Which side of ship for southern Caribbean?

[OCMama]

We are doing the southern Caribbean from San Juan. Which side of the ship is best to be on when the ship is pulling into the ports?

[Keith1010]

Both sides are really equal and you never know which way the ship will dock in port as this often changes from cruise to cruise.

 

Keith

[lizardhowson]

The pilot at each port decides if he will dock heading in or back in.

[afcruiser]

We are doing the southern Caribbean from San Juan. Which side of the ship is best to be on when the ship is pulling into the ports?

 

 

We were Port side in Aruba and watched a beautiful sunrise from our Balcony.:p

Priceless.

[Keys2Heaven]

I got this. Since you will be heading south, you'll want the aft end.

[trippingpara]

Starboard is the best side coming out of San Juan. When you leave at night, you sail right by the forts which are all lit up and you have an awesome view from the starboard side. However, you never really know which way the ship will dock at in each port. On our last cruise from San Juan, we were docked on the starboard side about 75% of the time.

[klepton]

Which side you choose really has a lot more factors than just the ports, though that can be a factor. In almost all cases the ships can and do change position based on current conditions, so there's no way to know which side will be facing the port vs. sea, or one side of the island vs. the other. As a result I don't usually factor that in, it's more of a crap shoot.

 

However, there can be better sides for sailing in and out of ports. trippingpara gave one of the best examples, where the starboard side sailing out of San Juan gives you a great view of El Morro fort. This will always be true (at least I've never heard of a ship leaving San Juan Bay in reverse. :D Depending on your exact ports and itinerary, you might choose your side based on that.

 

Also, the sun can be a factor, especially on sea days. If you want sun on your balcony all afternoon, you'll want you balcony facing as close to southwest/west as possible depending on the time of year. If you prefer shade you'd want the opposite. Look at what direction your ship will be heading for its sea day and choose your side based on that. In our case we prefer afternoon shade.

 

You might also favor sunrises or sunsets.

 

Are you going on the Fascination with the St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Maarten itinerary? If so, and is my memory serves, port side gives you better views of:

 

Sunrise the first 3 days

Sailaway from St. Thomas

Sail in to San Juan

You can also see the chain of islands off in the distance on your sea day

 

Starboard side gives you better view of:

 

Fort at San Juan for sailaway

Sail in to St. Lucia (we went round the south side of the island when going to Castries, had a great view of the Pitons and coast)

Sailaway from St Lucia

Sail in and Sailaway from St. Kitts

Sailaway from St. Maarten

 

All of this depends on what time of year you're travelling and when the sun rises and sets, but it can give you an idea. Good luck!

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

I got this. Since you will be heading south, you'll want the aft end.

 

At some point you'll be heading north, won't you?

[pghsteelerfan]

We've done this itinerary twice, the first in May 2013 and again in September 2015. Both times, we've gotten a starboard balcony since we thought it was the best for scenery. A lot will depend on how clear the air is. On our cruise in 2013, it was mostly sunny weather, but the air was hazy. That could be due to humidity. On our most recent cruise in 2015, the air was a lot clearer and we were able to see much more. So that can be a factor.

 

When leaving San Juan, starboard is best for views of the fort.

 

When sailing into St. Thomas, the ship will be heading east, but we've been able to see the sunrise from the starboard balcony.

 

On the sea day, port side for sunrise. During the day we were out on the higher decks, but from the port side we were able to see the islands of Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique and St. Lucia was way in the distance. At one point we were able see Dominica, Martinique and St. Lucia. Late in the afternoon, we headed east between Martinique and St. Lucia, so there were views from both sides (Martinique, port side; St. Lucia, starboard...and yes, we could see the Pitons). I will say that it was very clear for our cruise and there wasn't as much "haze" (humidity or what's referred to as "Sahara dust"). On our Valor cruise in May 2013, we didn't see those islands. It was a sunny day, but was quite hazy so we didn't see them.

 

Coming into Barbados you'll be able to see the island from both sides of the ship. The cruise ship docks are in an industrial section, so not much of a "view". Since the ship will be heading east, sunrise would be from the front of the ship.

 

On the morning of St. Lucia, best views are starboard as you'll be heading north past the island before heading into the dock. Great views of the Pitons and sunrise. ***At night after leaving St. Lucia, starboard offers great views of Martinique, Dominica, and Guadeloupe all lit up at night***

 

St. Kitts, starboard and if you're an early riser, great views of Nevis and on our most recent cruise, we were able to see the tiny island of Redonda (just south of Nevis) and also Montserrat (south of Nevis, just beyond Redonda). In addition, sunrise. ***In the evening, after sailing away from St. Kitts, there are great views of St. Eustatius and Saba on the starboard side; we went to the front of the ship for sunset***

 

St. Maarten, probably either side. We slept in a little both times and got up as we were docking. ***Sailing out of St. Maarten, you'll be heading west. Great views (if clear) of St. Maarten and St. Bart's from the back of the ship; great views of Saba on the port side of the ship and if clear enough, you might even see St. Kitts and St. Eustatius as well. We went to the front of the ship for sunset***

 

Arriving back in San Juan - best views would be on the port side if you want to see the forts as you sail back in. Both times, we were passing the forts at 5:30AM, so you'd need to get up early to see that. I knew we were scheduled at 7AM and was planning on going up to the Panorama Deck to see that and get pictures, but missed it both times.

 

Best views when the ship is docked...that can vary as sometimes they will pull in and other times the ship will be backed in. In St. Thomas, we pulled straight in and our starboard balcony gave us a view over the Havensight shopping area. To me, the best view was the port side which overlooked the harbor and Charlotte Amalie. I just went up to the Panorama Deck for views and pictures.

Edited March 20, 2016 by pghsteelerfan