Port or Starboard?

[vandy]

Still planning our first cruise next year so still have lots of questions. Which side of the ship would you suggest booking an Ocean view verandah on, port or starboard? Doing the 4 night Bahamas cruise on the Dream so will be stopping in Nassau and Castaway Cay. When docked, which side has the island view?

 

[Ajoneen123]

Dont they always dock to the port side??

 

[dcassetta]

In Nassau, the port side will have a view downtown Nassau and the starboard side will have a view of the outer island. However, depending on the day and time that your ship is in you are likely to only have a view of the Carnival ship on one side, and a Norwegian ship on the other side.

In Castaway Cay, port has a view of the less developed part of the island and starboard has a view of the family beach area.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Dont they always dock to the port side??

Well, the ship backs into port. Both sides have some sort of island view.

 

[Ajoneen123]

Which side has the fireworks??

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Which side has the fireworks??

Fireworks are fired off from starboard, aft area in the forward/out direction.

 

[ZerasPride]

We watched the fireworks from our starboard side verandah. It was one of the many highlights of our 3 night Dream cruise!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We watched the fireworks from our starboard side verandah. It was one of the many highlights of our 3 night Dream cruise!

I'll just point out - not all (starboard) verandahs are accessible during fireworks. Some rooms get letters from DCL telling them not to be on their verandahs during the fireworks due to fallout.

 

[ZerasPride]

Thanks for that reminder Princess S - i read that before our cruise and was aware that might not be an option but for our deck 9 stateroom location it worked out perfectly! Can't wait to book our 2017 7 night cruise!

 

[OKW Lover]

Dont they always dock to the port side??

"Always" no. Most? Or nearly always? Yes. At least at CC they will occasionally pull in directly (rather than back in) for operational needs, i.e. they need to access the other side of the ship for maintenance purposes. This doesn't happen often but just wanted people to realize that its not a guarantee.

 

[scgustafson]

I'll just point out - not all (starboard) verandahs are accessible during fireworks. Some rooms get letters from DCL telling them not to be on their verandahs during the fireworks due to fallout.

We normally have a starboard verandah (5536 on Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy and 8508 on Disney Magic and Disney Wonder) specifically to watch the fireworks. We have never received the stay off the verandah letter. Of course, with a verandah, you can always create your own fireworks no matter the side by joining the verandah club.

 

[dreadpiraterose]

We usually stay on the starboard side on the Fantasy. I like the view we get of Castaway Cay and sailing out of Port Canaveral. I felt like we also had nice views in Mexico and Grand Cayman. The exception was St. Thomas and St. Martin. FAR far better views on port side for those two.