Port or Starboard

[lifeisrealygood]

Have any of you been there before?  We have been on many S-Class cruises, all five ships.  Our cabin always seems to be port side, deck ten, near the library, concierge class, in the cabins between 1201 and 1215.  We know our way around the ship, even cabin numbers starboard side, odd numbers port side.  Whenever we take the elevators by the front of the ship, for example, when we get off the elevator on deck ten, we seem to pick the wrong side of the ship.  Same with getting off the mid bank of elevators.  We often turn the wrong way.  Also, when we get off the elevator on any floor, and we want to go toward the front of the ship, we turn and then realize we are going toward the aft.  Or vice versa.  So, even us seasoned cruisers, during our ten or twelve day cruise, we find that we turn the wrong way many times.  Has this happened to you, or are you cruise savvy and go the right way? Not really a topic to inform just to add a little humor now and again.  

[mahasamatman]

We always take the stairs, so we generally don't have the starboard/port problem. In our experience, all the staircases end up such that starboard is right and larboard is left. though we sometimes mix up forward/aft if we forget which staircase we're on.

 

The downside to the stairs is the terrible "artwork".

[RTShaker]

18 minutes ago, lifeisrealygood said:

Have any of you been there before?  We have been on many S-Class cruises, all five ships.  Our cabin always seems to be port side, deck ten, near the library, concierge class, in the cabins between 1201 and 1215.  We know our way around the ship, even cabin numbers starboard side, odd numbers port side.  Whenever we take the elevators by the front of the ship, for example, when we get off the elevator on deck ten, we seem to pick the wrong side of the ship.  Same with getting off the mid bank of elevators.  We often turn the wrong way.  Also, when we get off the elevator on any floor, and we want to go toward the front of the ship, we turn and then realize we are going toward the aft.  Or vice versa.  So, even us seasoned cruisers, during our ten or twelve day cruise, we find that we turn the wrong way many times.  Has this happened to you, or are you cruise savvy and go the right way? Not really a topic to inform just to add a little humor now and again.  

When on an S class, I always get off any elevator in the same direction on a given cruise.. If my cabin is on the port side I exit the elevator to the right. Forward elevator takes you to the port hallway, midship  port elevators take you through the library/card room, etc to the port hallway. Starboard elevators take you to the stairs and then right to the port hallway.  No matter which elevator you use, when you get to the hallway a right will take you forward. Same process, but all left turns will take to to the starboard hallway going forward.😁

[industrious95]

I'm pretty good with telling left from right. 😀

 

On the Beyond, when you get off the elevator's, there is signage which says "AFT" and "FWD".

[RTR 21-0]

We are usually as far back aft as we can get.  My problem starts when I’m re-boarding forward after having more than 1 margierita in Cozumel and that hallway back to the cabin seems never ending.  Have mercy if I’m on the wrong side 🤪

[miched]

I have a difficult time because sometimes I have 2 left feet.   This happens when I put my left shoe on first causing  my right foot to be left.  🤪
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[marieps]

We look for something distinguishing in the elevator lobby.  Last cruise it was a house phone.  We knew to always exit on the opposite side to access the proper passageway to our cabin. 

[miched]

Besides getting off the elevator when changing to the other side is walking out of your cabin. 
 

We did a B2B and had to change cabins.  The new cabin was on the opposite side.  We would leave the cabin and turn the wrong way.    Wasn’t that bad as we just got in some extra steps but it didn’t help that I was scheduled for a hip replacement the month after the cruise.   The bev pack really helped ease the pain.  

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

[D. B.]

When I book a Balcony Cabin I always look for a Starboard side one. Why? because Most of the time the ship Docks on that side and I can look down and see whats going on and sometimes watch the sail away from our balcony.

   My Dear Wife is directionally Challenged so I just remind Her the Numbers on the Cabin Doors get Smaller as you walk towards the Front of the Ship and a trick we taught New Sailors in the Navy was that Port has 4 Letters as does Left.

[DCPIV]

We rarely go the wrong way when we're headed to the room (do note that I said "rarely" and not "never").

