Port or Starboard Cabin when sailing from San Juan?

[dfmeeks]

Help! We're about to book our cruise for May 2015 on the Liberty sailing from San Juan. I'm only booking an OV instead of a balcony because we're going to spend 1 day prior & 2 days after in San Juan & the $460 savings will help considerably. However, we'd still love to view the beautiful islands as we sail in. Which side of the ship should we book our cabin? Thank you so much for your help! I know it's 9 months out but planning is half the fun!

[lostdart1]

Help! We're about to book our cruise for May 2015 on the Liberty sailing from San Juan. I'm only booking an OV instead of a balcony because we're going to spend 1 day prior & 2 days after in San Juan & the $460 savings will help considerably. However, we'd still love to view the beautiful islands as we sail in. Which side of the ship should we book our cabin? Thank you so much for your help! I know it's 9 months out but planning is half the fun!

 

So you are going to be up at 5:30 am when you are sailing into the harbor? If that is the case then you want to be on port side.

 

...but if you want the great view leaving the harbor then you want to be on starboard side.

 

 

 

....but I think up on deck is the way you want to go for sailaway.......

[dfmeeks]

LOL! OK Lostdart1 definitely good point about 5:30 AM! But it will still be wonderful to look out our window & see a beautiful island when we wake up. So port side it is! Thank you!

[christyran1228]

We are booked port side for our trip in November. :)

[dfmeeks]

We are booked port side for our trip in November. :)

 

Do you have your excursions planned? Are you booking a hotel? Once I book the cruise, which will be tomorrow at the latest, I'll start to look at excursions, etc. Do you plan on writing a review? There are some wonderfully detailed reviews with great photos!

[christyran1228]

I have a couple of great reviews bookmarked to help kill time ... lol.

 

We are staying one night before & after at the Sheraton Old San Juan, we got a great price on Priceline.

 

In St. Kitts we are booked with Thenford Grey Tours, which has super reviews.

 

Cosol Tours in St. Lucia, and Calabazas in Barbados. Not sure about St. Thomas & St. Marteen yet

[Arizonagirl14]

I had book a port side room on the Valor , but after reading phssteeler's review, I switched to the starboard side as to be able to take the beautiful sunrise pics and approaching port pics as she had done last year. I confirmed with her that was correct before I changed. You may want to check out her review and pics. Have a great cruise, as we leave in 112 days and I can not wait!

 

 

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[Dirkgun]

We have done this cruise 2 times before on the Victory (before the Victory and Valor traded places in 3/13) and have reviews in my signature. We were on the starboard side once in a OV room and once in a Balcony...loved the balcony for sail away in San Juan (almost worth the price for that alone) For Sail away make sure you are up on deck to see the Fort all lit up at night. Just FYI there are times that the ship will change which way it is facing in port. Definitely on the way to St Lucia on the Starboard side you can see the Pitons when you are sailing in to port early in the morning. They are pretty dramatic also. Much better view on deck though. We go again in Jan/2015 and can't wait either.

[pghsteelerfan]

Arizonagirl14!!! :) How was your cruise? I'm so glad to hear that you were pleased with switching cabin side and was hoping you wouldn't regret it. I hope you got some really nice pictures and also enjoyed sailing into the islands. Such beautiful views.

 

OP, which side you are on could vary in what you want. Were you wanting the views of seeing the islands, and possibly sunrise, in the distance from your balcony when you get up in the morning and be able to watch them get closer as you sail in or were you asking about which side has better views when docked?

 

If it's for balcony views sailing in, I'd recommend the starboard (starboard). Granted, we were on Valor for our cruise in May 2013, but the itinerary and order they stop at the islands will be the same. When sailing into St. Thomas, the ship is heading straight in, so either side should have a decent view but the best would be up on Panorama Deck 10 for that. The next day is a sea day, so it doesn't matter for that day. When it really starts to matter is coming into St. Lucia because if you get up early enough, you will see the island and the Pitons. I got up at 5:30AM that day and was so glad I did. When leaving St. Lucia, you'll be heading north and on the Caribbean side of the islands (west side), best views of the other islands will be on the right side of the ship. It's also neat passing them at night and seeing lights. I also got up early for St. Kitts and enjoyed the views of St. Kitts and Nevis (sister island) coming in. That night when leaving, we again saw other islands at night. When coming into St. Maarten, like St. Thomas, we kind of headed straight in. I didn't get up until 6:30AM that morning, but had I gotten up earlier, I may have been able to see as we passed the island of Saba. Again, after our day in St. Maarten as we headed back to San Juan, we passed St. Thomas at about midnight, and we went on the balcony to watch as we sailed past. St. Thomas was all lit up. OK, last morning when sailing back into San Juan, I thought we were going to be pulling in between 6:30 and 7. When coming in and passing the fort, at sunrise, that will be on the LEFT side of the ship. I was planning on going up to Panorama Deck 10 for that, but when I got up at 5:30, we had already pulled into the harbor and were past the fort.

