Does side of the ship matter for cabin choice?
Recently took a Rhine cruise...more often than not, our side of the ship was docked against another ship or away from the river side. Not a big deal but had I known, I would have selected a cabin on the opposite side. Is there a "better" side to choose on the Danube? Looking at 2023 and many choices are available right now.
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It can depend on whether the tour goes up or down river. Also is your ship the “first in” to dock, or the last to tie up? There can be 3 ships tied together. You may be in the middle with other ships tied on both the port and starboard sides. I tend to consider the cruise portion of the tour, not the docking sites. What do I want to see as the ship cruises? Going north up the Ionian and Adriatic seas from Greece to Slovenia I selected a starboard side cabin to observe the coastline rather than the sea. On a river cruise, it is all about the timing of the ships docking. Sometimes on the river cruises we dock in “first” in the early evening with other ships tying up later to our ship. The following morning, during a land excursion, the crews may move the ships, and we find that the Tauck ship has moved to being the farthest ship out, away from the river’s edge. I don’t think you can count on having an unobstructed view 100% of the time when docked.
A little more specific information to help (or not) chose which side of your boat you want your cabin.
The Rhine and Nile flow south to north so downstream is northward and upstream is southward (down is up and up is down
). The Danube generally flows north to south, so downstream is generally southward and upstream is generally northward. Why does this matter? The river boats, regardless of the direction of the voyage ALWAYS dock with their bows (the front of the boat) facing upstream, against the current, regardless of which side of the river you dock. So if you are cruising downstream, the boat will turn around before it docks.
And, as Patrice points out, another boat can be tied up on either side of your boat (called rafting) and block the view from your cabin of the dock, river, or both.
I recommend selecting the top side vs the bottom side.
I was waiting for that one!
Port side Out, Starboard side Home.
At that time of year, it’s going to be dark very early evening, so unless there are. Christmas lights, it doesn’t matter. And how often are you in your cabin is another factor. If you go on top, you will see both sides
British, you honestly crack me up. That was a good one. I'm with you; this isn't anything I would even think about.
Clearly, I’m always thinking out of the box or looking for the worst case scenario, it had to be thst way when I was working and I just can’t shake it.