Which side of ship for Ireland Iceland

I have no idea if one side of the ship is better than another on our Ireland-Iceland itinery. We’re getting a balcony and want land views when in port. Please help.

Which side the ship may dock varies by port and ship needs. It doesn't always dock with the same side to the pier.

Reykjavik is a commercial port. Even if your balcony doesn't face the 'terminal', you will not be looking at open sea. Akureyri is at the end of a fjord, so there will be views both sides. EM

A lot of people think the port side of the ship is the side that faces the port.

Not so. It depends on the port. Some ports have more than one berth area. Picture, for instance, a long pier out into the water, with one ship on each side. One ship's port side is going to face the other ship's starboard side.

I like the back of the ship. A balcony showing where we have been.

Many things will affect how a ship is positioned. Tides, current flows, proximity to traffic lanes, amount of traffic at the time, wind strength, etc., will be considered when determining which side of the ship is against the pier or dock. And, some ports have a single pier with two sides that ships can dock at, increasing the uncertainty of which side of the pier your ship will be using.

For instance, if the tide is coming in when the ship is due to depart, the pilot and captain may decide to back onto the pier to make it easier to leave without the requirement of making a turn to get pointed in the right direction in a fast flowing current caused by the tide.

It is difficult to predict how a ship will be positioned.

You will be in a harbor, with land views all around!

I notice you are on Celebrity, I always book starboard because all the outdoor smoking areas are on the port side. Can be a difference if you have a veranda.

I have no idea if one side of the ship is better than another on our Ireland-Iceland itinery. We’re getting a balcony and want land views when in port. Please help.

For views in port it is always a guess. One week the ship may dock with one side facing land and the next week the other side may face land.

I notice you are on Celebrity, I always book starboard because all the outdoor smoking areas are on the port side. Can be a difference if you have a veranda.

Wow - huge piece of information! Thanks!

The cruise we're taking to Iceland is going round the whole island in a clockwise direction, so we're presuming that the starboard side might have more views when we're actually sailing, as the itinerary mentions that we will be passing the main volcano. We may be wrong about this, and have to go to the port side for views of the islands such as Surtsey, but we're hoping to see something of the mainland from our cabin.

On 5/1/2018 at 2:22 PM, jocap said:

The cruise we're taking to Iceland is going round the whole island in a clockwise direction, so we're presuming that the starboard side might have more views when we're actually sailing, as the itinerary mentions that we will be passing the main volcano. We may be wrong about this, and have to go to the port side for views of the islands such as Surtsey, but we're hoping to see something of the mainland from our cabin.

I hope it was a wonderful trip!  We will be going next summer and I am selecting cabins now - was starboard the correct choice - that was my initial thought as well.  Thanks!

We had a starboard side cabin for the Ireland and Iceland cruise in June. We had beautiful views from our balcony, especially the afternoon we left Akureyri. 

We also got invited to the helipad for the sail-in to Akureyri, and had delightful views of the fjord.

Enjoy!

We sailed on Celebrity, Eclipse and were on the starboard side (forward)...I don't think it made much difference to us on our Ireland, Iceland & Scotland itinerary...which was just amazing.

On 4/26/2018 at 11:50 AM, diane.in.ny said:

A lot of people think the port side of the ship is the side that faces the port.

 

Not so. It depends on the port. Some ports have more than one berth area. Picture, for instance, a long pier out into the water, with one ship on each side. One ship's port side is going to face the other ship's starboard side.

Not exactly. If one ship is positioned on the left side of the pier with the bow towards land and the other positioned on the right side of the pier with the aft towards land, they will both have their starboard sides facing each other. However, one ship will be on the port side of the PIER and the other on the starboard side of the same pier. 

Port side of a ship when facing forward is always on our "left" and starboard on our "right". I learned as a child that "port" is the shorter word just like "left" is the shorter word, while "starboard" is the longer word just like "right" is the longer words. 

And, yes, I know that the post I am replying to is over a year old. I am replying for the benefit of anyone reading this thread today.

19 hours ago, AllycatCA said:

 

I hope it was a wonderful trip!  We will be going next summer and I am selecting cabins now - was starboard the correct choice - that was my initial thought as well.  Thanks!

Yes, to a certain extent- we often chose to be at the stern for eg. the Westerman Island, where there was a commentary, and preferred being there to watch for whales.

The best moment of being in a starboard cabin- just a window, as I think there were only 8 balconies on the ship- was in the late evening, going from Reykjavik to Isafijordur; we looked out and saw that we were passing Kirkjufell, the mountain in Game of Thrones. That was on the starboard side.

It was a beautiful, fascinating cruise- my favourite ever.