 

Now if your more interested in which side of the ship has better views when docked, that can vary. In St. Thomas, we pulled in. Port (left) side had a better view. Barbados was kind of industrial. Backed in. Starboard side cabins have a view of the land, again, industrial. Port side had a view out toward the ocean. St. Lucia we backed in, but either side has a pretty view. St. Kitts, we backed in, but again, either side had a good view. St. Maarten, we also backed in. Starboard side had views of the island, port just had views of the water (maybe Saba on a very clear day). It does vary on how the ship will pull in. They are currently updating Carnival's webcams, but for example Valor on the southern out of San Juan has done just the opposite of how it was pulled in on our cruise. That would literally be hit or miss.

 

I know this is long, but I wanted to give you as many details as I can to help you make your decision. I know I was asking before we had our cruise. :)

[Arizonagirl14]

We haven't been yet, pghstellerfan... Not until December..112 more days!,

 

 

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[dfmeeks]

I have a couple of great reviews bookmarked to help kill time ... lol.

 

We are staying one night before & after at the Sheraton Old San Juan, we got a great price on Priceline.

 

In St. Kitts we are booked with Thenford Grey Tours, which has super reviews.

 

Cosol Tours in St. Lucia, and Calabazas in Barbados. Not sure about St. Thomas & St. Marteen yet

 

You don't have too much longer!

 

I've been looking at the Sheraton. Would love to stay at El Convento pre-cruise if I could get a good price & arrive early enough to make it worth while.

 

We pretty much decided on Calabazas as well but that's it. I told my daughter, she'll be ending her soph yr at college, that she can help us decide on excursions.

 

I'm looking forward to reading more reviews!

[dfmeeks]

I had book a port side room on the Valor , but after reading phssteeler's review, I switched to the starboard side as to be able to take the beautiful sunrise pics and approaching port pics as she had done last year. I confirmed with her that was correct before I changed. You may want to check out her review and pics. Have a great cruise, as we leave in 112 days and I can not wait!

 

 

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Her review was one of the reviews that helped me decide to cruise out of San Juan! LOL!! I'm going to have to read it again & pay more attention to the side of the ship.

 

Arizonagirl, what did you think of the cruise? Which excursions did you choose and were you satisfied? Did you stay in San Juan &, if so, where?

[dfmeeks]

We haven't been yet, pghstellerfan... Not until December..112 more days!,

 

 

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Just saw this! Unless you are psychic, I'll have to wait for my answers!!

[dfmeeks]

We have done this cruise 2 times before on the Victory (before the Victory and Valor traded places in 3/13) and have reviews in my signature. We were on the starboard side once in a OV room and once in a Balcony...loved the balcony for sail away in San Juan (almost worth the price for that alone) For Sail away make sure you are up on deck to see the Fort all lit up at night. Just FYI there are times that the ship will change which way it is facing in port. Definitely on the way to St Lucia on the Starboard side you can see the Pitons when you are sailing in to port early in the morning. They are pretty dramatic also. Much better view on deck though. We go again in Jan/2015 and can't wait either.

 

Fabulous! I know what I'm doing tonight! Looking forward to reading both of your reviews!

[dfmeeks]

pghsteelerfan,

 

It sounds like there are positives to each side of the ship. I get up at 4:30 am for work, which I'm guessing is 5:30 island time since I live in Oklahoma. Which islands are "must sees" to sail into?

 

We're really not night owls so getting up early isn't going to be that big of a deal. We plan on 2 extra days in San Juan on the beach to just relax before flying home & then will probably take an extra day or so before returning to work. So, if it's worth getting up at an ungodly hour to view sailing into an island harbor, I'll definitely have a date with a mug of coffee!!

[Arizonagirl14]

I highly recommend both of these as well as GAPearl. I gained so much info from all 3 including excursions that I wanted to do on the cruise and In San Juan. For me planning is 1/2 the fun!

 

 

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[Arizonagirl14]

Op... We haven't sailed yet, but have everything planned out. We are staying 3 days before the cruise at the Coral Princess. I wanted tho. Of the Hilton resorts or the Marriott, but they were either sold out or over $300/ night.., yikes! Our cruise leaves December 28; I guess the islands are very busy during the holiday season.

 

We are doing the rainforest tour and the "flavors of San Juan" tour. As well as the forts and Town shops and restaurants as well.

