Southbound Voyage of the Glaciers Port or Starboard?

[Whimsy]

Doing our first cruise to Alaska on a cruise tour with Princess.

 

What is your opinion of which side to book? Not sure what we would be seeing as we go along so any and all input will be helpful to choose a cabin.

 

I am open to forward or aft opinions as well for viewing. Will either be choosing a balcony or mini suite.

 

Thank you!

[timetravler]

I've done 3 Alaskan cruises and been on both port and starboard. I feel it doesn't matter what side. While in Glacier Bay most people are outside on one of the upper decks. But even if you stay in your cabin, the ship turns from one side to the other so you do see both sides. As far as cabin types, if you want a great balcony get one of Caribe deck as those balconies are bigger outside then the others. A mini suite would be even better.

[JimmyVWine]

The differences are slight, but they can be meaningful to some. By asking this question, I assume that you will have a balcony, and will want to use it for viewing and picture taking. If so, then I would prefer to face west, which, on a Southbound cruise, would be starboard for the most part. The sun rises from the east and casts a beautiful glow toward the west. It is much better to take pictures with the glow of the morning light shining on the western facing scenery. If you take pictures of the eastern facing scenery, it can either be in the shadows of the mountains, or you will be pointing your camera directly into the sun. Neither is optimal. Also, the western view gets you nice sunset photos.

 

However, there is only one way in and one way out of Glacier Bay. And port is the favored side here. First, for the same reasons stated above. If you enter Glacier Bay early in the morning, the starboard side will be in the shadows of the mountains and the port side will see a pleasing glow. Great for photos. And while it is true that people try to get up on deck for Glacier Bay, if you enter early in the morning, you may find that it is simply easier to get out on to your balcony. And frankly, the view from there is simply wonderful. All of the photos here ( http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1903541&page=3 ) were taken from a port side balcony. We faced the glaciers much longer than the starboard side did once we turned around. So in general, starboard side in general, port side for Glacier Bay, and if you spend most of your time up on deck, it won't matter.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Heading south, port side. There's a reason those cabins sell out first. On my southbound cruise last year, the starboard side cabins were the only ones left about 6 months prior to the sail date.

[JimmyVWine]

Heading south, port side. There's a reason those cabins sell out first. On my southbound cruise last year, the starboard side cabins were the only ones left about 6 months prior to the sail date.

 

It's hard to know what to take away from other people's choices. On our NB Cruise, the starboard side sold out well before the port, and the port side was far better for balcony viewing in virtually every single port stop, and while in transit, and especially in Glacier Bay. There wasn't a single day where starboard had the edge. (Though, often times, it was dead even). Yet starboard sold out much sooner. No way to know why.

[Whimsy]

The differences are slight, but they can be meaningful to some. By asking this question, I assume that you will have a balcony, and will want to use it for viewing and picture taking. If so, then I would prefer to face west, which, on a Southbound cruise, would be starboard for the most part. The sun rises from the east and casts a beautiful glow toward the west. It is much better to take pictures with the glow of the morning light shining on the western facing scenery. If you take pictures of the eastern facing scenery, it can either be in the shadows of the mountains, or you will be pointing your camera directly into the sun. Neither is optimal. Also, the western view gets you nice sunset photos.

 

However, there is only one way in and one way out of Glacier Bay. And port is the favored side here. First, for the same reasons stated above. If you enter Glacier Bay early in the morning, the starboard side will be in the shadows of the mountains and the port side will see a pleasing glow. Great for photos. And while it is true that people try to get up on deck for Glacier Bay, if you enter early in the morning, you may find that it is simply easier to get out on to your balcony. And frankly, the view from there is simply wonderful. All of the photos here ( http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1903541&page=3 ) were taken from a port side balcony. We faced the glaciers much longer than the starboard side did once we turned around. So in general, starboard side in general, port side for Glacier Bay, and if you spend most of your time up on deck, it won't matter.

 

I quickly went thru your review. AWESOME photos! I really have not looked into Alaska very much, I'm heading up a group that wants to go. You really gave me a wonderful taste! I will spend more time reading it at a later date.

 

Thanks to people such as yourself that capture everything by camera, you really help us visualize what the expect.