Repositioning Cruises

[Desertbelle]

We have never done a transatlantic cruise yet but we have one scheduled for this October/November and we are so excited and love reading threads like this. Thanks!

[hotdog647]

I love the transatlantic crossings. I use Delta ff miles that require round trip award travel, so I book my fall flight, and pay the change fee after I choose a 2013 crossing. My partner uses ff miles from credit cards on AA or CO which are less costly mileage wise and allow one-way trips. Choice Air has also had some very interesting one-way deals.

 

The transatlantics are much less rushed than week long cruises and we have made some lasting friendships on boards. Like they say, 'try it, you'll like it!'

 

doug

[cruisinfever]

Is the ocean very rough on the eastern crossings? Can you sit by the pools. Is it very cold?

[ssb]

Is the ocean very rough on the eastern crossings? Can you sit by the pools. Is it very cold?

 

Its all relative to mother nature, time of year, departure and destination port, and whether you are on a southern route or more northern route.

 

We have not experienced rough weather in the Atlantic on any of our trips(knock on wood).

 

Most of time yes you can sit by pools on sunny days and get in water,

and especially the hot tubs!!

[mjldvlks]

We did an eastbound TA in April 2009 from Ft Lauderdale to Southampton via the Azores; Madeira; and Vigo, Spain. We had picked this cruise because it originally had a stop scheduled in Cherbourg and we [OK, I] wanted to visit the beaches and other D-Day sites. Literally the day after we booked [about 14 months before the cruise] the stop in Cherbourg was canceled and Madeira was added. We almost canceled but then realized it was fairly inexpensive to cross the channel to Normandy and we got to spend 3 days there instead of 8 hours or so. Add to that the fact that the stops in the Azores and Madeira were outstanding -- places we probably never would have gone absent their inclusion on this itinerary, but places we thoroughly enjoyed.

 

This was our faovirite cruise. Independence was magnificent. We had a huge Cruise Critic roll call group, including some of our best friends. Weather is a variable you cannot pre-determine, but our weather was pretty good. I think the pools saw pretty good use until we turned north from Vigo [last sea day]. The Captain did a very good job of avoiding the weather.

[suncityga]

We are thinking about booking a repositioning cruise from Florida to Europe in 2013. Wondering if anyone has experiece on any of these cruises?

 

Even though your question is about a possible transatlantic repositioning... there are many other types of repositioning cruises. We have enjoyed a number of repositioning cruises in Asia and in Europe... if you can additional travel days before and after, it makes for a great experience.

 

Booking the last cruise prior to a repositioning or booking the first cruise after a repositioning is normally a very attractive deal. We really like combining a very port intensive European cruise and with a much more relaxing westbound transatlantic southern crossing.

[Sequim88]

Is the ocean very rough on the eastern crossings? Can you sit by the pools. Is it very cold?

 

Eastbound in Spring has the advantage of not being in tropical storm season. Water is cooler so less energy for storm systems. On sothern routes (to Med) there are few to none of the low pressure waves generates by the Sahara desert that head west and often spawn hurricanes. So all together the Atlantic is usually less wavey in Spring. But air temps will be cooler - especially on northern routes to UK that pass along U.S. eastern seaboard up to the Grand Banks and across to Ireland/England. Even following the warmer Gulf Stream it can be cool (upper 50's) in April. A little warmer in May. Probably 60's to 70's in May on southern route.

 

Westbound will have warmer temps but more chances for storms (local or larger systems). Even if avoiding storms the wave patches can extend for a long way so there could be sunny warm days with a lot of rocking for no apparent reason.

 

So temp versus weather is a trade-off.

[vickiw0318]

There's also a hop on/hop off boat/bus that cruises the Seine in Paris. There are stops at the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Notre Dame, Musee D'Orsay, Champs Elysee and more. I spent a lovely afternoon doing this when I visited my son last October. I do my best to find a way to cruise wherever I am!

[Tucker in Texas]

I did the Rome to Galveston TA this past November. We changed the time 8 times and basically it was every other night. So there were 25 hour days 8 times. It was done at midnight.

 

Ordinarily there are only seven 25 hour days. We got a "bonus" because daylight savings time went away while we were cruising.

 

Tucker in Texas

[Desertbelle]

I did the Rome to Galveston TA this past November. We changed the time 8 times and basically it was every other night. So there were 25 hour days 8 times. It was done at midnight.

This is awesome, I hadn't thought about that. Of course the thing I do best while cruising (a former child with very serious car sickness) is sleep, and an extra hour of that a day really does sound like a vacation!!

[Coralc]

Ordinarily there are only seven 25 hour days. We got a "bonus" because daylight savings time went away while we were cruising.

 

Tucker in Texas

 

We had 7 - 25 hour days on the E/B Navigator Transatlantic, but they set the clocks back at 3 PM everyday, making it 2 PM again. We had 80 degree temperatures on 6 of the sea days and smooth sailing except for the last day and the overnight between France and Spain.

[kdoggold]

We're booked on that Grandeur crossing, and were able to snag award seats back from Alicante connecting through Madrid, on May 5, on AA for just 20,000 miles each. Such a deal-- $499 for the 13 day cruise, and only had to use 20K miles to get back. Just have to rent car to drive from Malaga to Alicante, where mom lives.