 

On the cruise we are doing the following:

 

St. Thomas-- ferry to St John on our on

 

Barbados--Carlisle bay and turtle snorkel

 

St Lucia--Jalousy Beach with Spencer Ambrose

 

St. Kitts-- 4 hour city tour and beach excursion

 

St Marten--own our on to Maho Beach

 

We are booked in a balcony Panorama deck Starboard side. And we have also booked the Steakhouse and the Chef's table.

 

 

I know you will be looking forward to yours as much as we are. I booked it on Jan 1st this year. We wanted to go back next summer , but it will have to wait. The daughter is getting married June 15 in Cancun, so our vacation will be at an all inclusive resort for 2015.

 

 

 

 

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[pghsteelerfan]

We haven't been yet, pghstellerfan... Not until December..112 more days!,

 

 

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That 112 days will go by fast, I'm sure. I don't know where this summer went, but it just FLEW by. :) In December you may actually have better viewing than we did in May. In May, there was more humidity thus adding more haze. The views were still spectacular but I read a review last October by Valentinebaby1 and they went at the beginning of October. They had pretty good weather and from their pictures, it also looked like clearer views with a lot less "haze". I hope you have the great weather and nice, clear views while on your cruise. I'd love to go some year during the winter months.

[pghsteelerfan]

pghsteelerfan,

 

It sounds like there are positives to each side of the ship. I get up at 4:30 am for work, which I'm guessing is 5:30 island time since I live in Oklahoma. Which islands are "must sees" to sail into?

 

We're really not night owls so getting up early isn't going to be that big of a deal. We plan on 2 extra days in San Juan on the beach to just relax before flying home & then will probably take an extra day or so before returning to work. So, if it's worth getting up at an ungodly hour to view sailing into an island harbor, I'll definitely have a date with a mug of coffee!!

 

This is just my opinion, but the "must sees" would be sailing into St. Lucia and St. Kitts. When coming from Barbados, we come up on the southern end of St. Lucia and head north into Castries, passing the famed Pitons on the way. We were in awe. I got up at 5:30AM, went to the balcony and the first thing I saw was the Pitons. When sailing into St. Kitts I got up at 6:00AM that morning, but if you can, I'd recommend getting up around 5:30 for some good views of two other islands, first would be Montserrat and the next will be the tiny island of Redonda. I think we would have been able to see Redonda had it not been cloudy. Right before getting into St. Kitts, you'll pass Nevis. As I mentioned to Arizonagirl14, I read another review by Valentinebaby1 (I recommend their review too). They got some great pictures of Montserrat and Redonda when sailing into St. Kitts. I sure wish I'd known at the time or I'd have gotten up earlier. Their cruise was early October last year, and their views were a lot clearer than ours since we went in May and it was humid, adding a bit of "haze" to the air.

 

We flew into San Juan one day earlier, our flight got in a little before noon and we were at the hotel and on the beach by 1:30PM and had a very relaxing and enjoyable afternoon. We stayed up in the Isla Verde area, five minutes from the airport and 20 minutes from the cruise terminal. I'd love to spend a week in San Juan, so much to see and do. We'd been there before but never went to the beach, so it was a must for us this time.

 

There were several reviews that really helped me in planning and I noticed that Dirkgun also commented. Believe it or not, it was his Victory review from 2010 that had me sold on this itinerary. We did a very similar cruise, out of San Juan, on our honeymoon but that was 22 years ago and with time, memory faded and I had forgotten just how beautiful these islands are. I took pictures, but that was before digital so I was very, very limited as to what I got pictures of. This time I had digital and made up for that. I was also very thankful for Cruise Critic this time around because I had been reading more reviews starting a few years before we booked our cruise. There is so much wonderful information and many good reviews out there. The hard part is actually deciding on what to do. I'd love to do this itinerary again and wouldn't hesitate if I got the opportunity. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask. I'm sure you are going to have a wonderful vacation.

Edited September 8, 2014 by pghsteelerfan

[christyran1228]

I highly recommend both of these as well as GAPearl. I gained so much info from all 3 including excursions that I wanted to do on the cruise and In San Juan. For me planning is 1/2 the fun!

 

 

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These are the ones I have bookmarked ... they've really helped me endure the wait!

[dfmeeks]

Thank you all for your input! We booked today & our cabin is port side. I don't think we could go wrong either way!

 

Christyran & Arizonagirl, have a wonderful time & please write reviews!!!

 

Pghsteelerfan, Dirkgun & Lostdart, thank you so much for your help!

[Arizonagirl14]

Enjoy!! I will have to learn how to post the pics before I can do a review!,,

 

 

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