What is Starboard Side on a Cruise Ship? What Color is Starboard Side on a Cruise Ship?

Whether you have taken a cruise or just booked a cruise, you likely heard the term starboard before. What exactly does starboard mean? How is starboard different than port side on a cruise ship? Is a specific color associated with starboard? Read on to find out all of these answers.

What is Starboard Side on a Cruise Ship?

The starboard side of a cruise ship is always on the right side when you are facing the front or bow of the boat. Opposite starboard is port side which is always on the left when you are facing the front of the cruise ship. The terms port and starboard are the same for every vessel across the world. These terms do not change from country to country or region to region.

A ship’s crew uses starboard and port to discuss a specific location on the ship so there is no confusion regardless of the person’s orientation. The terms are not defined by the position of the person. This allows two people facing different directions to both know which location is being discussed when mentioning port or starboard.

Using starboard and port removes the confusion that may be caused by using left and right. For example, if two people are back to back, then one person’s right is the same as the other person’s left. It would be confusing for the first person to refer to a location as right and the second person to refer to the same location as left. However, if they both refer to it as starboard or port, there is no confusion. That is why starboard always refers to the right side of a ship when facing the front. And, port always refers to the left side of the ship when facing the front.

Further Reading: What is Port Side on a Cruise Ship?

How to Remember Which Side is Starboard Side on a Cruise Ship

There are several ways you can remember the starboard side on a cruise ship is the right side when facing the front of the ship. Here is our favorite.

• “R” and “S” are consecutive letters in the alphabet. “R” is for Right and “S” is for Starboard. Remember that the first letters of the words are consecutive letters in the alphabet, and you will never forget. No other combination of left, right, port, and starboard have first letters that are consecutive in the alphabet.

What Color is Starboard Side on a Cruise Ship?

The starboard side of a cruise ship is always green. The port side of a cruise ship is always red. The UN-created agency, International Maritime Organization, maintains these standards. Therefore, these colors are uniform everywhere across the globe.

Further Reading: What is Cruise Ship Tendering?

Why is Starboard Side on a Cruise Ship a Specific Color?

The starboard side and port side of a ship have lights so they can clearly be spotted at night and during poor visibility.

The lights being specific colors for the port side and the starboard side allow other vessels to know the ship’s position and which direction it is headed. If you spot a ship and the left side of it has a red light and the right side of it has a green light, then the ship is headed away from you. On the other hand, if the ship has a green light on the left and a red light on the right then the ship must be headed towards your direction since the front of the ship must be closest to you. This information improves maritime safety at sea and helps to avoid vessels colliding.

Further Reading: Best All-Inclusive Cruise Lines

How to Remember the Color of Starboard Side on a Cruise Ship

There are several ways you can remember the color of the starboard side on a cruise ship is green. However, it is easier to remember that the port side is red. Thus, the starboard side must be green. Here’s the tip.

• Port wine is typically a red-colored wine. The side colors on a ship are Christmas colors — red and green. Always think that the port side is red since port wine is red. Then, the starboard side must be green.

Further Reading: Where Can I Cruise Without a Passport?

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