Favourite side of ship and best middle deck for a balcony cabin when cruising north to GBR?

[MMDown Under]

Recommendations for best side of ship and best middle deck for a balcony cabin,  when cruising north to GBR?

[Aus Traveller]

3 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Recommendations for best side of ship and best middle deck for a balcony cabin,  when cruising north to GBR?

Most times you are out of sight of the mainland. If you have a balcony, maybe the only suggestion would be the starboard side for sailing past Willis Island.

[MMDown Under]

1 minute ago, Aus Traveller said:

Most times you are out of sight of the mainland. If you have a balcony, maybe the only suggestion would be the starboard side for sailing past Willis Island.

thank you  Port and left have four letters, therefore starboard can only be right. Is port side alwayst on the wharf?  I like watching all the rope being used to tie the ship up etc.  On my last cruise, after a long time between cruises due to Covid, the guys on the wharf at Darwin were getting impatient re how long it was taking.  One said to the other, they are probably letting someone practice. 

[Aus Traveller]

4 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

thank you  Port and left have four letters, therefore starboard can only be right. Is port side alwayst on the wharf?  I like watching all the rope being used to tie the ship up etc.  On my last cruise, after a long time between cruises due to Covid, the guys on the wharf at Darwin were getting impatient re how long it was taking.  One said to the other, they are probably letting someone practice. 

Yes - the starboard side is the right-hand side of the ship when facing forwards. In modern ships, either side of the ship can be against the wharf. The origin of the term 'starboard' comes from the ancient term 'steerboard', a large 'paddle' that was used to steer the ship. It was at the rear of the ship on the right-hand side (as you faced forward). By necessity, the other side of the ship was always against the wharf, therefore it became the 'port side'. Too much information ......

Edited October 25, 2022 by Aus Traveller

[MMDown Under]

Just now, Aus Traveller said:

Yes - the starboard side if the right-hand side of the ship when facing forwards. In modern ships, either side of the ship can be against the wharf. The origin of the term 'starboard' comes from the ancient term 'stearboard', a large 'paddle' that was used to steer the ship. It was at the rear of the ship on the right-hand side (as you faced forward). By necessity, the other side of the ship was always against the wharf, therefore it became the 'port side'. Too much information ......

Thank you.  I had a feeling our ship berthed on starboard side in Canada. 

I go to the biannual annual wooden boat Festival in Hobart and holidayed on the NQ islands, so you'd think I'd know.

[Jean C]

11 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

thank you  Port and left have four letters, therefore starboard can only be right. 

Very helpful 😀 Back as a young thing in the UK I had a friend who was into sail boat sailing. She always used "is there any  port left" as a way of remembering that Port is the left side of the ship facing forward 🙂 These little sayings are a great help to those of us who don't automatically know which side is which 😊

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, MMDown Under said:

thank you  Port and left have four letters, therefore starboard can only be right. Is port side alwayst on the wharf?  I like watching all the rope being used to tie the ship up etc.  On my last cruise, after a long time between cruises due to Covid, the guys on the wharf at Darwin were getting impatient re how long it was taking.  One said to the other, they are probably letting someone practice. 

At Cairns Coral Princess docked both ways. Three of our four cruises were bow in, so starboard side to the wharf, meaning she had to turn around before departing but on the Conflict Islands cruise we turned around on arrival and docked stern in with the port side to the wharf 

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, MMDown Under said:

Recommendations for best side of ship and best middle deck for a balcony cabin,  when cruising north to GBR?

It very much depends on the ship. I prefer cabins above and below so avoid the deck immediately above the public areas and the deck immediately below the Lido deck.

 

Some ships have wider balconies on a specific deck such as the Caribe deck on Grand class ships. Some balconies are fully covered, some are partly covered, and some are uncovered. Uncovered balconies mean your cabin can get overly warm in the afternoons if the side you are on is facing west.

[By The Bay]

If you pass Willis Island on the way up, I would book a starboard cabin. The return will be inside the reef, therefore with the coast in sight, sometimes.

[Aus Traveller]

25 minutes ago, By The Bay said:

If you pass Willis Island on the way up, I would book a starboard cabin. The return will be inside the reef, therefore with the coast in sight, sometimes.

Most cruises that sail past Willis Island do so on the way back after leaving Cairns. After looking at many itineraries, I only found two Carnival cruises that go past Willis Is before Cairns.

 

I based my comment about Willis Island being on the starboard side on the cruises we have been on including two this year. The ship actually passes north of Willis Island, then does a turn to head south.

[MMDown Under]

Thank you everyone.  What kind of balconies does Carnival Luminosa have?  

[MMDown Under]

41 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It very much depends on the ship. I prefer cabins above and below so avoid the deck immediately above the public areas and the deck immediately below the Lido deck.

 

Some ships have wider balconies on a specific deck such as the Caribe deck on Grand class ships. Some balconies are fully covered, some are partly covered, and some are uncovered. Uncovered balconies mean your cabin can get overly warm in the afternoons if the side you are on is facing west.

Yes I prefer cabins above and below, as there is less chance of excess noise at odd hours. I've only had one balcony and it was a very big one.