Repositioning cruises

I was hoping that those who have sailed on repositioning cruises would share their experiences with me. What did you like about it? What didn't you like about it? If you had it to do over again what would you do differently?

Thanks for your help.

I cruised NCL Sky (oh my - I've forgotten the ships name) in 2005 from Houston to LA thru the Panama Canal.

It was the best cruise thus far ok - out of 3.

I guess a benefit was that we live in CA so our "trip home" after our vacation was minimal.

The ship was also being sent to the Orient lines - so it was NCL last voyage with her - this was good & bad

Good: The crew was more social, willing to talk with you and answer personal questions - where are you from, how do you like working here, etc - they were very open and sweet. Did you know most of the speak English, Spanish and their home language - kearned just by listeneing - and watching Spanish/Meixan soaps... They were relaxed, some were headed to other ship right after docking, some headed home, some on vacation, a pretty exciting time for all.

The atomshpere was fun - or maybe it was the cruise itself. There was NO attitude of "well this is it, so why bother with service"

Bad: The pukey teenagers that learned it was the ships final sailing and were vandalizing the ship - scratching walls, throwing deck chairs overboard, denting walls, pretty much just being jerks - OK maybe that's just teenagers - BUT I'll kick the stuffing out of my kids IF the EVER behaved like that!

Sorry not much detail - but I would Absolutely do another repo cruise.

I cruised NCL Sky (oh my - I've forgotten the ships name) in 2005 from Houston to LA thru the Panama Canal.

It was the best cruise thus far ok - out of 3.

I guess a benefit was that we live in CA so our "trip home" after our vacation was minimal.

The ship was also being sent to the Orient lines - so it was NCL last voyage with her - this was good & bad

Good: The crew was more social, willing to talk with you and answer personal questions - where are you from, how do you like working here, etc - they were very open and sweet. Did you know most of the speak English, Spanish and their home language - kearned just by listeneing - and watching Spanish/Meixan soaps... They were relaxed, some were headed to other ship right after docking, some headed home, some on vacation, a pretty exciting time for all.

The atomshpere was fun - or maybe it was the cruise itself. There was NO attitude of "well this is it, so why bother with service"

Bad: The pukey teenagers that learned it was the ships final sailing and were vandalizing the ship - scratching walls, throwing deck chairs overboard, denting walls, pretty much just being jerks - OK maybe that's just teenagers - BUT I'll kick the stuffing out of my kids IF the EVER behaved like that!

Sorry not much detail - but I would Absolutely do another repo cruise.

We took a Hawaii to Vancouver cruise in the spring, when Royal Caribbean was repositioning a ship for the summer season.

The cruise was great. Most stops were in Hawaii. Only one, the last, was in Vancouver. We spent five days crossing the Pacific. There was so much to do onboard that we had to pick and choose.

Most challenging part of the cruise was the airfare. Airlines charge a bundle for one-way flights. We booked roundtrip from Toronto to Vancouver and back. Then booked a roundtrip from Vancouver to Hawaii - like most people on the plane, but never showed up for the return flight. There was probably lots of room for standby folks on the Hawaii-Vancouver flight a week later. It was less expensive to book the roundtrip than to book a one-way.

We did a repositioning on the NCL- America's Pride of America when she was brand new from Miami through the Panama Canal to Los Angeles. (They were taking her to Hawaii.) It was the only time that I have ever found a summer sailing through the Panama Canal (a once in a lifetime experience for me since I am a teacher at a traditional calendar school.) We enjoyed the longer cruise, and although there were a few bugs to be worked out with things on the ship, we loved the opportunity to be with fellow CC's for two weeks. It was cool going one-way. A one-way flight to Miami from LAX was very reasonable, and we only live an hour from the LA port. I would love to do one of the Alaska repositioning crusies, but the scheduling never agrees with mine. Let's hope we can afford it when I retire. They're sometimes cheaper than the regular cruises. Go for it!

3 times thru the Panama Canal; B2B Acapulco to Hawaii, stayed on the ship for Hawaii to Vancouver, 1 transatlantic from Lisbon to Galveston.

2 transatlantics scheduled this year. All with Royal Caribbean.

Obviously we like repositioning cruises.

The sea days are great for exploring the ship and finding places you don't have time for on a port intensive cruise.

Royal Caribbean has an Academy at Sea when there are 4 or more sea days in a row. You can learn how to mix drinks, how to give massages, take a photography class. Best of all is the theater with backstage tours, lighting and sound instruction and being able to talk to all the performers for a couple hours.

Different food as they don't repeat anything on the longer cruises.

A chance to get to know the cruise staff better as you will see them more on the sea days.

Can't think of any downside.

We did a 35 day RC on the Statendam (HAL) - it was fantastic! Left from san Diego and came through to Auckland New Zealand, where we live

Fabulous trip- lovely ship and the best food, service and entertainment out of the 10 cruises we have done

Any questions email me on currin@xtra.co.nz

I went from San Diago to FFL. It was on Dawn Princess and my first cruise. I did it with a group so it was a lot of fun. Since it was a group airfare was not more then return from either city. We had 7 ports and 8 sea days. We do one or two port and have a sea day so it was not tiring at all. I enjoyed the lecture that we got going through the canal and the historian on board also gave lectures about the history of the canal during the war.

The good was I had always wanted to see it from the time I was in school. I may do this in 2008/9 again.

The bad. It can be expensive unless you do it as a group thing (airfare). I would check the airlines such as Jet Blue, West Jet ect for their fares as they only do one way fares and may be cheaper then the big airline. If you do get a direct flight home remember airlines do not feed you now but some have meals that you can purchase on board.

I went from San Diago to FFL. It was on Dawn Princess and my first cruise. I did it with a group so it was a lot of fun. Since it was a group airfare was not more then return from either city. We had 7 ports and 8 sea days. We do one or two port and have a sea day so it was not tiring at all. I enjoyed the lecture that we got going through the canal and the historian on board also gave lectures about the history of the canal during the war.

The good was I had always wanted to see it from the time I was in school. I may do this in 2008/9 again.

The bad. It can be expensive unless you do it as a group thing (airfare). I would check the airlines such as Jet Blue, West Jet ect for their fares as they only do one way fares and may be cheaper then the big airline. If you do get a direct flight home remember airlines do not feed you now but some have meals that you can purchase on board.

I would love to be able to take a repositioning cruise but I think it will be more than we can afford now. Maybe later if we set aside more money next time.

nour6128

I would love to be able to take a repositioning cruise but I think it will be more than we can afford now. Maybe later if we set aside more money next time.

 

nour6128

Don't disreguard repos, some of the long cruises might be expensive but the ones that go from San Juan or the FL ports up to the NE US for the summer Bermuda runs are priced well. Look for last minute deals! Also, airfare to San Juan or FL isn't too bad on a one way basis.