holdon216 Posted May 20, 2019 #1 Share Posted May 20, 2019 We booked a cruise for next spring on Carnival Radiance. The ports being Barcelona, Livorno Italy, Civitavecchia Italy, Naples, Palermo, Kotor Montenegro, Corfu Greece, Catania Italy, and Vallette Malta. When i booked there were no available PORT aft balcony rooms, only starboard. (Pretty sure at this point Carnival does not open up all rooms at the same time!) So now some port side rooms have opened up. With a moderate increase in price. Which is the side we prefer. Question, anyone familiar with these ports, should i switch to port side room or does it not make much difference in the majority of these ports? I am aware port does not necessarily mean port when docked. And that some might even be tenders. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euro cruiser Posted May 20, 2019 #2 Share Posted May 20, 2019 Since there is no way to predict where or how a ship will berth in any given port, choose the cabin and/or side of the ship you prefer for cruising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PelicanLvr Posted May 21, 2019 #3 Share Posted May 21, 2019 OP - Why do you "prefer" the port side? I do not know of any advantage to one side over the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted May 21, 2019 #4 Share Posted May 21, 2019 I guess some folks have a preferred side. Personally, having spent far more than 1000 days on cruise ships (with many of them in Europe) I have no clue as to why they like one particular side. As to which side a ship docks, that can vary for many reasons. We have been on ships where the Captain will (with the help of the pilot) pick a particular side because he wants the crew to do some painting on one side (easier to access from a pier) or perhaps to just wash one side of the ship. Hank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holdon216 Posted May 21, 2019 Author #5 Share Posted May 21, 2019 21 minutes ago, PelicanLvr said: OP - Why do you "prefer" the port side? I do not know of any advantage to one side over the other. We prefer the port side because most of the time it will be the side facing the port when docked. (Not always but most of the time.) We enjoy looking at the land/scenery and the activity there. It also enables us to see how soon we’ll get the all clear to get off the ship. And we can watch the runners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisyloo Posted May 22, 2019 #6 Share Posted May 22, 2019 OP, I really don't think it will matter what side you choose. The ship will probably be port side to the pier in some ports, and in others it will be starboard. I don 't think there is any way of knowing which it will be for any given port. Also, wind and tides could play a deciding factor in the way a captain chooses to dock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted May 22, 2019 #7 Share Posted May 22, 2019 12 hours ago, holdon216 said: We prefer the port side because most of the time it will be the side facing the port when docked. (Not always but most of the time.) We enjoy looking at the land/scenery and the activity there. It also enables us to see how soon we’ll get the all clear to get off the ship. And we can watch the runners. Maybe it varies by cruise line, but I have actually kept track on several of my 21 HAL, Princess and RCI cruises because I don't think your theory is true. General results? It's closer to a 50-50 split on which side is to the dock. 60-40 occasionally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d9704011 Posted May 22, 2019 #8 Share Posted May 22, 2019 On 5/20/2019 at 2:34 PM, euro cruiser said: Since there is no way to predict where or how a ship will berth in any given port, choose the cabin and/or side of the ship you prefer for cruising. Celebrity EDGE will be docking ‘port side to’. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euro cruiser Posted May 22, 2019 #9 Share Posted May 22, 2019 44 minutes ago, d9704011 said: Celebrity EDGE will be docking ‘port side to’. And you know this how? There is no guarantee, conditions and traffic change causing the harbor master to alter even the best laid plans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrJ Berkshire Posted May 23, 2019 #10 Share Posted May 23, 2019 It really does not matter which side you are on, there are no guarantees as to docking. Equally on lower decks you do not know the state of the tide, so at what level you are compared to the quay, is equally uncertain. You might just have a concrete quay wall outside, this is often the case on smaller ships with the MDR windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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