Port or Starboard

[Jack E Dawson]

My wife and I will be taking the Empires of the Mediterranean cruise at the beginning of April and we are wondering which side of the ship to be on. Since the trip is mostly north to south, a starboard cabin will provide afternoon sun during what could be a chilly month. On the other hand, a port side cabin should have the better views of the coast but I'm guessing that most of the sailing will be at night. Any suggestions on which side to choose?

Thanks,

Jack

[MarkTapley]

During our 8 weeks on Orion, we didn’t see much land, except for entering or leaving ports.  When we booked our cabin, I picked port side as the veranda was going to mostly be in the shade venturing from Venice all the way to Hong Kong during very hot months.  So I think your initial reasoning is sound.

[Heidi13]

When cruising along a coast, the ship is normally too many miles offshore to actually see much coastline, therefore probably best to remove that from your equation.

 

We decide P or S depending on whether we want morning sun or afternoon sun. Since DW, isn't much for early mornings, we usually opt for evening sun. So heading North, we would opt for port side.

[photopro2]

12 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

the ship is normally too many miles offshore to actually see much coastline, therefore probably best to remove that from your equation.

Agreed, plus cruising will be mainly at night, plus you can always get a nice seat on the other side of the ship if required. So no preference for port or starboard but I might suggest a cabin near the lifts. We found no extra noise there but more convenient! 

[Twitchly]

No idea about the Mediterranean, but on our cruise from Barcelona to Bergen, the Viking agent suggested we get a cabin on the starboard side, which turned out to be excellent advice. We had a wonderful view of the Spanish coast and the Straits of Gibraltar (at night, stilll powerful). But the importance of that decision really became evident when we reached Norway. I got up in the early dawn to watch as we reached the first of the islands of that glorious coastline, and I sat mesmerized for the next few hours, taking it all in. It was the most moving part of the whole journey for me.

 

If your trip involves any early morning cruising near the coast, you might want to consider getting a cabin on that side. Your Viking agent might know.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 22, 2018 by Twitchly

[JerryInIL]

Jack, for our May 2020 Venice to Athens, we booked port side thinking that we would see the coast like an Alaska cruise, but apparently that is not the case based on the above comments.  I'll be up at dawn anyway, just in case the ship is approaching land.  

[terrydtx]

We are booked on the Sept 2020 Venice to Athens as well. We are on a PV1 cabin and chose the last forward port cabin, more because of what was on the deck above us.. From past Med cruises experience there is very little coast line available to see except when going into a port or leaving a port. On our Barcelona cruise the only land we saw during days at sea was when we passed through the Straights of Messina, and the view was fantastic from both sides of the ship.