Industrial Views from cabin in port Jade Ath-Ist

[mkcinmur]

With two overnights ...Alexandria and Istanbul....and one late sail away in

Mykonos....the Starboard view was of ugly industrial port activities while

the port view was magical.....

 

Alexandria a freight yard view of containers....at least it was Easter so

there was no activity. Starboard had the view of the walkway that was lit at night

 

Our situation was especially true in Mykonos where the strboard view was of a gravel pit where they were loading dumptrucks as they are still working on construction of the port. In addition in the late afternoon thru the evening this view was enhanced by the constant freeway ramp traffic jam of Friday night unloading of cars off the ferries. At the same time the Port side view was picture postcard of the little island town with lights coming on twinkling...and the other ships in the harbor. We did not sail until 9:30 pm and it was rather irritating to have to go outside the minisuite to relax and enjoy the Greek isles experience.

 

The same was true in Istanbul....an overnight looking at a dirty port complex with a huge crane on a barge rocking back and forth as if at any moment it could topple onto our balcony

.....while on the Starboard side of the ship the magic of Istanbul was awaiting anyone who peered out of their cabin.....the mosques lit at night with the ferries moving back and forth .....the sight one dreams of seeing

when one books such a cruise.

 

How does one plan for this???? We really like to spend a little time in

our cabin while in port and this was a wonderful cruise really hurt by

the experiences of being confined in port as if we were in an inside cabin.

It is just luck or can one really know which side of the ship will have a great view in port and which will suffer.

cabin.

 

Any thoughts or tips on how to prevent this on future cruises.....

[garycarla]

Since ships seem to sometimes pull into the dock bow first and others times bow out, not sure if you can plan. there are probably some ports that almost always do it a certain way, but not sure how you figure that out.

 

And, as soon as you figure it out, somebody will change it, or the next port is exactly the opposite. Murphy's Law you know!

[caspmorn]

It is possible to find the best side of the cruise ship with some advance planning. You need two things 1) the NCL webcams, and 2) google earth. Prior to booking, you need to use the NCL ship web cams to find out where the ship is docked in each port. Since you can only see forward on the web cam, you need to compare this to a picture from above. Bring up google earth, and zoom in on the port in question to find what you can see on the web cam. Using this approach, I was able to figure out where Pearl docked at each of the 5 ports in the Southern Caribbean itinerary. I also knew where the best views were.

 

Two warnings, however: 1) the ships usually, but not always dock in the same place - in fact we tendered in one port where they usually dock because of a RSS ship that had priority; 2) in a busy port, you may find that there is another ship next to you completely blocking your view and providing a lack of privacy (you can't see this on the web cam and google earth will not likely give you any other data since it is not live).

[Cruise_More_Often]

. . . or you can choose a cabin on the bow or aft of the ships.

[Cruzin2paradise09]

We really like to spend a little time in our cabin while in port and this was a wonderful cruise really hurt by the experiences of being confined in port as if we were in an inside cabin.

 

I'm confused . . . were you in a balcony or an inside cabin???

 

If you want to enjoy a port and you aren't on the "right" side, sit up on deck. I really hope I'm misinterpreting what you said, but it seems like this really put a damper on your cruise and I personally think that's silly.

[mkcinmur]

To reply to the person who though I "silly" to have the bad port views put

a damper on my cruise......

 

It really did put a damper on those two nights....My husband was ill and

we came back on shore early in Myknonos and Istanbul. All would not have been "lost" if he could have been in the cabin enjoying the view.

 

Like I said....we paid for a minisuite so we could enjoy the views from

our balcony....going on deck does not appeal to either one of us.

 

Also NCL could have alternated the view ports.

[Cruise_More_Often]

Also NCL could have alternated the view ports.

I can see that you were really upset about this. However, perhaps it was out of the Captain's hands. Here in the US the ships go where the ports tell them to go and how/where the Pilots who guide the ships into the ports place them. Who knows what they do in foreign countries. But, depending upon what ships were already in those ports before your ship probably had a lot to do with how your ship was docked.

