Repositioning cruises

One of our first cruises was a repositioning cruise on the Grandeur of the Seas .We cruised from Tampa, and stopped at ports in Cozumel, Ocho Rios, Samana DR. and then embarked at San Juan. We recently booked another repositioning cruise due to the convenience and great rates. Adventure of the Seas sailing may 2018 cruising from San Juan to Bayonne NJ.. Would like to hear about other future repositioning cruises and what you like about them...

We find transatlantic cruises very relaxing.

We love transatlantic cruises because we enjoy all the sea days. We've done several in both directions but enjoy the westward ones more since the time changes add an hour each time.

We also enjoy the full transit Panama Canal. We've done two from east coast to west coast and next April will do the west coast to east coast.

Someday we hope to do a transpacific cruise.

We are doing SF to FLL through the Canal on Eurodam. It will be the third repo cruise through the Canal for us.

We are doing SF to FLL through the Canal on Eurodam. It will be the third repo cruise through the Canal for us.

That sounds great wish I had more vacation time...

We find transatlantic cruises very relaxing.

Did you enjoy the formal dinner nights?

We enjoy them as it gives you a lot of time to enjoy the amenities of the ship and to get to know fellow guests and crew.

Keith

Did you enjoy the formal dinner nights?

Unless you do Cunard the TAs aren't necessarily more formal than any other cruises done by a specific line. Dress code doesn't change for a TA though there are of course more formal nights the longer the cruise is. That saying we did see a lot of people dress up for formal night on both Celebrity and RCCL but don't really have any "regular" cruises to compare it to as all our cruises have so far been TAs.

We have done several Transatlantic cruises -- the first one was on the QE2 -- Queen's Grill -- formal each night.

We have also gone from Rio de Janeiro to Ft Lauderdale.

Ft Lauderdale to Montreal.

Have done quite a few full repositioning cruises via the Panama Canal: Acapulco to San Juan; Seattle to Ft Lauderdale, Ft Lauderdale to Seattle; Ft Lauderdale to San Diego. All were 21 days -- some very port intensive.

Cruiserbruce: My sister and B-i-L will be on that Eurodam cruise as well. Are you on the M&G roll call?

The only repo's we've ever done are TA's from Europe back to US , always after a week or so of traveling in Europe.. Love the sea days. Very relaxing after a week or so of continuously on the go.

We have done many repo cruises, as they are often a good deal (cost wise) and often involve some fantastic itineraries. While the OP seems to be thinking about the Caribbean, consider that there are many repo cruises which much more exotic itineraries. Ships reposition across both the Atlantic and Pacific....often twice a year....and these cruises can be amazing. We particularly like the Trans Pacific cruises that move across the South Pacific....but have done many more (about 2 dozen) Trans Atlantic repo cruises. For those with the time, a repo cruise can be paired with further cruises to make for some very long and wonderful journeys. For many retirees (about the only folks with the time) this becomes a fun hobby :). For example, we currently have 2 long repos underbooking (Singapore to Vancouver and Brisbane to San Francisco). The real exotic Pacific repo cruises tend to book up far in advance and are no longer the bargain of years past. But because the of the high volume of Trans Atlantic repo cruises, one can often find some real bargains in that market.

We think this is an area where loyalty to a particular cruise line is a real negative. When looking at Repos, we suggest evaluating all the itineraries and pricing regardless of cruise line.

Hank

We have done several Transatlantic cruises -- the first one was on the QE2 -- Queen's Grill -- formal each night.

We have also gone from Rio de Janeiro to Ft Lauderdale.

Ft Lauderdale to Montreal.

Have done quite a few full repositioning cruises via the Panama Canal: Acapulco to San Juan; Seattle to Ft Lauderdale, Ft Lauderdale to Seattle; Ft Lauderdale to San Diego. All were 21 days -- some very port intensive.

What ship sailed from Rio? That may be an idea for a future RC for us... Thanks for all the great replies?

We have done many repo cruises, as they are often a good deal (cost wise) and often involve some fantastic itineraries. While the OP seems to be thinking about the Caribbean, consider that there are many repo cruises which much more exotic itineraries. Ships reposition across both the Atlantic and Pacific....often twice a year....and these cruises can be amazing. We particularly like the Trans Pacific cruises that move across the South Pacific....but have done many more (about 2 dozen) Trans Atlantic repo cruises. For those with the time, a repo cruise can be paired with further cruises to make for some very long and wonderful journeys. For many retirees (about the only folks with the time) this becomes a fun hobby :). For example, we currently have 2 long repos underbooking (Singapore to Vancouver and Brisbane to San Francisco). The real exotic Pacific repo cruises tend to book up far in advance and are no longer the bargain of years past. But because the of the high volume of Trans Atlantic repo cruises, one can often find some real bargains in that market.

 

We think this is an area where loyalty to a particular cruise line is a real negative. When looking at Repos, we suggest evaluating all the itineraries and pricing regardless of cruise line.

 

Hank

Good post on Repos. Could you possibly provide information on website(s) that specialize on repositioning cruises. Pretty tedious to go to all the cruise line websites. Thnx

Never heard of any website the specializes in repo cruises. And if it is a travel agent, we can't, by Cruise Critic rules, mention it by name or discuss it anyway.

