Repositioning Cruises

[kpgibbs]

I see some people enjoy the repositioning cruises. Where do you find them? I don't see them advertised. I would love to try one.

[CruiserBruce]

As they can take several forms, you will see them as Transatlantic cruises, Panama Canal cruises, Asia to the US, or vice versa, etc.

 

As I see you are cruising Holland America, look for the April-May movements of ships to Europe and Alaska, and from Australia area to Alaska. Reverse those in September, October and November, as the ships return to the Caribbean, or, on a limited basis, to the West Coast.

Edited March 25, 2014 by CruiserBruce

[janetz]

I see some people enjoy the repositioning cruises. Where do you find them? I don't see them advertised. I would love to try one.

 

 

There is one on October 25th. Royal Princess, 10 days from NY to Fort Lauderdale.

Three ports of call. Aruba, Antigua and St.Thomas. The rest are sea days.

Edited March 25, 2014 by janetz

[agabbymama]

Look at HAL from San Diego to Vancouver in May, or from Vancouver in Sept. Southbound. They would be the repositioning to/from Alaska.

 

NCL also does a nice 7 day from Long Beach to Vancouver in May, then Vancouver Southbound to Los Angeles in September.

 

I'm not sure what area you are interested in repositioning to:confused:

[Hlitner]

Many folks get hooked on one or two cruise lines and only look at their particular web sites. But there are some decent online cruise agencies (who work with every cruise line) who have excellent data bases where you can search for just about anything including Repositioning Cruises. Since CC rules do not permit us to mention agencies by name, we shall respect their rules. However, if you simply do a Google Search for "discount cruise agencies" and work through the first page or two of listings you will find what you seek. We ourselves are taking 2 long repo cruises this year (26 and 38 days). One of those crosses the Atlantic and the other the Pacific :).

 

Hank

Edited March 25, 2014 by Hlitner

[Momis2]

We have done 4 repo cruises so far with one other one coming up in August. I have our travel agent on alert for any that she sees. Our first 3 were actually back to back to back cruises from Los Angeles to New York around the entire continent of South America. #4 was from Miami to L.A. through the Panama Canal and # 5 will be from L.A. to Sydney, Australia. The prices are very good and the ports are not the usual ones. You can be gone for a longer than normal amount of time but if that is not a problem, go for it!

[MCC retired]

Late Spring & Fall abound with Repositioning Cruises (not all are called that ).

Some are popular with unique itineraries and book up early .

Some are many @ sea days with few stops , tend to be the better rates even

close in.

A good TA can find the one that best meets your expectations @ budget .

[kpgibbs]

Thank you for all your replies. Very helpful. I would like to stay close to the USA if possible. Only because I don't want to pay for airfair from another country.

 

I did find one on RCL next year from New Orleans to Boston. It's 13 days. I think that would be awesome.

[slidergirl]

Look for "Pacific Coastal" also. These are the repositioning cruises that happen in the Spring and Fall for the Alaska ships. They go South to North in the Spring and North to South in the Fall.

I like them for a quickie getaway when all I want to do is "vegetate". No tours, no beach days, no need to lay at the pool. I take it as a quiet time to "recharge my batteries" in between my busy seasons at my resort. They give me a chance to say a quick "hi" to friends living in SoCA, sometimes visit my favorite Dim Sum place in San Francisco, and say a quick "hi" to friends who live in Vancouver (and visit the Granville Market for goodies…).

[138east]

I am booked for two repo's. RCL Explorer on Nov 1 2014 from Cape Liberty to Port Canaveral - 14 days with 7 Caribbean ports including Curaçao and Aruba. RCL Serenade on Oct 19 2015 from Quebec to Fort Lauderdale - 14 days with 9 ports. RCL Brilliance does a Boston to Tampa - Oct 26 for 13 nights with 5 Caribbean ports.

 

These cruises are all very popular. If you are at all interested you should put down a deposit. The roll call for the Explorer and Serenade are each already well over 1000 posts and climbing.

[helen haywood]

Regarding airfare....if you look on your own and price one way tickets you will be horrified and decide you can't afford a repositioning cruise. But Choice Air, which is available on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity and Azamara cruises, has fantastic prices on these one way flights. Like a fourth of the price of a round trip ticket that you'd only use one leg of (which is against airlines rules.) Way, way cheaper than a one way ticket. So don't rule that out.

[mimi217]

Thank you for all your replies. Very helpful. I would like to stay close to the USA if possible. Only because I don't want to pay for airfair from another country.

 

I did find one on RCL next year from New Orleans to Boston. It's 13 days. I think that would be awesome.

 

We love repos. We have done several. We actually did a New Orleans to Boston on NCL. And the following year did Boston -New Orleans they were great. And since we live in the Boston area. Air for one way wasn't bad at all. Hope you have a chance to try one. I think you'll be hooked:)

[Hlitner]

Regarding airfare....if you look on your own and price one way tickets you will be horrified and decide you can't afford a repositioning cruise. But Choice Air, which is available on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity and Azamara cruises, has fantastic prices on these one way flights. Like a fourth of the price of a round trip ticket that you'd only use one leg of (which is against airlines rules.) Way, way cheaper than a one way ticket. So don't rule that out.

