Alaska Northbound from Vancouver-Port or Starboard

[ltcal94]

I have never cruised to Alaska and I am tempted to book a cruise on the Royal Princess next August to Alaska.

 

It will be doing a Northbound from Vancouver to Anchorage . Obviously the best view be from the public outside decks, but what is the forums opinion of which side of the ship to select a balcony on this for type of transit as far as the view is concerned. I also understand that an AFT balcony would be a good way to have both , but I would prefer to get the forums opinion on Port or Starboard and why.

[Kamloops50]

I have never cruised to Alaska and I am tempted to book a cruise on the Royal Princess next August to Alaska.

 

It will be doing a Northbound from Vancouver to Anchorage . Obviously the best view be from the public outside decks, but what is the forums opinion of which side of the ship to select a balcony on this for type of transit as far as the view is concerned. I also understand that an AFT balcony would be a good way to have both , but I would prefer to get the forums opinion on Port or Starboard and why.

 

In Alaska , there is no go side. When in from od the glaciers in GBNP the captain will do a number of 380 degres rotations so that all balcones get a good view.

[JimmyVWine]

I prefer port. You will be traveling mostly in a northerly direction, putting the rising sun to the starboard side in the morning. There will be mountains to the starboard which will cast vast shadows on the starboard side. On the port side, the sun will hit the mountains and give you a nicer view, especially for taking pictures. Here is an example of what the port side looked like coming in to Juneau. Had we been on the other side of the ship, the entire vista would have been bathed in shadows. This situation repeated itself often in the mornings. Also, on the port side, you have a better chance of catching a sunset looking westward.

 

 

 

 

Here is another example of what I mean. This photo was not taken by me, but was taken by someone on the Norwegian Pearl of the ship that I was on while we entered Glacier Bay (and they left it). You can see that the entire starboard side is in the shadows.

 

 

 

But while the starboard side was in the shadows, I was on my port side balcony taking pictures like this, showing glaciers drenched in sunlight that had peaked over the eastern mountains.

 

 

 

While it may not be a huge difference, for photography, I'd have to say that rarely did the starboard side beat the port side.

[gatorguy56]

We did the northbound cruise 4 years ago and were on the port side. The views were fabulous. Our absolute favorite cruise day for us on any cruise was that first sea day on a the inside passage. We got up early and had coffee on our balcony. It was magical

[ltcal94]

Thanks to everyone that responded. It looks like we will get a port side balcony. :)

 

 

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