu will not be close enough to the coast to see anything but distant land. EM

It's a round trip. What is on one side on the way north will be on the other side on the way south. Other than when you are the inside passage yu will not be close enough to the coast to see anything but distant land. EM

++1

I'm doing this RT12 day itinerary on the Star next month, and used your exact logic when selecting a cabin

Srpilo

Do you want to watch the sun set or rise from your balcony going north or south?

We did the 12 day LA roundtrip to Alaska cruise this past April. LOVED it.

On the day of Glacier Bay cruising - which was awe inspiring - I watched it from the starboard side of the very wet Sanctuary (because it was raining and there is not a real roof on the it. (I never thought to check that ahead of time when I booked the lounge chair.) The starboard side is where I saw and heard the glacier calve.

I just made up my mind to make the best of a once in a lifetime experience. The attendents helped move me to the driest spot available, changed the wet mattress, brought a ton of blankets and hot soup, and I witnessed nature’s wonder. May you be drier and warmer on your balcony, than I was in the Sancuary, but just as awestruck as I was.

Our cruise had a Naturalist narrate the experience from the bridge over the loudspeaker to the common areas up top.

That whole cruise exceeded my expectations. Oh, and glacier water tastes great!

Lyssa

We were on the RT Seattle Inside Passage cruise last year and our cabin was Starboard. Most ports, our balcony was facing the town when we woke up, which was nice.

I was wondering about the best side also. Even though it is a round trip -- the view will likely not be the same., We have done many west coast Mexico cruises. When Cabo is scheduled for mid to late morning - -the early morning is spent cruising along the coast -- the blue water meets the white sand with the rugged desert mountains behind. It is one of our favorite parts of a Mexican cruise. On that cruise, port side is the only way to go. On the return trip, the ships do not get close enough to the coast to really see anything. .

Another one is sailing from New Orleans -- the trip down the river to the coast is very interesting. We've only done port side there also -- on the way back, it doesn't matter - it will be at night when there is nothing to see.

We're on the Golden Princess in three weeks for the 12 day and we have a starboard balcony --- we'll see

I was wondering about the best side also. Even though it is a round trip -- the view will likely not be the same...

 

...We're on the Golden Princess in three weeks for the 12 day and we have a starboard balcony --- we'll see

I’ve only done one Alaska cruise, and that one, the 12 day in April RT from LA, offerred what was called “scenic cruising” in Glacier Bay.

It wasn’t just a journey through and back again, or around it - forgive my awful geography knowledge - but we spent from early morning until after lunch either stopped or sailing very slowly while the Naturalist explained what we were seeing. The starboard side was closest to the calving glacier, and the ship was so quiet you could hear the ice fall to the sea. It only happened a handful of times in the hours I watched but it was magnificent.

There were jokes about the ship tipping from everyone gathering on Starboard side that morning.

That was my experience. I’d love to know what yours is when you return.

I hope you enjoy breathtaking views, and stay warm and dry.

Lyssa

It doesn't matter. The Captain rotates the ship so it will be seen from all angles.

Thanks for all of the info -- we are really looking forward to Glacier Bay and understand the captain will rotate the ship. I was more interested in the rest of the cruise.

A lot of Alaska cruises will call the first day out of Vancouver "scenic cruising of the Inside Passage" We did this cruise once and during the scenic passage we saw nothing at all -- we did hear the ships fog horn all day long, it seemed like a couple of times a minute. It didn't matter port/starboard on that trip! In all of our cruises -- we had never heard a ship's fog horn.

My geography isn't what it should be - I've heard that Vancouver is prefered over Seattle for the scenic cruising part. I'd guess from LA may more resemble Seattle once we're up there..

We'll find out three weeks from tomorrow!!!!

do you want to watch the sun set or rise from your balcony going north or south?

^^^^^^ this ^^^^^^

We just did a B2B--Vancouver to Whittier and back to Vancouver. It makes absolutely no difference which side your cabin looks out on. The scenery is everywhere, or the ocean views where you don't have other scenery is everywhere. You'll have a large glacier on one side....and an hour later a large glacier on the other side. You can't predict where the whales will breach. Pick a side and have fun.