 

Not always true. There are some airlines who do allow booking of one-way fares at half the round trip fare. Icelandic and Aer Lingus are two that quickly come to mind. It is also possible to get some very good one-way fares from so-called Airline Consolidators (often found online). On our many repositioning cruises we have only used the cruise air offices a couple of times, usually preferring to do our own thing.

 

Another neat technique is to use a single round trip airfare to and from Europe as a way to take two different repo cruises. We have done this 3 times. We use one-half of the ticket to return home from Europe after a TA cruise, and the other half of the ticket to fly to Europe to catch a TA cruise in the other direction.

 

Hank

Edited March 27, 2014 by Hlitner

[navybankerteacher]

Not always true. There are some airlines who do allow booking of one-way fares at half the round trip fare. Icelandic and Aer Lingus are two that quickly come to mind. It is also possible to get some very good one-way fares from so-called Airline Consolidators (often found online). On our many repositioning cruises we have only used the cruise air offices a couple of times, usually preferring to do our own thing.

 

Another neat technique is to use a single round trip airfare to and from Europe as a way to take two different repo cruises. We have done this 3 times. We use one-half of the ticket to return home from Europe after a TA cruise, and the other half of the ticket to fly to Europe to catch a TA cruise in the other direction.

 

Hank

 

Using the two halves of a round trip to tie into two trans-Atlantics works well. The problem with Icelandic and Aer Lingus is that you virtually always have to change planes in either Iceland or Ireland (few TA's start from either), making the flight a real chore. HAL also provides good one way fares to tie in with their TA's. This fall, using their connection, we fly JFK to Rome, and then Fort Lauderdale back to JFK for $840 on Delta - well below anything the airlines would offer.

[slidergirl]

Using the two halves of a round trip to tie into two trans-Atlantics works well. The problem with Icelandic and Aer Lingus is that you virtually always have to change planes in either Iceland or Ireland (few TA's start from either), making the flight a real chore. HAL also provides good one way fares to tie in with their TA's. This fall, using their connection, we fly JFK to Rome, and then Fort Lauderdale back to JFK for $840 on Delta - well below anything the airlines would offer.

 

Just me, but I certainly wouldn't call having to change planes in Iceland or Ireland "a real chore." I actually like TATL flights that allow me to stop somewhere and stretch legs and pick up some actually edible food. And, if you want to extend your vacation a little bit, you can do a penalty-free stopover in Iceland...

[navybankerteacher]

Just me, but I certainly wouldn't call having to change planes in Iceland or Ireland "a real chore." I actually like TATL flights that allow me to stop somewhere and stretch legs and pick up some actually edible food. And, if you want to extend your vacation a little bit, you can do a penalty-free stopover in Iceland...

 

It always strikes me that the worst part of flying is the boarding process; having to change planes makes you do it twice. Also, because a flight with a change turns a nine or ten hour trip into a twelve of fifteen hour one, when you add in the indirect route and the transition time. Better to get it done in one sitting.

[slidergirl]

It always strikes me that the worst part of flying is the boarding process; having to change planes makes you do it twice. Also, because a flight with a change turns a nine or ten hour trip into a twelve of fifteen hour one, when you add in the indirect route and the transition time. Better to get it done in one sitting.

 

Like someone said, different strokes for different folks :D I'm a little weird, I guess. I like connections - besides the stretching my legs and food, I like to just browse and people watch. I also am a tad claustrophobic, so the ability to get out of the metal tube for even a little while is welcome. When I'm planning a flight, I always look at itasoftware to see if I can find some esoteric routing to get me even 2 hours someplace new. On the way back, it's a chance to buy something unique at the Duty Free and bring home (even better now with the rule that you CAN carry liquids bought at Duty Free through TSA if you have to connect in the US).

[alexspepa]

met a couple on Noordam who spend a couple months in Europe each year - they use the TA cruises instead of flying.

[calliopecruiser]

It always strikes me that the worst part of flying is the boarding process; having to change planes makes you do it twice. Also, because a flight with a change turns a nine or ten hour trip into a twelve of fifteen hour one, when you add in the indirect route and the transition time. Better to get it done in one sitting.

 

That's the way I feel too - I'd rather stay on the plane than get off and have to get back on again. Security, the line at the gate, the stowing of cabin baggage......I'd rather not do it again. In fact, when I'm flying to San Diego next fall, I decided to fly non-stop to LAX and rent a car to drive the rest of the way rather than take 2 connecting flights.

[agabbymama]

Like someone said, different strokes for different folks :D I'm a little weird, I guess. I like connections - besides the stretching my legs and food, I like to just browse and people watch. I also am a tad claustrophobic, so the ability to get out of the metal tube for even a little while is welcome. When I'm planning a flight, I always look at itasoftware to see if I can find some esoteric routing to get me even 2 hours someplace new. On the way back, it's a chance to buy something unique at the Duty Free and bring home (even better now with the rule that you CAN carry liquids bought at Duty Free through TSA if you have to connect in the US).

 

I can see Slidergirl's reasoning. I thought about flying from LAX to NY overnight, then on to London. Difficult to get flight times to mesh tho, so didn't end up doing that. But thought it would ease the jet lag some.