[garycarla]

It is always a 50/50 crapshoot which side you will be on. Half will be on the dock side, half on the pier side.

 

Some people want the dock side so they can what is going on, figuring they have already seen enough the sea. Others want the sea side because they like that better.

 

I just do not see the issue. The ship has to tie up one way or the other. And they have very little if any control. The harbor master tells them how and where they will be.

 

There just is no way that a cruiseline is going to tell people which way they tie up, even if is the same everytime they have been in a certain port. Know why? As soon as they tell people that, it will change and then the complaints will really get loud.

 

Did you know that the contract they give you does not even guarantee that you will hit the announced ports of call? And if it changes, they do not have to give you anything in return?

[CC Help Michell]

To reply to the person who though I "silly" to have the bad port views put

a damper on my cruise......

 

It really did put a damper on those two nights....My husband was ill and

we came back on shore early in Myknonos and Istanbul. All would not have been "lost" if he could have been in the cabin enjoying the view.

 

Like I said....we paid for a minisuite so we could enjoy the views from

our balcony....going on deck does not appeal to either one of us.

 

Also NCL could have alternated the view ports.

 

I am sorry this upset you so. The truth is, as others have posted, the cruiseline or captain do not decide where/how they berth. Ports have harbormasters, and in busy ports that individual spends their days playing what amounts to a giant game of Tetris. Where ships can berth depends on a lot of factors -- perhaps in six hours a cargo carrier is due, and the empty spot you wish your ship were in has to be held for it, because that's where the cranes and warehouse facilities are.

 

As you mentioned, these are industrial ports, and while I'm sure they welcome the cruise ship tourists and their money, they still have to move the goods that keep their economy going. Someone up above suggested a balcony cabin at the bow of the ship, or an aft-facing one, and those are great suggestions if the port views are something that can make or break your cruise experience, and sitting on a public deck is an unacceptable alternative.

[easygoesit]

With two overnights ...Alexandria and Istanbul....and one late sail away in

Mykonos....the Starboard view was of ugly industrial port activities while

the port view was magical.....

 

Alexandria a freight yard view of containers....at least it was Easter so

there was no activity. Starboard had the view of the walkway that was lit at night

 

Our situation was especially true in Mykonos where the strboard view was of a gravel pit where they were loading dumptrucks as they are still working on construction of the port. In addition in the late afternoon thru the evening this view was enhanced by the constant freeway ramp traffic jam of Friday night unloading of cars off the ferries. At the same time the Port side view was picture postcard of the little island town with lights coming on twinkling...and the other ships in the harbor. We did not sail until 9:30 pm and it was rather irritating to have to go outside the minisuite to relax and enjoy the Greek isles experience.

 

The same was true in Istanbul....an overnight looking at a dirty port complex with a huge crane on a barge rocking back and forth as if at any moment it could topple onto our balcony

.....while on the Starboard side of the ship the magic of Istanbul was awaiting anyone who peered out of their cabin.....the mosques lit at night with the ferries moving back and forth .....the sight one dreams of seeing

when one books such a cruise.

 

How does one plan for this???? We really like to spend a little time in

our cabin while in port and this was a wonderful cruise really hurt by

the experiences of being confined in port as if we were in an inside cabin.

It is just luck or can one really know which side of the ship will have a great view in port and which will suffer.

cabin.

 

Any thoughts or tips on how to prevent this on future cruises.....

 

I know what your saying. I guess the best thing to do is focus on the positive stuff such as the weather, warmth your health, pick up a book and read even have a drink or two etc.

I wouldn't let a lousy view ruin my day.

[whale-watcher]

We chose a port side cabin on our recent POAM cruise so we would have better views of the Napali Coast, but would have preferred Starboard for the two overnights (Kauai and Maui), and the views from our balcony were rather industrial and somewhat noisy. Overall not a big deal for us, but if we go again, would probably opt for the starboard side instead.