Starboard or Portside Alaska Inside Passage

[LJanet]

Currently, we are booked on Cabin 7046 on K'dam for our Inside Passage.  When the ship is docked, which side faces the town? We have option to book Cabin 6039 which is on the starboard side.  What is your take on 7046 vs 6039.

[CruiserBruce]

The side doesn't matter. The ship can put either side to the dock, and it is usually not predictable.

 

Scenery is all around you in Alaska. And you aren't locked in your cabin, rather you are roaming all over the ship.

[POA1]

Starboard will give you better land views - more of the time while sailing. The ship is closer to the land as it travels northbound than it is traveling southbound.

 

As for which side faces land in port, that's not something you'll know with 100% certainty.

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, LJanet said:

Currently, we are booked on Cabin 7046 on K'dam for our Inside Passage.  When the ship is docked, which side faces the town? We have option to book Cabin 6039 which is on the starboard side.  What is your take on 7046 vs 6039.

Any aft-facing cabins left? If so, that’s one way you can see on both sides of the ship. 😁

[Fouremco]

Here's a look at three cruise ships in Juneau, two docked port side in, one starboard side in. Another day and a different trio of ships, the arrangement might be quite different.

 

 

 

I took this photo in Skagway, and as you can see, we were docked starboard side in. Rather the a view of the town, however, all you could see was sheer mountainside.

 

 

As we spent no time looking out from our balcony when docked in port, it really didn't matter which side we docked on. Consider all the other factors that go into choosing a cabin, and ignore docking side. 

[crystalspin]

5 hours ago, LJanet said:

What is your take on 7046 vs 6039.

They are equivalent. Same short distance from the stairwell/elevators, even same arrangement of furniture in the cabin. (For what it's worth, as you enter the cabin and stand in the "hall" by the closets, the head of the bed is to your right. The sofa is near the balcony door with its back on the same wall. The only thing I see is that 7046 is a 'triple' meaning that the sofa makes a bed for a third person. My PCC has warned me that we might be bumped from a quad if a "family" needed it and have to take a double cabin at that time (and the cabins might be picked over at that time). 

 

NOW, no one has reported this new practice actually happening, BUT lots of chat on CC about the "3rd and 4th passengers sail free". So I picked a double in a place I could live with.

 

6039 is a double, equipped only for two pax.

[Khlela]

I've always prefer Starboard side for Alaska, hands down.

[Gsel]

Agree, always starboard! Our TA knows what I want and it is starboard if possible.

[CNSJ]

Are you roundtrip Vancouver?  If so, it really doesn't matter.  HAL tries to get the wildlife to show up on both sides of the ship (contracts vary).

 

If you are Northbound or Southbound, then, it matters a bit more. 

 

[crystalspin]

On 4/15/2024 at 5:11 PM, LJanet said:

Currently, we are booked on Cabin 7046 on K'dam for our Inside Passage.

OK, I looked up the K'dam R/T for 2025. Travelling inside Vancouver Island, scenery is all around. Then the ship is outside some islands going north with starboard facing land, and outside some other islands going south with port-side facing land. You are over-thinking this, haha! The only difference in your choice of cabins is the slight chance of being bumped from deck 7, vs being one deck closer to the spa. 

 

Just flip a coin?

 

ETA: Sorry if I was flippant. I would switch to 6039, just to be safe. Three decks from Spa instead of two is not going to make much difference (I moved down TWO decks from my desired deck, FWIW). 

 

Edited April 17 by crystalspin