Port or Starboard?

[lovestocruise19]

Which side of the ship is better to have your room on? I've been on starboard twice and lucked out with great views of the ship pulling into the different ports. I'm thinking about booking the Liberty next year and the ports will be Half Moon Cay, St. Thomas, San Juan and Grand Turk. I knew Half Moon is a tender port, so it doesn't matter as much, but does the ship always dock on a certain side in the other three ports?

[mizLORInj]

No, you cannot know for sure which side of the ship will face the dock.

[crewsweeper]

It would depend on what other ships are in port and docking at the same pier in San Juan. Or which arrives first in GT. So seriously, it doesn't matter. If yours is the only ship in port you'll have views from either side. I'm not sur eif that's necessarily a plus in San Juan. For GT if would depend on what you want to see, Margritaville and Local Village beaches or the excursion pier and some less occupied shoreline.

[serene56]

so it doesn't matter as much, but does the ship always dock on a certain side in the other three ports?

 

 

I would never book a cabin based on what I may see in the ports.

Yes, it will vary.

one week it will pull in and another week it will back in.

[lovestocruise19]

Oh, okay. I guess it is a crapshoot then. No big deal, but I did enjoy watching the Freedom pull into Key West. I sat in my oceanview window seat. I also enjoyed pulling in and out of Jamaica in my window seat.

[golfadj]

Oh, okay. I guess it is a crapshoot then. No big deal, but I did enjoy watching the Freedom pull into Key West. I sat in my oceanview window seat. I also enjoyed pulling in and out of Jamaica in my window seat.

 

If the view is not what you prefer as you pull into port can easily go on deck and watch and perhaps get a better panoramic view.

[beachbum53]

Which side of the ship is better to have your room on? I've been on starboard twice and lucked out with great views of the ship pulling into the different ports. I'm thinking about booking the Liberty next year and the ports will be Half Moon Cay, St. Thomas, San Juan and Grand Turk. I knew Half Moon is a tender port, so it doesn't matter as much, but does the ship always dock on a certain side in the other three ports?

 

The best side of the ship to have your cabin on is the one with a neighbor willing to share his smuggled rum.:D Other than that, it doesn't make much difference. You can see a lot more from the Lido deck when pulling into port anyhow.

[golfadj]

It is nice though to have room service breakfast on your balcony while the ship is pulling into port.

 

Just no way to make sure it will consistently happen.

[wannago35]

Interesting thread. When booking our first cruise on the Fantasy, the Carnival TA made a big deal about us getting a "port side" cabin so that we could see the shore as/when we docked instead of water.

 

During my recent booking, she mentioned that all "even numbered" rooms are port side. Not sure if Carnival charges extra for port side rooms, but after reading this thread made me wonder.

 

While on the Fantasy out of three ports visited only twice did we dock facing the shore. The one day we didn't I thought about it for about 2 seconds & moved on. However, on the days we did dock port side it was nice to look out our window & see the port as we approached, although in at least one case it really wasn't much to look at anyway (think that was Freeport). This time we got a balcony port side & already envision us having breakfast/drinking coffee as we approach a port. AAAHHHHHHH!!! :)

 

But seriously, either way, you'll have a great time!

[kmc500]

one week it will pull in and another week it will back in.

And one week it will pull into the right side of the pier, and the next it will pull into the left side. <g>

 

Kevin C