Port or Starboard?

[sunburnin]

I'm booked on the April 25 Magic cruise and have a port room with a veranda - booked it a year ago and picked the room then. Very excited about the trip with the family.

After reading LOTS of posts (DIS addiction?) I've learned that you can see the fireworks from the starboard side and you look at the beach on castaway cay while docked there. While I'm sure we won't spend tons of time in the room, my DD4 still takes a nap most days and I'm sure she'll need a few on this trip. It would be nice to have a better view while reading a book out there when she's napping.

So... pro's and con's from anyone on port or starboard?

Heck, can I even request a room change if I opted too? I know rooms are available over there.

 

[cats mom]

Starboard does seem to be the preferred side of the ship here on the Dis boards.

I really think a lot of it has to do with the view looking out over Castaway Cay. Personally when the ship is docked at Castaway Cay I would rather enjoy the view from the beach than from my verandah. Same with the fireworks. I watch them up on deck.

But if you anticipate being in the room while your DD naps on CC day, or hanging out there during the fireworks, it might be a consideration.

I've stayed on both sides and I actually like port side best, but that's because I like to sit on my verandah and watch folks getting off and on the ship when we're docked.

Yes, you can ask to change rooms and as long as you're staying in the same category and rooms are available they should do that for you no problem.

Good Luck with your decision.

 

[RanCan]

We stayed on port side and we were convinced we were not going to see the beach on CC, but that day the ship pulled straight in so we had a perfect view of the beach. You never know if the ship is going to back in or pull in forward, even though it usually backs in.....but there are no guarantees.

 

[kcashner]

You can never be sure which way the ship will dock at Castaway, so don't let that be the determining factor. We had a port verandah and docked so we had the view. That said, you do know most of the time where the fireworks will be....

 

[aznaphrodite]

sunburnin - We're on the same cruise! I personally perfer rooms in the middle of the ship near the middle elevators because there is less rocking when the ship is hauling away. I also have a verandah room. What deck are you on? We're on Deck 6.

 

[nzdisneymom]

We've only sailed Port side on DCL, so we don't know if we'd like starboard better, but we enjoy watching the activity at Castaway Cay from our verandah, and we've found that while in Grand Cayman, we were able to see when a tender arrived and decided to go right down and get on (it was during open-tendering time). We also like it because we stay on Deck 6 usually, and the laundrette is on the Starboard side, so we don't smell the dryers or have the traffic (note that on Deck 2, the laundrette is Port side, but on Deck 6 and 7, it's Starboard).

Also I had read that smoking had been moved to Deck 4 Starboard (although smoking is still allowed on the verandahs so if you have anyone nearby smoking, it doesn't matter which side of the ship you're on, but at least on Port side, you won't have it wafting upward from the open-smoking area on Deck 4).

We also like Port side at Port Canaveral because you can see out to the Space Center and also other ships, etc. in the Port.

 

[wdwwishes]

We had a port side stateroom on our first cruise and are on the starboard side for our upcoming cruise. I'm hoping to get the beach view of Castaway Cay in the morning before heading out. I'll probaby be just as turned around this time as I was last time.

 

[sunburnin]

sunburnin - We're on the same cruise! I personally perfer rooms in the middle of the ship near the middle elevators because there is less rocking when the ship is hauling away. I also have a verandah room. What deck are you on? We're on Deck 6.

Woo hoo! Cruisemates!!!!

We're on deck 7 midship port side. I'm very happy with the room, especially being mid ship for the motion although I don't think it will be terrible anywhere.

So middle it is.... now... left or right?

 

[sunburnin]

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

I found the perfect solution.

I'm staying put on this cruise....and I'll just have to take another one next year on the Starboard side.

 

[aznaphrodite]

Sorry, I totally forgot to talk about the port vs. starboard. LOL! On our 4-night cruise 2 years ago, we had a port room and you can see the pics I took from our verandah when docked at Castaway Cay:

http://www.ladyrebecca.com/photos/categories.php?cat_id=251

So you kinda see beach. I don't think it's a big deal either way. We have another port room again (only 2 doors down from the room we stayed in last time on the Wonder!).