We've only done one - 16 days from Southampton to Miami via Boston, NYC overnight, Bermuda and Canaveral. It was a great deal AND we just loved it!!! The 6 consecutive days at sea were a revelation - sooooo relaxing and put us into a whole different sense of time. The dress-up nights ran with Celebrity's usual policy. We're not mad for dressing up, so we skipped one and went to the buffet and had a night 'in'. We were surprised too at how well the food offering held up. Food was fab throughout. Having an overnight in New York was wonderful, and we were docked in Manhattan, right next to the sea museum and a 10-minute walk from Times Square! We'd do it again in a heartbeat, if only my husband's holiday leave days allowed. Looking forward to lots of these when he finally joins me in retirement!!! Hope you have a ball!

If you like sea days, that is the way to go.

Good post on Repos. Could you possibly provide information on website(s) that specialize on repositioning cruises. Pretty tedious to go to all the cruise line websites. Thnx

We saw that a ship we wanted to try was moving to Malta from the UK, for the summer, so looked the dates up, and have booked a 12 night cruise which takes in various western Med ports...the price includes a coach from our local airport to the UK port, and the return flight from Malta. Altogether the cost is much less than we're paying for a similar length cruise later in the year, which is non-flying.

This site is a helpful tool for the Atlantic crossings.

http://www.cruisetransatlantic.com/cruises.html

It is not a travel agent/agency. The key to finding other repo cruises is becoming familiar with the cycle of the ships by season. For instance, there are many ships in the Caribbean during our winter. But come spring, most reposition to Alaska, or Europe. there are ships of the major cruise lines that spend our winter in Australia or Asia, and repo to Alaska in the spring. If you learn which ships they are, you can look for their repo cruises. Once you know what ships do this, you can use www.cruisetimetables.com to check when they will make their moves. But don't limit yourself to US based lines. There are European lines that also spend the winter in the Caribbean, never touching a US port. They also repo to Europe in the spring. And some that spend our winter in South America, and repo from places like Santos and Rio (Brazil) to Europe in the spring. EM

If you like sea days, that is the way to go.

I was on a 13 night Montreal to Ft Lauderdale with only three sea days. Started with eight straight days in port after embarkation: Quebec City, Saguenay, Baie Comeau, Gaspe, Charlottetown, Sydney, Halifax, and Bar Harbor.

I love transoceanic cruises -- the more sea days the better! I did a transpacific to New Zealand with just 1 stop between California and NZ, and it was wonderful!

If you travel in Europe in late summer or early fall, T/A's are the best way to come home. Most cruise lines provide low cost one way flights to Europe and the T/A fare costs less per day than mos other itineraries. It is easy to fly over and sail back for $2,000 per person - the 15 or so days coming back lets you see several Western European ports - on top of what you saw before boarding. We've done three each: a week in Italy then sail home, and a week in British Isles and sail home.

You do need a fair amount of vacation time - or be retired - to do it, but when you have the time, it is a great "double header".

Never heard of any website the specializes in repo cruises. And if it is a travel agent, we can't, by Cruise Critic rules, mention it by name or discuss it anyway.

Online TA sites don't specialize in repo cruises, but most of their search engines are easy to use to find repo cruises for all cruise lines in a single search. The TA website that I frequently use for cruise searches allows you to specify transatlantic or transpacific as the cruise region; or for other types of repos you can specify a departure port and another port you wish to visit. Just do a goggle search for online TAs and check out their search capabilities.

Not done a transatlantic repo but done a Panama Canal one which was East to West and a Med one (Barcelona to Rome but round the Med first...became a repo due to a large gay cruise charter request).

We also have a Singapore to Brisbane repo coming up this summer. A Transatlantic isn't in the near future for us as we have to travel in school holidays which makes our only choice a QM2 and we are a bit young for Cunard atm.

Really love them, they feel more adventurous and the ports are usually more unusual and interesting. As people have said they are also very well priced if you book at the right time.

OP I suggest a repo that goes to another continent either by destination or ports along the way...you would enjoy that even more!

A minor point, but one way itineraries are not repositioning cruises. “Repositioning” refers to a ship relocating from one area to another- something like the many ships which sail the Mediterranean, or Alaska itineraries, in Spring through Fall, or and then relocate for Winter sailings in the Caribbean.

It really refers to change of base of operations rather than simply not being round trips. The many Summer and Fall itineraries between U. S. East Coast and Canadian ports fall in this one-way category.

A minor point, but one way itineraries are not repositioning cruises. “Repositioning” refers to a ship relocating from one area to another- something like the many ships which sail the Mediterranean, or Alaska itineraries, in Spring through Fall, or and then relocate for Winter sailings in the Caribbean.

 

It really refers to change of base of operations rather than simply not being round trips. The many Summer and Fall itineraries between U. S. East Coast and Canadian ports fall in this one-way category.

Possibly being semantically anal here but surely if a ship changes in homeport/start port is essentially re-positioning...no? If a ship is in Asia or Europe especially then the base of operations has to change because they've moved to a different country.

It's also worth noting that quite a few lines (Inc Royal and NCL) class re-positioning cruises as start in one port and end in another.

Not to say its a definite this or that but naturally playing the devil's advocate here.