Port or Starboard?

[J18ktleo]

Booking cruise from Auckland to Sydney and wondering if there's any preference to which side of the ship for best views while cruising? Or if it matters???

[celle]

Booking cruise from Auckland to Sydney and wondering if there's any preference to which side of the ship for best views while cruising? Or if it matters???

 

We cruised from Sydney to Auckland last month.

 

We found that, most of the time, the ship was too far from land for either port or starboard side to have any views.

[dancing lady]

We went from Sydney to Auckland and were on the port side because most of the ports are in N.Z and therefore on the port side going that direction. We like being on the balcony when we are arriving and departing each port whenever possible. Either side is good when you are going through Fjordland Nat'l Park. You have scenery on both sides. Enjoy!

[J18ktleo]

we're looking at doing a reverse itinerary from Auckland to Sydney so I wonder if we should book starboard balcony???

[The_Big_M]

Everything else being equal, starboard will likely give you a better land view overall on that cruise. That said, I'd agree with Celle that it shouldn't make too much of a difference.

[J18ktleo]

thanks so much...guess I'll make sure we're on Starboard!:D

[OldJerseycruiser]

We are currently on board Diamond Princess from Auckland to Sydney and are having the sun on our balcony during our sea days between New Zealand and Australia which is great. :)

[M&A]

I don't think it makes any difference. When we did New Zealand in Apr 07 and docked in Auckland we were on the port side with a view of the city. A lot of people on the starboard side were next to the Hilton Hotel and had a great view of the hotel rooms. In Wellington the Port side had city views but we weren't on the ship too long. During sailaways we go up top.

[J18ktleo]

Thanks...I was told by one TA that the port side was preferable for the best sights while cruising while another friend said you're too far away from land. Just wondering when we are cruising Fjordlands National Park if there's a difference? Guess, like everything else, it's really a toss up?

[The_Big_M]

At Milford sound you go in and then back out the same way so both sides will see the same things (assuming you don't switch sides!). You're also fairly close to the middle in a large ship so there's no major benefit to either side.

[kathy16]

We were on the starboard side, and when we docked in SYD, we had view of OPT restaurants (NOT opera house) and in AKL view of Hilton hotel, instead of more scenic water views.

[Down-Unders]

Booking cruise from Auckland to Sydney and wondering if there's any preference to which side of the ship for best views while cruising? Or if it matters???

 

 

Definitely starboard you will have the NZ coast on that side. We were Port side on the Volendam Sydney to Auckland, it brings that much more pleasure if you have the coast on your side of the ship.

[J18ktleo]

Thank you 'Down-Unders'! We actually were originally booked on the Volendam for this cruise and then HAL cancelled the itinerary for Jan 2010 (which is the only time we can go) and I was really disappointed!:cool:

We're planning to do Princess but I really wanted to experience HAL...thanks for the info!

[StevenW]

My family did Sydney to New Zealand in 2005, and had pondered the same question about which side woud be best. We needed two cabins, so we solved our question by taking one cabin on either side of the ship rather than side-by-side cabins...

 

...however as others have said, it really didn't make any difference as you are rarely close enough to see land, and we were sleeping or dressing when we were entering ports each morning, and up on deck each time we left port.

 

In terms of morning & afternoon sun, on this cruise you spend about an equal amount of time going up/down the east coast of NZ, as you do going the opposite direction up/down the east coast of Australia, so you'll either get morning sun for half the cruise and afternoon sun for the remainder of the cruise, or vice versa.

 

Also, on my Mediterranean trip a few years ago I made sure to be on the post side as I knew that was the closest to land.....however I saw nothing. Whenever you are close to land, you're most often outside anyway.

 

So, in my experience...it doesn't matter, and I'll never again choose a side.

[J18ktleo]

Thanks, Steven, although right now we're booking Alaska and on that cruise the side does seem to matter when cruising thru the fjord. However, for Alaska we (right now) have a guarantee so we won't worry about it!:)