Repositioning cruise.....good, bad or indifferent?

[cdnsteelman]

There are currently 26 15+ day itineraries listed through NCL cruise search. While not all of them are true repos (moving a ship to a new home port to start a new season), some are and many are one-off one-way itineraries. The Star is currently in the midst of her Middle East / Aus / NZ / SE Asia / India loop and the Jewel has a really cool Seattle to Sydney run that has segments in Alaska / Hawaii / Polynesia en route down under. There are also some great South American variants and Panama Canal variants to look at along with the more typical transatlantic repos.

 

I'm sure there will be several more in the 9-14 day window as well.

 

It would be amazing to do the full loop the Star is doing and the Jewel run to Aus make me salivate.

 

"Thanks" for prompting me to look - another day of productivity list to cruise lust ;)

[clskinsfan]

We did a repo cruise on the Granduer of the seas in 2005 from San Juan to Baltimore. It was awesome. We spent a couple of days in PR before the cruise. Then got on the boat and got to experience the temperature change as we moved up the east coast. It was also cool going under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Another benefit is if you live on the east coast close to your disembarkation port. You only need to buy a one way ticket down to where you sail from. I am sure we will do another one at some point.

[cb at sea]

Also...you will have staff and crew that either are leaving for another ship, or coming on for the new route....so there's always a chance of some confusion among the workers, until they get used to the new ship.

[kdg51]

Love the repo cruises but the Dawn from New Orleans to Boston in April this year is going to ports that we don't care to go back to. For us landing close to home in the end is a plus. Before the Dawn it was on the Majesty.

 

Also done the repo cruise through the Panama Canal on the Sky (before it became the Pride of Hawaii) and then the Pearl.

 

Also done b2b cruises but the menus and entertainment all repeat for the 2nd half.

 

On the repo cruises they bring in new entertainment along the way and we find the crew is excited to have a different itinerary.

[BirdTravels]

We've done repos. They are one off cruises (and the cruise line treats them that way). Little to no port information at times. Hot and miss excursions. We do it again just to see different ports.

[casofilia]

We did the Star from Rome to Singapore and were not expecting much from the ship about the ports and so on after we had passed through the Suez as NCL had not been there before and I assumed that, after the return trip, NCL would not be visiting many of the ports again as the Jewel was moving in to the South Pacific from the USA in 2017/8.

 

I was pleasantly surprised just how much information was available; they had Peter Croyle(?) giving talks and also on a desk for 2 hours each evening; the shorex staff did talks too; the Concierge (Hanno) prepared a double sided sheet for the Suite cruisers; after I had had a bit of a moan they also put some information on a board in two places in the ship. After Dubai they also had a set of navigation maps on a large board in the Atrium.

 

They can do it if they try!! Ask questions of everyone who might be able to do something about it.

[trinaM]

Considering a repositioning cruise on the Dawn in January of next year, San Juan to Tampa. In the past I've read about Repo cruises being "Different" Not really sure what that means, we have sailed on the Dawn from Tampa and like the ship. She was a little warn out but has since gone through refurbishment

 

I have been on Repo Cruises. I think it all depends on someone's attitude about things. I think you can enjoy the cruise no matter if it is slightly different(whatever that means). After all its YOUR vacation..

:) enjoy your cruise.

[OceanDreaming2]

Love repositioning cruises! They are generally longer, have unique itineraries and varied menu choices. Also the guest entertainment is better than the normal 7 day cruise. You might even get the on-board entertainers to give special performances.

 

The Dawn was recently refurbished and is a great choice. I'd jump at the chance to go on her again.

 

We're on the Sun in May for her repo cruise - SFO to Vancouver. 14 days with out-of-the norm ports (like Astoria), Alaska and ending in Vancouver.

[hoopslover]

Absolutely loved the 2 repositioning cruises we have been on. First they are usually longer and not a b2b. The first one was 16 days from NY to LA through the Panama Canal. Only had to have one airplane trip. The second was from Boston to New Orleans for 14 days. Fewer kids since they were longer cruises and we had great times on both.