West Indies to Spain

[rbslos18]

We are about to book the West Indies to Spain for March 2023. Would there be any reason to prefer port or Starboard side of the ship?

Thanks and have a good day.

[TayanaLorna]

29 minutes ago, rbslos18 said:

We are about to book the West Indies to Spain for March 2023. Would there be any reason to prefer port or Starboard side of the ship?

Thanks and have a good day.

SB side would have a bit more sun on the verandas but then at that time of the year the sun will be higher in the sky then our December trip in the opposite direction.  Then PS will have you facing land more - Gibralter, Iberian Peninsula...

[shadowlover]

we are port side going the opposite direction in 12/2022.  The sun will be shining on our cabin for a longer period of time because of the time of year and direction of travel.

Edited May 12, 2021 by shadowlover
wrong month

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, rbslos18 said:

We are about to book the West Indies to Spain for March 2023. Would there be any reason to prefer port or Starboard side of the ship?

Thanks and have a good day.

 

The short answer is the Stb'd side will receive more sunshine across the Atlantic.

 

Checking the itinerary, on departure San Juan you head for St Martin, then heading straight across the Atlantic to Funchal. Assuming they steer a Great Circle, which is the shortest distance, the initial course would be NE'ly, which provides early morning to late afternoon sun on the Stb'd side. Port side may get a little sun before sunset.

 

As the course is altered to the East, the Stbd side will get all the Sun. On approach to Funchal, as the ship steers more SE'ly, sunrise could be on the Port side, but then will be on the Stbd side for the remainder of the day.

 

Gibraltar Straits has an IMO approved Traffic Separation Scheme, with the inbound route on the African side of the channel. Unless the visibility is better than normal you don't get great views of Gibraltar when inbound. Might see some of the African coast on the Stbd side, depending on visibility.

[rbslos18]

Thanks so much for your collective wisdom. We book a starboard cabin!

[Clay Clayton]

On 5/12/2021 at 3:29 PM, rbslos18 said:

Thanks so much for your collective wisdom. We book a starboard cabin!

Enjoy being awakened by bright sun every morning as your sleep time gets shorter and shorter! 😂 

 

We enjoyed our port side as it didn’t seem to be as bright and certainly was more enjoyable temperature-wise while we were in the first half of the cruise where it was pretty warm. 
 

Enjoy your cruise-we have loved it each of our 2.5 times in taking it!  We may just see you aboard!

[rbslos18]

9 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Enjoy being awakened by bright sun every morning as your sleep time gets shorter and shorter! 😂 

 

We enjoyed our port side as it didn’t seem to be as bright and certainly was more enjoyable temperature-wise while we were in the first half of the cruise where it was pretty warm. 
 

Enjoy your cruise-we have loved it each of our 2.5 times in taking it!  We may just see you aboard!

We like the shade in the afternoon! And being early risers, the bright sun won’t bother us.  Join us! Rooms are going fast.

Edited May 15, 2021 by rbslos18

[Clay Clayton]

4 minutes ago, rbslos18 said:

We like the shade in the afternoon! And being early risers, the bright sun won’t bother us.  Join us! Rooms are going fast.

Thanks-we are late bookers....will wait and hope for a promo...actually hope to be able to do the Southern Atlantic Crossing. 

[rbslos18]

On 5/14/2021 at 8:39 PM, Clay Clayton said:

Thanks-we are late bookers....will wait and hope for a promo...actually hope to be able to do the Southern Atlantic Crossing. 

How far out do you typically find promo fares? How late is a late booking for you?