Which side - Island?

[phabric]

I am thinking of the 10 day European Explorer on the Island.

Ports -  Southampton, Spain (3x), Italy (2x), Rome

 

Any preference of which side of the ship to pick?

 

[Dudleydog73]

The only thing I could think of would be if you wanted sun or shade.  I would think that the starboard side would be the sunniest looking at a east journey like that. 

Edited July 20, 2021 by Dudleydog73

[phabric]

Thanks

[Alaskanb]

We are on the late October version of that cruise and are on the port side -- not by choice but works for us as we go south to Gibraltar and then east and north-ish to Rome. Need to look at detailed maps of journey.  

[mom says]

I'm always puzzled by this question. There is of course the sun/shade preference on a cruise that is primarily in an east-west direction. But there are relatively few cruises where side is important for scenic views. If you have a sea day, most of the time you're lucky to spot land in the far hazy distance. If you're going from one port to another the next day, it's at night and all you might see are a few lights on the horizon.

[Steelers36]

I disagree with the east-west view.

 

First, the journey is generally a south-westerly direction from UK, past Brest area of France and the Bay of Biscay, until reaching the NW corner of Spain.  From there, the journey heads generally South until past Lisbon area, then a bit of Southeast direction, until entering the Mediterranean Sea at Gilbraltar.

 

Finally, then there is a general Easterly direction to the voyage for a short while, but, depending on ports, the direction is generally Northeast towards Rome.

 

@phabric did not mention the time of year, but the Sun is generally towards the southern sky in northern hemisphere as Earth rotates.  So, southeast to southwest track, but in mid-summer can be north of east to north of west.  Latitude affects this.

 

About all you can say is that if there is any sighting of land, it is going to be primarily on the port side for most of the journey, but as mentioned above, ships are generally far off shore. 

 

[phabric]

This cruise is Oct 30, 2023.

[phabric]

Would you take on the Island for a 10 day European Explorer Oct 30, 2023 - 

BD aft rear facing 

deck 11 Baja

210 sq ft

 

or

BE aft on the side

deck 7 Promenade

 247 sq ft

 

BD is $84/cabin more.

Edited July 21, 2021 by phabric

[vjmatty]

6 minutes ago, phabric said:

Would you take on the Island for a 10 day European Explorer Oct 30, 2023 - 

BD aft rear facing 

deck 11 Baja

210 sq ft

 

or

BE aft on the side

deck 7 Promenade

 247 sq ft

 

BD is $84/cabin more.

I spend a lot of time on the balcony, and since Princess has taken a page from NCL's playbook with sardine-can balconies that don't fit loungers facing the sea, I'd go for the bigger balcony on Promenade. 
 

ETA: Also I believe the Promenade cabins are newer and have a more updated layout and decor. 

Edited July 21, 2021 by vjmatty

[phabric]

1 minute ago, vjmatty said:

I spend a lot of time on the balcony, and since Princess has taken a page from NCL's playbook with sardine-can balconies that don't fit loungers facing the sea, I'd go for the bigger balcony on Promenade. 

Some of the ship rear facing aft cabins have huge balconies, not on the Island. From Princess deck plan,  I have found on the Island that the BE only are 210 sq ft except the few cabins on the Promenade that have 247 sq ft.

[vjmatty]

2 minutes ago, phabric said:

Some of the ship rear facing aft cabins have huge balconies, not on the Island. From Princess deck plan,  I have found on the Island that the BE only are 210 sq ft except the few cabins on the Promenade that have 247 sq ft.

Yes on the Golden and Star I remember those aft balconies being much bigger but alas those days are gone 😕

 

I tried to get a Promenade balcony for my November 2022 B2B sailing but they weren't available for both sailings so we grabbed the sternmost port side BE balcony on Emerald deck. If you look at the deck plans closely you'll see not all BE are created equally, and the one we chose is in a section where the BE's are a bit bigger. Since you're so far out time wise I'd check every deck before making a decision.