South American & Antarctica - which side of the ship?

[Kryssa]

We will be on the Azamara Journey in February, going around the Cape and doing some scenic cruising in Antarctica.
 

We start in Santiago and end in Buenos Aires. 

 

Is there a better side of the ship to be on for scenery from our veranda?

 

Thanks!

[Torquer]

We recently completed a very similar cruise.  First of all, the more we cruise, the more we find that the side of the ship really doesn't matter.  You have no idea ahead of time the exact course of the ship when you are close to land will be.  In ports, you similarly have no idea which way the ship will be facing at the pier.

 

That said, on this cruise, since we were going counter-clockwise around S.A., we initially picked the port side since that was on the side closer to land most of the time.  Later before embarkation, a cabin at the rear starboard corner of the ship opened up and we switched to that.  So we had views out the right side and the back of the ship.  Wow...that was the best decision we ever made.  The wrap-around views in Antarctica were incredible.  More importantly when cruising in Antarctica it was so much warmer sitting facing backwards on the balcony rather than on the side balcony since there was far less wind.  So we stayed out on the balcony  many more hours than we would have if we were on the side.  Remember, even in summer it will be in the low 30s in Antarctica.  So I strongly recommend a rear-facing balcony if one is available on your ship.  If I couldn't have a rear facing cabin, I would have slightly preferred a port facing cabin, but this may have been more of how our shipped was docked in some of the ports.

[Mercruiser]

Aft balconies are great on cool weather cruises. I agree they allow you to actually use your balcony while the ship is underway. Side balconies are too cold when you add in the 16 knot wind-chill from the ship's movement.

 

If you look at the new Viking expedition ships, like Octantis, you will see that they have replaced balconies with a big window (they call them a Nordic balcony, but it's really just a window that opens). Balconies just aren't practical in the polar regions.

https://www.vikingcruises.com/expeditions/ships/viking-octantis.html

 

I don't pay for balconies on cool weather cruises. I just get a window cabin.  I'd rather spend that money on really interesting excursions, like flight-seeing and zodiac trips. It's just way too cold on this itinerary to be on a side balcony once you leave Valparaiso Chile or B.A. Argentina. 

 

Azamara is great. You will have a wonderful time on this cruise. See my post on Azamara Quest's trip through the Chilean Fjords

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2985915-chilean-fjords-big-ship-vs-little-ship-sapphire-princess-azamara-quest/?do=findComment&comment=66834330

 

 

Edited April 18 by Mercruiser