 

We always take the stairs, and so there's another idiosyncracy we fall into.  Whenever we are going downstairs and reach our destination deck, we always turn the way we were going on the stairs.  If we were going downstairs counterclockwise, then we head left.  We head right if we were going downstairs clockwise.  That often leads to us turning around and backtracking or crossing to the other side of the deck at some other place.

 

At it only happens when going downstairs.  I guess that pause to catch our breath helps break the motion when heading upstairs. 😁

[Texed]

10 minutes ago, DCPIV said:

At it only happens when going downstairs.  I guess that pause to catch our breath helps break the motion when heading upstairs. 😁

 

I was trying to follow your explanation, and I got lost.  😧

[Glendakayself]

I find the ship diagrams on the walls with “you are here” notes helpful as well as the stateroom numbers.

[DCPIV]

10 minutes ago, Texed said:

 

I was trying to follow your explanation, and I got lost.  😧

 

Maybe we'll bump into each other, then!

[Mark_K]

Funny thing, I have a touch of dyslexia, so that if I don’t stop and look for my wedding ring, I’m only correct on left and right about 60% of the time.  But I never mix up port and starboard, forward and aft.

[DCPIV]

41 minutes ago, Mark_K said:

Funny thing, I have a touch of dyslexia, so that if I don’t stop and look for my wedding ring, I’m only correct on left and right about 60% of the time.  But I never mix up port and starboard, forward and aft.

 

I have a form of disgraphia where I often reverse letters or numbers, and I'll often mix up left and right when making a statement.  I'll say "left" or "right" when I mean the other.  I might even be pointing in the direction I mean but saying the other!  That drove my wife a bit crazy for a while, pointing left and saying "go right."

 

Like you, though, I never mix up port and starboard.  Crazy, isn't it?

[Bill Miller]

Hokey Pokey ...In a struggle to attach a weak left or right joke to this thread, I discover even more confusion. "The dance is referred to as the hokey-pokey in North America, Ireland and Australia, the hokey-cokey in the United Kingdom, and the hokey-tokey in New Zealand."  The struggle is real.

[Potstech]

We always taught the that Right and Starboard are the ones with an R in them.  And then said Left and Port only had 4 letters.

Edited March 15, 2023 by Potstech

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

42 minutes ago, Potstech said:

We always taught the that Right and Starboard are the ones with an R in them.  And then said Left and Port only had 4 letters.

 

Uh... PoRt? The third letter is an R. So the first premise is wrong.

 

But Left and Port do only have 4 letters.

[the penguins]

On 3/6/2023 at 12:34 AM, lifeisrealygood said:

Have any of you been there before?  We have been on many S-Class cruises, all five ships.  Our cabin always seems to be port side, deck ten, near the library, concierge class, in the cabins between 1201 and 1215.  We know our way around the ship, even cabin numbers starboard side, odd numbers port side.  Whenever we take the elevators by the front of the ship, for example, when we get off the elevator on deck ten, we seem to pick the wrong side of the ship.  Same with getting off the mid bank of elevators.  We often turn the wrong way.  Also, when we get off the elevator on any floor, and we want to go toward the front of the ship, we turn and then realize we are going toward the aft.  Or vice versa.  So, even us seasoned cruisers, during our ten or twelve day cruise, we find that we turn the wrong way many times.  Has this happened to you, or are you cruise savvy and go the right way? Not really a topic to inform just to add a little humor now and again.  

A very simple "trick" that works on every ship.

On every floor just outside the elevators is a clock.

The clock is in exactly the same position on every deck.

Your cabin is either the side with the clock or it isn't.

It's also useful for meeting people as you arrange to meet under the clock, deck 7, forward or whatever.

Hope this helps.

[CaliB]

23 hours ago, the penguins said:

A very simple "trick" that works on every ship.

On every floor just outside the elevators is a clock.

The clock is in exactly the same position on every deck.

Your cabin is either the side with the clock or it isn't.

It's also useful for meeting people as you arrange to meet under the clock, deck 7, forward or whatever.

Hope this helps.

This was very helpful. I've never noticed the clocks before. Like OP, we get lost after exiting elevators for the first 4-5 days.

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, CaliB said:

This was very helpful. I've never noticed the clocks before. Like OP, we get lost after exiting elevators for the first 4-5 days.

Happy to help