Port or Starboard?

[grannynurse]

I can't speak for Vista-class ships but the rest of the HAL ships allow smoking in all the cabins and verandas. If you are on either side you may get a whiff of smoke on the veranda. It's just the outside public decks that are port side smoking only.

GN

[dakrewser]

The word may be a myth (and I believe you on that score), but what does the "urban" have to do with it?

 

I don't know where the phrase "urban myth" originated, as a reference to somedthing untrue which, nevertheless, many people believe. (www.snopes.com collects many of these stories and attempts to either validate or disprove them).

[blackbird71]

No matter where we are cruising; no matter the itinerary, we always want port. Beats me why. No real reason other than habit. Of all our cruises, we have only been portside two times.

 

But if you are going around the Horn east to west, port would not be the best side :rolleyes:

[kgjg]

In sailing there is a term "Red Right Return" which means that the red marker buoys is always on the right when you are coming in to port. The green buoys are alway's on the opposite side. The idea is that you are supposed to stay between them. I always thought that the acronym POSH meant the same thing. Look for the red buoy on the port side when you are going out of the port and look for it on the starboard side when you are coming home.

[blackbird71]

Like Pete, I consider the itinerary and select based on where I am most likely to see the most scenery. Therefore, we choose either one.

 

Right on some cruises it would make a big difference, ie around South America. Based on the direction of travel I would try for a cabin with the best view.

[Bucky3]

We just returned from the Oosterdam cruise to Cabo, Mazatlan, and PV. We chose portside as we had only one day at sea going south and two days at sea coming back. We wanted the most afternoon sun on our balcony for the two sea days. It worked out well for us.

[cruisecrasy]

Interesting & true re: sun on balcony two sea days going back...also going back u are further out from shore so with nothing to view u might as well have sun instead. Going down u are closer to shore portside so see the sights.

[Pete Jackson]

Um, I believe that's what we now call an "urban myth" (see this explanation)

 

Word & phrase guru Michael Quinion even titled his book debunking the back formation of mythical acronyms "Port Out, Starboard Home"

 

OTOH, I do prefer the shady side of the street (or the ship)!:)

 

Of course, to make room for people travelling "POSH", other passengers had to travel in Starboard outbound and Port home. The initials for this class of service are "SOPH". Of course, these people received substantial discounts for doing this and would seek them upon booking. Such clever people came to be known as "SOPHisticated", and that is where the word sophisticated came from!

[stanford's girl]

We just returned from the Oosterdam cruise to Cabo, Mazatlan, and PV. We chose portside as we had only one day at sea going south and two days at sea coming back. We wanted the most afternoon sun on our balcony for the two sea days. It worked out well for us.

Bucky3,

Thanks for that info. We're sailing on the Oosterdam in Oct and have a port side cabin. Never gave it much thought when we booked it but seems like we lucked out picking this cabin. 2 sunny sea days on my balcony sounds delicious to me.:)

[Bucky3]

It's a great cruise! Enjoy!

[HeatherInFlorida]

Port side .... absolutely and always. It also book out first. There's a reason for that;)

[ualtim]

Both.......Aft balconies on the Vista Class :)

 

If given a chance, we prefer the aft view where you can see both port and starboard views. If unable, we choose by cabin class, deck, and then if there is a choice port or starboard. The decision on port or starboard is based purely on itinerary. Round trip in the Carribean there is not a big difference most of the time between one side or the other unless you have a scenic cruising day. Sea of Cortez/Mexican Riviera I prefer port side as you are closer to land sailing south and get the afternoon sun on your extra sea days going north. Alaska Northbound, starboard. Alaska Southbound, port. Alaska round trip, ??? (have not done one yet.)

[Randyk47]

Our first two cruises were in cabins on the port side. Now everytime we book the starboard side I get turned around. Went back to port on our last cruise and I hardly ever got turned around. Weird. :o

[jhannah]

Went back to port on our last cruise and I hardly ever got turned around.

Guess it's at least in part because we're all such creatures of habit. We vary back and forth from port to starboard ... and sometimes I'm very glad for the deck plan plaques that HAL puts up! ;)

[Golfgrl1911]

Started out starboard & will probably always choose that if given a choice (creature of habit). Nancy:)

[nofrown]

I am with those who say for the most part it does not matter and we most often go for outside guaranteed. However, if you are likely to see more on one side, that is a different story. Case in point--we went to Bermuda and I knew from experience that the starbord side faces Front St in Hamilton so that was a no brainer particularly since we were going to be there for 4 days. Since we were down pretty low we lucked out in that had we been a few cabins rearward, our view would have been blocked by the cruise terminal.

BTW for those wondering if we took HAL to Bermuda, no we went on Celebrity Horizon. Very recently I asked HAL if they would consider Bermuda from Norfolk, VA and the reply was not a chance due to, among other things, very high port charges. The Horizon will go out of service for Celebrity later this year.