Originally Posted by
YVR Cockroach
In my experience, ships seem to sail pretty far away from land so it's barely visible if visible at all, unless the ship is starting or heading for a port. I'd choose based on desire for or lack of solar exposure.
Depends on the cruise itinerary. Through the Panama Canal, on Alaska cruises, in Asia when we sailed up rivers to Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City - the kinds of cruises we prefer - yes, we are quite close to shore and again, do spend a LOT of time on our balcony with our binoculars. So for us, it makes a difference. Oh, also, we're typically on small(er) ships.
We acknowledge we spend much more time on the balcony than most people on a cruise, and that's ok - I don't really care what other people are doing ;-) We might be the only people who plan like this ;-) But OP did ask, and this is my experience.