Cruise lines charge less per day for repositioning cruises than ANY of their other cruises, making
them some of the most inexpensive and appealing to many cruisers. But I’ve met so many people on them
discovering too late that being inexpensive alone is not a good reason for doing them,
as they’d been caught out or fallen into some traps. The same ones I see repeatedly.
Welcome aboard, I'm Gary Bembridge helping you to get cruising right, including how
to spot and avoid the repositioning cruise mistakes most people make.
The first, and basic, thing that I see that trips
people up is misunderstanding what a repositioning cruise is and isn't.
A repositioning cruise is when cruise lines move their ships from one major cruising
region to another at the beginning and end of each season when the weather changes,
basically chasing the warm weather. The most common repositioning cruises
are between the Caribbean, the busiest cruising region,
and the Mediterranean and Alaska, the next two biggest cruising regions.
There are other repositioning cruises that now go to and from more far flung, and exotic places,
as new regions grow in cruising popularity. For example, a friend of mine went on a
Virgin Voyages repositioning cruise when they sent the ship at the end of the Mediterranean
summer season though the Suez Canal and Asia onto Australia for the summer season “Down Under”.
I am now also seeing ships being repositioned to be based in Tokyo Japan and Cape Town
South Africa for seasons there. And of course, there are repositioning cruises
of expedition ships to and from Antarctica and the Arctic when those seasons start and end.
It does though surprise me that people don’t always fully grasp that repositioning cruises
are one-way trips, and passengers on them must fly long haul one way to either join the ship
or get back home, as there will not be a ship doing the return leg for many, many months.
They are not for people who want to avoid flying.
This lack of clarity in many passengers’ minds is also
evident to me as people keep asking me about when they can go on them.
Many assume they are available at any time of the year. They are not. As I mentioned,
repositioning cruises only happen at the beginning and the end of the cruise region seasons.
So, around March/ April time the ships are sent from the Caribbean to Europe or Alaska, and then
all are sent back in October/ November time. You can't do them at any other time of the year.
This means repositioning cruises are not sailing at the best time of the year for any region,
and often you're not going to have sunny days, could have rougher seas,
and more disruptions from weather and sea conditions meaning missing ports.
But even when people understand this, some are not factoring in what commitment they require.
Repositioning cruises are longer cruises. They are often 10 days to two weeks for the Caribbean
to Mediterranean and Alaska ones, and many weeks if you're heading down to places like Australia.
And most of that will be sea days with a few ports at either end. So,
maybe only 3 or 4 ports in a 10- to 14-day cruise. The purpose is to get the ship to
a new location as fast as possible, stopping at a couple of places on the way to refuel,
and make it a little bit more interesting for the passengers.
For example, the last repositioning cruise I did was 12-nights on P&O Britannia from
Southampton to Barbados. We called in at Madeira, and then into two Caribbean ports before Barbados.
Although repositioning cruises are mostly sea days with few ports,
there are some where you can see some incredible things. For example,
the repositioning cruises to and from the Caribbean and Alaska go through the Panama Canal.
A few ships sail Northern Europe and not the Mediterranean,
and reposition with a stop or two in Iceland, Greenland, and New York on
their way to the Caribbean, like friends did on Holland America Nieuw Statendam last year.
It amazed me on the ones I did how many people I met did not like sea days but still booked due to
the price, or had only been port intensive cruises with no sea days and were finding them boring.
I found the people who were enjoying repositioning cruises saw the ship
more as the destination rather than the ports, or saw it as a chance to unwind.
But for people that do like sea days, there are several unique features
of repositioning cruises that I saw people overlooking or not taking full advantage of.
First, while repositioning cruises are limiting on when you can go and where you can go,
there is a staggering amount of choice on who you can go with. Pretty much every
single cruise line from the big mass market, mainstream lines like MSC, Royal Caribbean,
Norwegian and Carnival, right up to the ultra-luxury lines like Crystal,
Seabourn, Silversea, all reposition their ships between the regions twice a year.
So, your choice is enormous. Big ships,
little ships, premium ships, anything that you want to do.
Second, something else people do not take advantage of enough is that new
cruise ships are built in Europe, but most of them are deployed in the Caribbean. This
means either when they leave the shipyard or not long after they are repositioned
to the Caribbean. So, this is a great way to try new ships with lots of time to explore.
Friends of mine, and a few cruise vloggers,
do that all the time and did that on ships like Wonder of the Seas, Norwegian Prima and so on.
Third, because as I mentioned at the start the cost per day is cheaper than
a line usually charges, some cruisers, including several friends of mine,
use that to try a line that they've always want to try but couldn't afford normally,
or upgrade into a fancy cabin or suite that is usually out of range.
My friends Graham and Pete went on the Norwegian Viva repositioning recently in the Haven
“ship-within-as-ship”, something they would never be able to afford on any other sailing.
Fourth, for solo travellers happy to cruise solo on a longer cruise,
they are often attractive either because the fares are lower,
so the pain of the surcharge is less, but also often they can snag low solo supplements.
Fifth, as they tend not to be sold out as the sea days and time makes them less appealing,
they can be good for travellers who like and can wait for late deals as they often have them.
The sixth, and I must admit something I saw as a plus, was there are usually fewer passengers
than on other sailings and they are not full, so are less busy, with fewer lines, and it’s
easier to get into popular restaurants, shows or ride attractions on the big resort-style ships.
Also, there is time to try everything. I found on big ships with lots of features,
like when I was on a regular cruise on Norwegian Viva and Symphony of the Seas I did not get to see
and try everything as was off sightseeing. On a repositioning cruise there is time.
There was something I came across some people on the repositioning cruises
I did get a bit stressed about though, and it involved money.
Some got caught up in the incredibly good value fares and booked,
but had not considered the real cost.
The trip is long, 10 days to two weeks, so costs like drinks, gratuities,
speciality dining, Wi-Fi and then attractions like shopping or the casino to fill up time
will mount up. Also, on ships without a guest laundry may mean sending that in.
But the big hit for many was the one-way flight. These can be expensive,
and many had not checked, factored that in, nor booked early to get
better pricing. For some it wiped out the benefit of the lower fare.
If you’re not sure if a repositioning cruise is for you but wonder if a transatlantic on Cunard
Queen Mary 2 may be, join me in this video where I talk about the 10 things people get
wrong on those starting with why the most common myth people have is wrong. See you over there.