Starboard vs Port

[Aaron]

Seems like I've seen some talk before about the pros and cons of starboard vs port, such as better views, out of the sun during lifeboat drill, etc). As search is disabled, can anyone give me any tips on this - not a big deal, just kinda curious.

 

[taswira]

People have talked about one side being advantageous to have a nice view of the island at Castaway Cay. The problem is that sometimes they back the ship in and sometimes they pull in straight forward. So the view you're expecting might not be the view you get.

 

[ssclbc]

It seems pretty random to me. Not only do they sometimes back into Castaway Cay, but sometimes they back into port in St. Thomas. We had a starboard cabin on 2/2/2 and faced a cargo area in St. Maarten (port faced the Golden Princess), the dock in St. Thomas and toward Castaway Cay (we backed in).

 

[Señor Ferrari]

I don't think there's a better side of the ship. It really all depends on how the ship docks. In St. Maarten, there probably isn't a better side regardless, you'll either face another ship or the cargo area. On our last trip we were on the starboard side and really lucked out, with views of both the harbor in Charlotte Amalie and Castaway Cay. But I don't think you can be sure of whether the ship will back in to the dock or not. I like to alternate sides each trip, just for variety. Looking at the St. Thomas web cam, it seems that the Magic has been alternating how it docks. I think it backed in yesterday, but last week pulled straight in.

The only sure bet is that being on the ship is better than not being on it!

 

[albiats]

Personally, I can't see where the position you have in the Assembly Drill is all that important. It's 15 minutes out of an entire cruise, so at the minimum, it's 15 minutes compared to 3 days. I can pretty much put up with anything if I know it's going to end in 15 minutes.

Also, you could plan for a 'shady spot' when you book your cruise and if it happens to be a rainy day when you sail, it just doesn't seem to be worth the effort to me.