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.
