Port Side for southbound from BA?

[nursemommy7578]

I know that in cruising it sometimes does not matter which side you are on...but we are booked on Celebrity for SA/Antarctica.  Just wondering if it matters what side of the ship our room is on?  We usually book portside...but this time i'm not sure if we should switch?  

 

Thoughts?  Thanks

[anthonyy7]

If your going to sail around Cape Horn then I would be on the port side so you can view from your balcony.  The currents run west to east in the drake passage so ships will sail around the island counter clockwise entering into the drake passage with the currents.  This was explained to us on the Star Princess when we rounded the horn last week.

[The Other Tom]

Starboard so you can see the glaciers in the Beagle channel.  And our cruise went past the horn and turned around so both sides could see it.  Check your itinerary closely and/or ask on the Celebrity board.

[Crewbie]

Agreed to really check with your itinerary/line in your case. The Celebrity itinerary that I could find for reference (leaving from Buenos Aires as you mentioned in the other thread) looks like it favors starboard, but that is weighted on 1) the approach to Ushuaia and 2) the appearance of its route in Antarctica.

 

This is counterbalanced by the Cape Horn rounding (the Star Princess does go counterclockwise - we heard the same thing, Anthony!), any other specific navigation of your ship in coastal cruising (how it handles smaller stops/features), and a lot of distances at which port/starboard might matter less (mostly sea days and how much you engage with sunrise/sunset).

 

The question is a lot more easily resolved if it's a simpler east-west / west-east itinerary (the San Antonio to Buenos Aires routes) - the land-facing side has a much stronger presence with the scenic cruising/glacier viewing and is pretty consistently on one side of the ship. Hope this helps!

 

 

 

 

[qmcmret]

We had a port side cabin on a recent NCL cruise from BA to Santiago.  Didn't see big difference as our cruise around the horn went both ways plus it was very overcast.  Cruising the fjords we spent most of the time on deck as the weather was gorgeous.  In Puerto Montt has some great views of the snow capped volcanoes, and some great sunsets.  I was initially concerned as I heard the starboard side was better, but in the end it didn't really matter.   Enjoy the trip. It is a great cruise no matter which side you are on.

 

qmcmret

 

 

[porsena]

Starboard definitely best for the Zaandam's itinerary out of BA. She goes around Cape Horn clockwise.