Is a cabin on the port side going west to east a must

[tgetz]

We are currently in a port side cabin going from Santiago to Rio and are thinking of an upgrade. The only upgrade available is on the starboard side. I know many have said it is much better to be on hte port side, but has anyone don this from the starboard side and not felt 'left out'? WE are looking at the maps from the cruise line and while it is hard to say exactly, it appears that some places you will be seing thigs from both sides, but... any info would be appreciated. thanks

[Keith1010]

Having done this cruise multiple times my focus would be on having a cabin that is mid ship since the seas can be rough at times. I pay less attention to which side of the ship we are on since for certain aspects of the cruise we will go out on the open deck to get the best of the views.

 

Keith

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I haven't done this route, but have found that when a ship is out in the ocean, there's very little of the shore to be seen. As you're coming into port, there's often things to see on both sides. And if there's something special, there's always the deck.

[dfb]

Having done this in a port side cabin, I will point out that you are frequently in view of land on this route. Also, that when in the fjords and Beagle Channel and Straits of Magellan that both sides are in view of land. Note that when you cruise Glacier Alley, that the glaciers are all on the PORT side. Now that is only a few hours of your cruise, but if your cabin is on the starboard side, you will have to leave it to see them. Also, along that route was a famous shipwreck on the port side. We had very high winds and seas as we crossed Cape Horn, so we did not circle around as some people on calmer crossings have reported. We zip out from behind the island and crossed very quickly with Cape Horn only visible from the port side. I guess it just depends on your sailing and your desires. Some people report cruising Glacier Alley in the night, so it wouldn't matter anyway.

Below is a link to the journal we kept of this cruise. It will open at Valparaiso and you can use the little blue arrows at the top and bottom right of each screen to page forward.

http://journals.aol.com/dfriia/circle-south-america-2008-aboard/entries/2008/01/22/day-18---january-21-2008---valparaiso-chile/1763

Good luck, Debbie