Repositioning cruises to south America

[stuart2468]

Has anyone got any experience of these cruises. Looking at one from genoa to Santos Nov 17. Do they sell out? Are they busy cruises? Is there any advice semi e could give me? Anything different to a normal cruise that I should be aware of? Sorry for all the questions.

[Beamafar]

I've done two Trans-Atlantics - one from Santos, Brazil to Genoa, Italy on Preziosa and the other from Barcelona, Spain to Miami, USA via the Caribbean on Divina. They differ in a lot of ways from regular itineraries. They're more relaxed, the crew get to know you better, there are less kids onboard, etc. I find that the menu offerings aren't quite as good and are more limited on 'Grand Voyages'. There are different daytime activities included in the entertainment, too, as there are more sea days.

 

It depends on the itinerary whether the sailing will sell out. Last year, Divina to Miami was heavily marketed here a couple of months before she was to sail, so it would seem MSC was having a difficult time selling that one.

 

I enjoyed my experiences immensely - I know of people who only do repositioning cruises and I can understand why. However, I would only do ones originating in Europe as the cruise from Brazil had mainly Brazilians onboard. Personally I prefer a more mixed demographic. I'm booked on Sinfonia from Venice to Durban in 4 weeks time and am really looking forward to it.

 

Hope that answers some of your questions.

[stuart2468]

That's great info Bea. Thanks. I'm actually looking at Preziosa and Magnifica with start at genoa and end in Santos. I love the idea of being on a ship for 18 days. Heaven.

[Beamafar]

That's great info Bea. Thanks. I'm actually looking at Preziosa and Magnifica with start at genoa and end in Santos. I love the idea of being on a ship for 18 days. Heaven.

 

They're two great ships. I was on Magnifica in April - it was my first time on an MSC ship smaller than the Fantasia class ones (Preziosa is one). I loved it! But I really couldn't say which would be the better of the two for a crossing, though I'd be more inclined to think the bigger ship may have more opportunity to provide a wider range of activities.

 

I know what you mean about looking forward to a long stretch onboard - Sinfonia Venice to Durban is a 24 nighter - I can't wait! :D

 

Bytheway, one way of finding out how popular the repo you're looking at is to check what kind of availability is still left for the 2016 sailings and also what the prices are looking like.

Edited September 10, 2016 by Beamafar