[Coralc]

We're booked on that Grandeur crossing, and were able to snag award seats back from Alicante connecting through Madrid, on May 5, on AA for just 20,000 miles each. Such a deal-- $499 for the 13 day cruise, and only had to use 20K miles to get back. Just have to rent car to drive from Malaga to Alicante, where mom lives.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic! :D Wow! That is a good deal. Congratulations. :)

[TravelerThom]

We're booked on that Grandeur crossing, and were able to snag award seats back from Alicante connecting through Madrid, on May 5, on AA for just 20,000 miles each. Such a deal-- $499 for the 13 day cruise, and only had to use 20K miles to get back. Just have to rent car to drive from Malaga to Alicante, where mom lives.

Repositioning cruises are often priced very favorably since people think that the travel arrangements are just too much trouble. We have done a number of repositioning cruises [in addition to TransAtlantics, Florida to South America for the start of the Austral summer season, Mexico North to Alaska at the start of the season, return through the Panama Canal at the end of the Alaska season, New York to San Juan for the start of the Caribbean winter season, etc.] and they were all great buys since we managed to get good to great air arrangements [and yes, sometimes air can kill you]. Our last Alaskan repositioning was 12 nights San Diego via Alaska to Vancouver with starting prices at $650pp; the following 7 night round-trip started at $999, a quite significant price per day cost. I have seen 17 night Europe to Texas repositionings at $299pp! Just don't tell too many people:rolleyes:

 

Thom

[cruisinfever]

How is the entertainment on repos cruises? Are there alot of activities during the day?

[mjldvlks]

How is the entertainment on repos cruises? Are there alot of activities during the day?

 

On our Independence TA the entertainment was great. On our Radiance repo, I have no complaints, but didn't really see much of it [just didn't]. Activities on both were pretty the same as every other RCI cruise. I am an inveterate trivia player. Our team won progressive on both. The prize on the 2 week TA was better.

[Clarea]

On the last Voyager TA from Barcelona, we had a couple of very interesting enrichment lecturers. They did a series of lectures on a subject in depth over the course of the cruise. The best entertainment was "Dancing with the Stripes" where 6 officers each paired up with the a professional dancer and did the Dancing with the Stars thing.

[cruisenfever]

We had 7 - 25 hour days on the E/B Navigator Transatlantic, but they set the clocks back at 3 PM everyday, making it 2 PM again. We had 80 degree temperatures on 6 of the sea days and smooth sailing except for the last day and the overnight between France and Spain.

Patti I'm confused............ if you were doing an East Bound TA ending up in Spain/France you would not gained time, you would have lost time. Not knowing where your final destination was, Spain and France are 6 hours ahead of us. So your days would have been 23 hours long and not 25. If you set your clocks back you were gaining time and you do not gain time when you cruise east from the US.

 

When you lose time you "spring ahead".......when you gain time you "fall back".

[Coralc]

Patti I'm confused............ if you were doing an East Bound TA ending up in Spain/France you would not gained time, you would have lost time. Not knowing where your final destination was, Spain and France are 6 hours ahead of us. So your days would have been 23 hours long and not 25. If you set your clocks back you were gaining time and you do not gain time when you cruise east from the US.

 

When you lose time you "spring ahead".......when you gain time you "fall back".

 

Did I say East bound somewhere again? :rolleyes: I meant West bound, because we started in Rome ended up in FLL....which is on the East Coast in my West coast brain. :D:) :D I always get that part mixed up.

 

West Bound! West Bound! We sailed..to...the...West. Sorry.

 

And next month we will be sailing to the EAST and will gain a whole day!

[cruisenfever]

Did I say East bound somewhere again? :rolleyes: I meant West bound, because we started in Rome ended up in FLL....which is on the East Coast in my West coast brain. :D:) :D I always get that part mixed up.

 

West Bound! West Bound! We sailed..to...the...West. Sorry.

 

And next month we will be sailing to the EAST and will gain a whole day!

Yes you did unless E/B on Navigator means something else!:p

[cruisinfever]

I'm still considering booking a repo cruise for 2013. When do the new itineraries for 2013 repos cruises come out?

[travelplus]

My Father and I are booked to go on the Serenade of The Seas from San Juan-Barcelona. I am the type of person who likes to arrive relaxed at the ports of call so an eastbound cruise is great. You start by going to St.Maarteen the next day, then 6 days at sea, followed by Tenerife, Cadiz,Gibraltar, Cartegena one day at sea, Majorca and Barcelona.

 

If I had a choice between the Caribbean sailings and the Trans Atlantic sailings I would do the Trans Atlantic sailings because of the unique ports it visits. Now I would love to do a B2B West and East Caribbean one of these days.

 

I concur Choice Air has some good deals the entire package with air,cruise, excursions comes out to $2,500 per person which is great considering r/t air is $1,200+ from the West Coast-Europe.

 

Sign up for the RCCL Credit card and get your 10,000 points for $100 Onboard Credit+ the credit you get from your Travel Agent.

[cruisinfever]

If you end your cruise in England the air fare is less expensive. I found one way airfare from London to Boston for less tha $600.