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Which side of ship

carlp

By carlp,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Ashland

Ashland

Posted
Posted
Want to book NOS, for 8 day southen cruise, if I want to see the islands as the ship is pulling in to port. Which side would we want - Port or Starboard. Thanks

 

Go with the best cabin location onboard the ship for you and what you like to be near...Don't base it on the possible docking location as this can and will vary.....However I tend to usually book portside cabins...the only time I change that is for true aft's (love those corner's) or on the Oasis class ships.

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pjnj40

pjnj40

Posted
Posted
Often times the ship will dock bow or stern in and there will be no direct inland view of the island from the sides.

 

And the Captain may change which side he docks to the pier from itinerary to itinerary, so there is no way of predicting with certainty.

 

It not the captain decision where to park and which side to uses. It the port and pilot harbor decision. Here the scenarios.

I was on NCL Gem last year , the ship was park to far right hand of the all the piers they got in St Martin. They used the port side for gangway.

This year, i was on Anthem and NCL Gem was park all the way to the left using starboard side as gangway. Anthem was in spot that NCL Gem was in, but Anthem came in after the NCL Gem was docked.

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FLACRUISER99

FLACRUISER99

Posted
Posted
It not the captain decision where to park and which side to uses. It the port and pilot harbor decision. Here the scenarios.

I was on NCL Gem last year , the ship was park to far right hand of the all the piers they got in St Martin. They used the port side for gangway.

This year, i was on Anthem and NCL Gem was park all the way to the left using starboard side as gangway. Anthem was in spot that NCL Gem was in, but Anthem came in after the NCL Gem was docked.

It certainty is the captain's decision.
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leaveitallbehind

leaveitallbehind

Posted
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It certainty is the captain's decision.

 

Thank you as that was my understanding as well. Again, as I understand it, the harbor pilot has the responsibility to safely guide the Captain into and out of the harbor but does not determine whether or not the ship is bow or stern in or to port or starboard side.

 

I believe the Captain is the Master of the vessel and has final say on all aspects of it's operation.

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bouhunter

bouhunter

Posted
Posted (edited)
Aft. You get to see both sides !

 

 

.

 

That's probably the best answer. Oh but wait then you might be looking straight out the back toward the ocean at some ports:D Unless you're in a corner aft. Then it might be the wrong corner....... This question comes up often. At many islands you'll have a "view of the island" on both sides it will just be different. On others as someone said you might be looking at the side of another ship. Bottom line, it make little sense to worry about it:) If you want and book a balcony be happy and don't spend any time trying to figure out which side of the ship will be "best". Over the course of a cruise there is likely no such thing as one side being the "best".

Edited by bouhunter
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FLACRUISER99

FLACRUISER99

Posted
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Thank you as that was my understanding as well. Again, as I understand it, the harbor pilot has the responsibility to safely guide the Captain into and out of the harbor but does not determine whether or not the ship is bow or stern in or to port or starboard side.

 

I believe the Captain is the Master of the vessel and has final say on all aspects of it's operation.

Correct, he only takes the suggestions under advisement.(except in the Panama Canal)

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sr4mjc

sr4mjc

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My answer is always aft. After that, flip a coin. We do take into consideration port or starboard for routes like Alaska sailings, where land is in view. And Around the horn. Not too important in the Caribbean, unless you can get an aft ;)

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minn0315

minn0315

Posted
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On Navigator in December I went to the "Captain's Corner", the Q&A with officers. I asked the captain this very question.

 

All of the replies are correct: unpredictable, it depends, etc, etc.

 

Intuitively, I would think "port" side means where the ship meets the port; but that's not it at all...

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garnetpalmetto

garnetpalmetto

Posted
Posted
On Navigator in December I went to the "Captain's Corner", the Q&A with officers. I asked the captain this very question.

 

All of the replies are correct: unpredictable, it depends, etc, etc.

Intuitively, I would think "port" side means where the ship meets the port; but that's not it at all...

 

Indeed, when we were on Oasis, Captain Per mentioned in one of his morning shows that they actually prefer to have her starboard side to the pier when possible.

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yj_eugene

yj_eugene

Posted
Posted
It certainty is the captain's decision.

 

One thing we noticed on our last cruise: at every port of call we docked so the bridge didn't face into the afternoon sun. We wondered if this was done on purpose so they don't have to look directly into the it and/or to keep the bridge cooler, but didn't get a chance to ask. The reason we noticed was that we had an aft, and our balcony was a broiler every port day :(. Might be another factor to consider if trying to guess which side will face the ports.

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LeeW

LeeW

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The only island we have seen where the ship only docks one way is Aruba. All ships enter the channel from the north and tie up with the port side facing town. That said, our son has had their ship tie up in the industrial area (Princess small ship). Main pier can handle three ships, so his was a fluke.

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gjkubel

gjkubel

Posted
Posted
Indeed, when we were on Oasis, Captain Per mentioned in one of his morning shows that they actually prefer to have her starboard side to the pier when possible.

 

Oasis/Allure (and I assume Harmony) are different in that they will almost always dock to the starboard side because the ship was designed this way with the escalators on the starboard side. If they need to do drills or maintenance (such as lifeboat drills) on the starboard side, they can dock to the port side, but generally speaking, this class of ship will tend to dock to the starboard side. As the OP asked about NOS, there is no way of knowing and the docking side can vary from week to week at the same port.

 

 

(off topic, but in Castaway Cay, a Disney port, the ships will always back in, so you know the docking side will always be the port side there)

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leaveitallbehind

leaveitallbehind

Posted
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Oasis/Allure (and I assume Harmony) are different in that they will almost always dock to the starboard side because the ship was designed this way with the escalators on the starboard side. If they need to do drills or maintenance (such as lifeboat drills) on the starboard side, they can dock to the port side, but generally speaking, this class of ship will tend to dock to the starboard side. As the OP asked about NOS, there is no way of knowing and the docking side can vary from week to week at the same port.

 

 

(off topic, but in Castaway Cay, a Disney port, the ships will always back in, so you know the docking side will always be the port side there)

 

Along the same topic, Oasis class ships always back into Falmouth Jamaica on the right side (as facing the island) of the pier.

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DanJ

DanJ

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Regarding Oasis, I was always under the impression that they always docked starboard side to the pier (such as at terminal 18). Imagine my surprise last week when we were docked port side to at Nassau lol. (Although we did come in starboard side to in Nassau on Friday night for the medical evacuation.)

 

I also think cruise ship captains are like smart truck drivers, we like to park with the easiest path of exit later. Thus, I think they prefer to back into a slip as often as they can. However, I don't think they will waste their customers time in doing so. If the ship arrives at an early hour, or perhaps a bit ahead of schedule, they will take the time to back in. However, if time is an issue, they will dock whichever way is easiest and quickest, to allow people to disembark for their port day as quick as possible.

 

Also, regarding the comments above about the captain making every decision. I think there is some confusion there. The port controls where a ship goes. The captain doesn't get to arrive at, say, Cozumel and decide he's going to dock at the downtown pier when his company has arranged space at the International, for example. The captain can certainly decide which direction to pull the ship in, forward, or back, but I don't think the choice is his at which pier he can go to (and I would also say I doubt he can decide to which side of the pier either, unless it's known that it won't have an affect on another ship arriving later).

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